The reputational dividends of collaborating with a highly reputable agency: The case of interagency collaboration between the U.S. FDA and its domestic partner agencies

What reputational dividends in the media, if any, do federal agencies reap from collaboration with a highly reputable agency, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)? Utilizing a dataset covering 30 U.S. federal agencies over a period of 34 years (1980–2013), we estimate the short and long-term reputational effects of interagency collaboration. Collaboration is measured by the number of memorandums of understanding in effect between each agency and the FDA, while agency reputation in the media is assessed using an automated measure of media-coverage valence (positive/negative tone) for each agency-year. To account for potential reverse and reciprocal causality, we utilize cross-lagged fixed-effects models. We find evidence of moderate rises in reputation in the media due to increased collaboration with the FDA. These effects persist significantly for 2 years following the end of the collaboration, before declining to null after 4 years. Employing similar analyses, we furthermore estimate reverse causality—of reputation in the media on the level of consequent collaboration—finding no evidence of such effects.