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Small is Beautiful? Firm's Size, Prevention & Food Safety

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  • Rouviere, Elodie
  • Soubeyran, Raphael

Abstract

The European General Food Law of 2005 and the newly promulgated FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FFSMA) of 2010 ask all food operators to implement preventive efforts. In this article, we explore the link between firm’s size and preventive efforts. We show two main results. First, when there is no cross-contamination, small firms will provide higher preventive efforts than large firms. When there is crosscontamination, the effort-size curve may have a "inverted-U" shape. From our results we can argue that when implementing or enforcing food safety regulations, public authorities should consider both firms size and food safety hazard.

Suggested Citation

  • Rouviere, Elodie & Soubeyran, Raphael, 2012. "Small is Beautiful? Firm's Size, Prevention & Food Safety," 2012 Annual Meeting, August 12-14, 2012, Seattle, Washington 123410, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaea12:123410
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.123410
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Keywords

    Agribusiness; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Industrial Organization; Risk and Uncertainty;
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