The effect of subsidy policies on the product quality improvement

This paper analyzes the effect of government subsidy policies on creating an incentive for domestic firms to improve their product quality before exporting to an outside market. The goal of the government is to minimize the time it takes to reach the appropriate product quality level at low costs. We simulate a dynamic profit maximization problem of the firm and derive the optimal path of the product quality development, then test the efficiency of the three types of subsidy methods: Constant Subsidy, Quality Matching Subsidy and Time-limited Subsidy methods. Our model yields a number of intriguing results: (i) not every subsidy methods guarantee product quality development, although the same amount is subsidized. (ii) the matching fund style subsidy is more efficient than providing constant amount of subsidy. (iii) Time-limited Subsidy improves product quality faster than the unlimited subsidy method. (iv) Time-limited Subsidy improves quality much faster than other methods with less subsidy cost. (v) there is an optimal combination between the subsidy and the time limits. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.