Keep Calm and Make a Blacklist: Child Labour and International Trade

ABSTRACT I investigate how the provision of information regarding the use of child labour in foreign production affects imports, using a staggered adoption design. I exploit a list, published annually by the US Department of Labor, with information on tradable goods produced using child labour in different countries. I find that the inclusion in the list leads to a decrease in US imports from that country equal to 15%, taking into account potential spillover effects. I provide evidence suggesting that this effect is not due to any change in price but is driven by a reduction in both US firms' intermediate input demand and demand by US final consumers, with the former channel being slightly larger.