Recently, the collaborative paper "Standard Setting, Quality Signaling, and Export Growth" by Professor Yu Miaojie (President of Liaoning University), Associate Researcher Cui Xiaomin (Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences), and Lecturer Gao Kailin (School of International Economics and Trade, University of International Business and Economics), published in China Economic Quarterly in 2024, was selected as a Top 10 Representative Paper in the "International Trade and China's Economic Development" section of the China International Trade Yearbook 2026.
Paper Abstract
Standards constitute a fundamental aspect of a country's institutional infrastructure. This paper develops a heterogeneous firm model linking firm participation in standard setting to export growth. Using Chinese standard data, data from above-scale industrial firms, and trade data from 1998 to 2013, the paper empirically examines the impact of standard setting on participating firms' export growth and its underlying mechanisms. The theoretical model assumes consumer preference for higher-quality products, but asymmetric information regarding product quality exists between consumers and producers. By participating in standard setting, producers can signal product quality to consumers, thereby influencing consumer expectations about the distribution of product quality in the market. The empirical findings show that standard setting has a sustained and significant positive effect on the export growth of participating firms for 1 to 3 years, with the contemporaneous effect being particularly prominent: participants experience export growth that is, on average, 8.6% higher than non-participants. Participating in standard setting helps firms release quality signals, and the effects vary across different trading partners and different products.
About the Honor
The China International Trade Yearbook is the first disciplinary yearbook in the field of international trade economics in China, compiled by the National Academy of Economic Strategy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Published biennially, the yearbook follows the principle of "compilation team recommendation + expert scoring + comprehensive evaluation." From all international trade-related papers published in the preceding two years, it selects ten topical areas, and for each area, ten outstanding papers as representative works.
Authors Profile:
Yu Miaojie is the Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and President of Liaoning University. He is a Lifetime Fellow of the Royal Economic Society (FREcon), a Fellow of the International Economic Association of the United Nations, a Changjiang Scholar Distinguished Professor, and a recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars. He serves as a Deputy to the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), a Special Supervisor of the National Commission of Supervision, and an Associate Editor of the Economic Journal, a top international journal in economics. He is among the top 1% most cited economists in economics and management globally and, to date, the only Chinese scholar to have received the Royal Economic Society Prize. He is the Editor-in-Chief of China's Open Economy Economics, a key original textbook in philosophy and social sciences in China, and receives the Special Government Allowance of the State Council.
Cui Xiaomin is Deputy Director of the Editorial Office of International Economic Review and Associate Researcher at the Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Peking University. Her primary research areas include international trade and global value chains. She has published over 20 papers in journals such as the Economic Journal, China Economic Quarterly, World Economy, and Financial Research. She is the author of one academic monograph and a contributing author to several others. She has received the CASS Award for Outstanding Young Economist Papers (2022) and the China Economics Outstanding Ph.D. Thesis Award (2018) from the Contemporary Economics Foundation (Beijing). She has also been honored with one first prize, three second prizes, and three third prizes from the CASS Awards for Outstanding Policy Response Research.
Gao Kailin is a Lecturer at the School of International Economics and Trade, University of International Business and Economics (UIBE). She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Peking University. Her primary research areas include international trade and the digital economy. Her research has been published in journals such as Economic Research Journal, Management World, China Economic Quarterly, Journal of Quantitative & Technological Economics, and China & World Economy. She is the Principal Investigator of a Young Scientists Fund project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). Her research has twice been selected as a Top 10 Best Chinese Paper in International Investment in the World Economy Yearbook.
