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When Are Private Standards More Stringent than Public Standards?

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  • Thijs Vandemoortele
  • Koen Deconinck

Abstract

Retailers' private standards are increasingly important for addressing consumer concerns about safety, quality, and social and environmental issues. Empirical evidence shows that these private standards are frequently more stringent than their public counterparts. This article develops a political economy model that helps explain this stylized fact. We show that if producers exercise their political power to persuade the government to impose a lower public standard, retailers may apply their market power to install a private standard at a higher level than the public one, depending on several factors.

Suggested Citation

  • Thijs Vandemoortele & Koen Deconinck, 2014. "When Are Private Standards More Stringent than Public Standards?," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 96(1), pages 154-171.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:ajagec:v:96:y:2014:i:1:p:154-171.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/ajae/aat064
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    7. Johan F.M. Swinnen & Thijs Vandemoortele, 2009. "Are food safety standards different from other food standards? A political economy perspective," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 36(4), pages 507-523, December.
    8. Stefanie Kirchhoff, 2000. "Green Business and Blue Angels," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 15(4), pages 403-420, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Koen Deconinck & Martijn Huysmans & Jo Swinnen, 2015. "The political economy of geographical indications," Working Papers of LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance 509755, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance.
    2. Bazzani, Claudia & Gustavsen, Geir W. & Nayga, Rodolfo M. Jr. & Rickertsen, Kyrre, 2016. "Are Consumers’ Preferences for Food Values in the U.S. and Norway Similar? A Best-Worst Scaling Approach," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235844, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
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    4. John C. Beghin & Miet Maertens & Johan Swinnen, 2017. "Nontariff Measures and Standards in Trade and Global Value Chains," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: John Christopher Beghin (ed.), Nontariff Measures and International Trade, chapter 2, pages 13-38, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
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    6. Dela-Dem Doe Fiankor & Insa Flachsbarth & Amjad Masood & Bernhard Brümmer, 2020. "Does GlobalGAP certification promote agrifood exports? [Standards as barriers versus standards as catalysts: assessing the impact of HACCP implementation on US seafood imports]," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 47(1), pages 247-272.
    7. Irz, Xavier & Mazzocchi, Mario & Réquillart, Vincent & Soler, Louis-Georges, 2015. "Research in Food Economics: past trends and new challenges," Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement, Editions NecPlus, vol. 96(01), pages 187-237, March.
    8. Meloni, Giulia & Swinnen, Johan, 2017. "Standards, Tariffs And Trade: The Rise And Fall Of The Raisin Trade Between Greece And France In The Late 19th Century And The Definition Of Wine," Working Papers 253853, American Association of Wine Economists.
    9. Vanessa von Schlippenbach & Isabel Teichmann, 2012. "The Strategic Use of Private Quality Standards in Food Supply Chains," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 94(5), pages 1189-1201.
    10. Venus, Thomas & Punt, Maarten & Wesseler, Justus, 2015. "Influence of voluntary GMO-free production standards on the reputation and flexibility of agricultural value chains," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 211920, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    11. Nie, Wenjing & Abler, David & Li, Taiping, 2021. "Grading attribute selection of China's grading system for agricultural products: What attributes benefit consumers more?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    12. Meloni, Giulia & Swinnen, Johan, 2018. "Trade and terroir. The political economy of the world’s first geographical indications," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 1-20.
    13. Johan Swinnen, 2014. "Global Agricultural Value Chains, Standards, and Development," RSCAS Working Papers 2014/30, European University Institute.
    14. Olper, Alessandro, 2017. "The political economy of trade-related regulatory policy: environment and global value chain," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 5(3), February.
    15. Shingal, Anirudh & Ehrich, Malte, 2024. "The EU’s pesticides MRLs harmonization: effect on trade, prices and quality," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    16. Dela-Dem Doe Fiankor & Daniele Curzi & Alessandro Olper, 2021. "Trade, price and quality upgrading effects of agri-food standards [Endogenous Trade Policy with Heterogeneous Firms]," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 48(4), pages 835-877.
    17. Maertens, Miet & Swinnen, Johan, 2015. "Agricultural trade and development: A value chain perspective," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2015-04, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
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    20. Annalisa Zezza & Federica Demaria & Maria Rosaria Pupo d'Andrea & Jo Swinnen & Giulia Meloni & Senne Vandevelde & Alessandro Olper & Daniele Curzi & Valentina Raimondi & Sophie Drogue, 2018. "Research for AGRI Committee - Agricultural trade: assessing reciprocity of standards," Working Papers hal-02787948, HAL.
    21. John C. Beghin & Miet Maertens & Johan Swinnen, 2017. "Nontariff Measures and Standards in Trade and Global Value Chains," World Scientific Book Chapters,in: Nontariff Measures and International Trade, chapter 2, pages 13-38 World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality

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