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Does food quality certification improve eco-efficiency? Empirical evidence from Chinese vegetable production

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  • Kang, Shijia
  • Frick, Fabian
  • Ait Sidhoum, Amer
  • Sauer, Johannes
  • Zheng, Shaofeng

Abstract

This study examines the impact of food quality certification on farms’ eco-efficiency in China, recognizing that the certification acts as a catalyst for encouraging more sustainable practices. The data was collected from 1855 vegetable growers in Shandong and Hebei provinces. Following a two-step approach, stochastic frontier analysis is applied to estimate eco-efficiency scores of smallholder farms, and a multinomial endogenous switching regression model is used to estimate the implication of certification schemes on eco-efficiency, while accounting for selectivity bias due to both observed and unobserved factors acting as a confounder. The empirical results suggest that hazard-free certification increases the eco-efficiency score for vegetable farms by 2.7%, followed by green certification by 4.6% and organic certification by 16.3%, respectively. Meanwhile, we find that the farmer’s certification adoption decision is significantly associated with farm size, farming experience, off-farm income, extension service, and social capital, which should be taken into account as policy recommendations to sustain and improve the positive effects of certification in regard to both economic and environmental aspects.

Suggested Citation

  • Kang, Shijia & Frick, Fabian & Ait Sidhoum, Amer & Sauer, Johannes & Zheng, Shaofeng, 2023. "Does food quality certification improve eco-efficiency? Empirical evidence from Chinese vegetable production," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:121:y:2023:i:c:s0306919223001628
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2023.102564
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Eco-efficiency; Food quality certification; Stochastic frontier analysis; Multinominal endogenous switching regression model; Vegetable farms;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy
    • Q52 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Pollution Control Adoption and Costs; Distributional Effects; Employment Effects

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