Date of Award

Spring 2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Management

First Advisor

Thomas, Jacob

Abstract

Economic theory suggests that strategic releases of new products can deter entrants and preempt competition. However, tracking new products is challenging due to the multitude of brands and product models. I introduce disclosure-based measures of new products using new product announcements collected from newswires, and examine how product market competition affects firms’ new product releases. Using plausibly exogenous variations in tariff changes as a proxy for foreign competition, I find that firms are more likely to release new products when competition increases. Consistent with my predictions, I also find that the effect concentrates in industries that have higher sales concentration and lower patenting barriers, and in well-performing firms. Additionally, I find descriptive evidence that industry-wide new product releases are negatively correlated with concurrent foreign import changes. Taken together, my results suggest that firms respond to potential foreign competition with new products to deter entrants.

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