Firms and Collective Reputation: a Study of the Volkswagen Emissions Scandal

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bachmann, Rudiger; Ehrlich, Gabriel; Fan, Ying; Ruzic, Dimitrije; Leard, Benjamin
• 署名单位: University of Notre Dame; University of Michigan System; University of Michigan; INSEAD Business School; University of Tennessee System; University of Tennessee Knoxville
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1542-4766
• DOI: 10.1093/jeea/jvac046
• 发表日期: 2023
• 页码: 484-525
• 关键词: market; PRODUCTS

摘要

This paper uses the 2015 Volkswagen (VW) emissions scandal as a natural experiment to provide evidence that collective reputation externalities are economically significant. Using a combination of difference-in-differences and demand estimation approaches, we document a spillover effect from the scandal to the non-VW German auto manufacturers. The spillover amounts to an average drop of $2,057 in consumer valuations of these manufacturers' vehicles and a 34.6% reduction in their annual sales. We substantiate our interpretation that the estimates reflect a reputation spillover using data on internet search behavior and direct measures of consumer sentiment from Twitter.