INTERFIRM RELATIONSHIPS AND BUSINESS PERFORMANCE

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Cai, Jing; Szeidl, Adam
• 署名单位: University System of Maryland; University of Maryland College Park; National Bureau of Economic Research; Central European University; Center for Economic & Policy Research (CEPR)
• 刊物名称: QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-5533
• DOI: 10.1093/qje/qjx049
• 发表日期: 2018
• 页码: 1229-1282
• 关键词: Social networks; random assignment; MARKET; IMPACT; FIRMS; spillovers; returns; credit; TRADE

摘要

We organized business associations for the owner-managers of young Chinese firms to study the effect of business networks on firm performance. We randomized 2,820 firms into small groups whose managers held monthly meetings for one year, and into a no-meetings control group. We find the following. (i) The meetings increased firm revenue by 8.1%, and also significantly increased profit, factors, inputs, the number of partners, borrowing, and a management score. (ii) These effects persisted one year after the conclusion of the meetings. (iii) Firms randomized to have better peers exhibited higher growth. We exploit additional interventions to document concrete channels. (iv) Managers shared exogenous business-relevant information, particularly when they were not competitors, showing that the meetings facilitated learning from peers. (v) Managers created more business partnerships in the regular than in other one-time meetings, showing that the meetings improved supplier-client matching.