Crisis-Induced Innovation: Quality Upgrading in Chinese Industrial Clusters

Abstract Supporting institutions and policies play a key role in facilitating upgrades to product quality among manufacturing firms. However, the emergence of quality-supporting institutions has not been well studied. Based on qualitative and quantitative evidence in Chinese clusters, this paper shows that quality-enhancing institutions and policies often emerge in response to crises, such as consumer boycotts and impositions of export barriers, which can catalyze collective action from entrepreneurs and local governments to improve product quality. (JEL codes: L15; L22; L51; L60).