Based on the theory of information asymmetry, this paper analyzes the causes and manifestations of information asymmetry in international trade from adverse selection and moral hazard, and puts forward some countermeasures to solve the information asymmetry in international trade, so as to reduce the risks of international trade and promote the healthy development of international trade.
Keywords: international trade; Information asymmetry; Adverse selection; ethical risk
First, the theory of information asymmetry.
The theory of information asymmetry was put forward by MichaelSpence of Stanford University, GeorgeAkerlof Loff California University and JosephStiglitz of Columbia University in 1970s. They made exploratory research on the market analysis of information asymmetry, put forward the theory of information asymmetry, and won the 200 1 year Nobel Prize in Economics. However, in the 1970s, people did not pay enough attention to this new theory. Since 1980s, some western economists have introduced the theory of information asymmetry into the related fields of market economy, which makes the value of the theory of information asymmetry stand out gradually. At present, this theory has become the core content of information economics research. The theory of information asymmetry mainly studies a series of effects of asymmetric information distribution on trading behavior and market efficiency in related trading processes. Its foundation is the asymmetry of people's information acquisition ability, which leads some information participants to have information that others do not have. The distribution of information is unbalanced, which is the basic feature of information. The imbalance of information generated in human social practice and spread in society is called information asymmetry. For international trade, traditional trade theory explains the fundamental motivation of enterprises to go to the market. From the perspective of enterprises, the pursuit of profit maximization is the fundamental motivation for enterprises to engage in international trade. Enterprises face the international trade market. In the international market full of various risks, enterprises usually put risk prevention in the first place and profit in the second place. Mainly because enterprises usually attach importance to it. On the other hand, although relatively mature enterprises have enough knowledge of the risks in the trade market and adopted some tools and means to avoid risks, they will also face the problem of information asymmetry when exploring emerging markets. If there are no barriers such as time and distance between markets to limit market opportunities, the volume of international trade will increase sharply.
Second, the reasons for information asymmetry
1. The fundamental reason of information asymmetry is the general imbalance of information generation. In essence, any information comes from a local individual, so information asymmetry is inevitable. Because things are moving, information always reflects the movement of things and a series of associated attributes. Before new information is delivered to the destination through certain channels, it has certain advantages over other information, which is what we call information asymmetry. Because the generation of new information is constant, that is, the generation of information symmetry is constant and universal.
2. The massive increase of information leads to the occurrence of information asymmetry. In the current process of social informatization, the amount of social information, especially the amount of scientific knowledge, has exploded. James martin, a British scientist, predicted that "human scientific knowledge will double in the 50 years of19th century, in the middle of 20th century of10th century, and in the five years of 1970s. In the 1980s, some experts estimated that it would double every three years. By the 1990 s, about 3 million to 4 million scientific papers will be published around the world. " In such an era of "information explosion", no one or several individuals can and must obtain all the complete information. With the progress of time, the gap of information possessed by different individuals or institutions will continue to increase, and the skewed distribution of information will accelerate in the whole society.
3. Monopoly advantage of information owners. In market transactions, the more information traders have, the better. Therefore, in order to obtain higher economic benefits, information possessors often hide information or provide false information to the market, so that the counterparty cannot obtain the relevant information needed for trading in time. In reality, it is often the consumers or the disadvantaged parties who know all the real information after the transaction is reached.
4. The cost of information acquisition magnifies the Matthew effect of information asymmetry. "Matthew effect" means that the rich have more and more information, while the poor have less and less information. Knowing a certain aspect of information is bound to cost, which requires the investment of economic resources such as manpower, material resources and financial resources. This forms a barrier of information symmetry for some traders in the market environment, and the high cost of information transaction leads to an absolute disadvantage for one party.
Third, the performance of information asymmetry in international trade.
1. Information asymmetry in international trade. The asymmetry of related transaction information leads to adverse selection before the transaction is completed, that is, one party with relatively more information takes advantage of the ignorance of the other party to obtain additional benefits. Multilateral or bilateral trade in international trade is influenced by natural resources, geographical location, political and economic development level and other factors, which poses great obstacles to the unification of the international trade market. The adverse selection problem in international trade is usually manifested as follows: first, users are unfamiliar with overseas markets. Do not know the credit status of the counterparty, forge documents, and have adverse selection of international trade contracts; Second, international trade fraud criminals cheat in the name of various virtual companies, resulting in adverse selection to take advantage of the management loopholes in the country where the trade is located; Third, adverse selection when a country or international economic situation changes fundamentally. The trading countries refused to assume their responsibilities on the grounds of irresistible changes.
