Institute of Quality Development Strategy，Wuhan University,Coordination Innovation Center of Macro Quality Management in Hubei Province， Wuhan 430072）
Abstract： Take the "Chinese Enterprise - Employee matching Survey" (CEES) database as the sample, using multiple linear regression method to study the correlation between China's manufacturing enterprises’ product quality signals and its cost of capital. In this study, the cost of capital data as the dependent variable is obtained through surveys of enterprises based on questionnaires, product quality signals transmission status as the independent variables are represented by quality management system certification of enterprises, whether or not get access to international markets and its own brand quantity, respectively. The study found that, after controlling the collateral size, leverage ratio, fixed asset turnover, the board governance structure, there is a significant positive correlation between brand quantity signal and corporate cost of capital, because of the inefficient quality signal transmission, as well as failure of the signaling mechanism. Based on the above findings, a number of suggestions are proposed for enterprises to improve product quality signal transmission efficiency.
Key Words：quality signals；cost of capital；brands；certification