Year: 2019
Type: report
Abstract: 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 to 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.
DOI: 10.3386/w26117
Language: English
Subfield: Strategy and Management
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2964649534