2. Information asymmetry after the event in international trade. The information asymmetry after the transaction leads to moral hazard after the transaction is completed. It means that one party who signs a contract harms the interests of the other party and cannot determine the injured party. In international trade, because the two parties are in different information reserves, they are not related to each other before the transaction and lack the benefits and costs of mutual disclosure, so the mutual trust mechanism established between the two parties is broken. After the transaction is completed, both buyers and sellers are prone to moral hazard problems. When the buyer does not fully bear the interest risk after receiving the goods, he will take selfish actions that are most beneficial to his own interests, such as falsely reporting the receipt, temporarily refusing to pay or maliciously returning the goods, which will harm the interests of the seller. Because the seller has an advantage in information possession, after the completion of the contract, similar goods with lower quality may be replaced by goods seen by the original buyer. In a word, the information asymmetry owned by buyers and sellers is the root of moral hazard.
Four, to solve the problem of information asymmetry in the process of international trade countermeasures
Information asymmetry directly leads to various problems in international trade, but this situation is not irreversible. In order to completely reduce the related risks in international trade, we must strive to achieve the symmetry of trade information. Thus, both parties in international trade transactions can obtain information at the minimum cost, that is, make information transparent and open.
1. Strengthen information transmission technology. In international trade activities, we should make full use of modern information dissemination technology and implement electronic information disclosure. This is of great practical significance for enhancing the transparency of business information, improving the efficiency of trade information dissemination and weakening information asymmetry. Technically speaking, firstly, use firewall to strengthen access control. By establishing the principle of network communication filtering to identify and control access, the security of international trade process is effectively improved. Secondly, data encryption technology can be used. As a basic control technology to prevent information distortion in international trade information system, it improves the security of international trade information. Third, improve the identification system, control visitors' access, and prevent unscrupulous theft of business information secrets. There are usually digital certificates, signatures and other identification technologies.
2. Credit quantification and disclosure. Credit quantification is the design of credit index system and credit evaluation standard by credit rating agencies, which provides a simple and intuitive standard for judging the credit status of the other party. The openness and quantification of credit provide scientific conditions for quickly identifying and judging related credit, thus weakening the transaction risk and meeting the needs of efficient, fast and safe international trade.
3. Improve the credit evaluation management system. Commercial credit is a credit loan based on industrial value chain. Only by deeply understanding the value chain can we really screen out excellent projects and enterprises, so as to conduct stable trade and investment. At present, many countries have formed their own credit rating evaluation system. The quantification and transparency of information provide convenience for the identification and judgment of enterprise credit. The standard credit management evaluation system can systematically manage customer credit investigation and evaluation in the early stage of transaction, creditor's rights protection in the middle stage and account management and collection in the later stage, so as to scientifically and effectively promote information symmetry in international trade, minimize the losses caused by credit risks, and meet the needs of modern trade efficiency, speed and security.
4. Improve the professional quality of employees. The quality of employees is very important to solve the problem of information asymmetry in the process of international trade. Improving the information awareness and service level of international trade practitioners is the main countermeasure to eliminate information asymmetry in the process of international trade. International trade activities are complicated and highly technical, so we should emphasize the standardization of work, and at the same time strengthen the professional training of foreign trade personnel to improve the quality of employees. Only when practitioners master the contents and processes of relevant links in trade processes such as ordering, documents, delivery and payment. And master the ability to retrieve, evaluate and use information from various information sources, so as to effectively avoid barriers such as distance and time that limit market opportunities and prevent information asymmetry from controllable human resources. 5. Improve laws and regulations related to international trade. The clear role of law can minimize the risk of information asymmetry. With the deepening of reform and opening up, international economic activities such as overseas investment, foreign trade and e-commerce applications are increasing day by day, and fraudulent preparation of transnational contracts has attracted increasing attention. Internationally, bilateral and multilateral treaties should be concluded to promote international trade to follow unified international treaties and international practices. At home, we should learn from the legislative experience and achievements of other countries in controlling trade fraud, make corresponding adjustments and changes in trade legislation, and strengthen the prevention and control of international trade risks by means of pre-control, in-process prevention and post-punishment.
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