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When are Private Standards more Stringent than Public Standards?

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  • Vandemoortele, Thijs

Abstract

Retailers’ private standards are increasingly important in 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. I develop a political economy model that may contribute to explaining this stylized fact. I 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.

Suggested Citation

  • Vandemoortele, Thijs, 2011. "When are Private Standards more Stringent than Public Standards?," 2011 International Congress, August 30-September 2, 2011, Zurich, Switzerland 115544, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:eaae11:115544
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.115544
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    1. Jean Tirole, 1988. "The Theory of Industrial Organization," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262200716, April.
    2. Johan F.M. Swinnen & Thijs Vandemoortele, 2008. "The Political Economy of Nutrition and Health Standards in Food Markets ," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 30(3), pages 460-468.
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    5. 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.
    6. Jill J. McCluskey & Jason A. Winfree, 2009. "Pre-empting public regulation with private food quality standards," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 36(4), pages 525-539, December.
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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. 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..
    3. 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.
    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..
    5. 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).
    6. 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.
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    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. Monica Hernandez, 2019. "The Rising Importance of Non-tariff Measures and their use in Free Trade Agreements Impact Assessments," GDAE Working Papers 19-03, GDAE, Tufts University.
    11. 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.
    12. Johan Swinnen, 2014. "Global Agricultural Value Chains, Standards, and Development," RSCAS Working Papers 2014/30, European University Institute.
    13. 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.
    14. repec:lic:licosd:39217 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. 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.
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    17. 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.
    18. 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.
    19. 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.
    20. 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.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Resource /Energy Economics and Policy;

    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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