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The purpose of this paper is to analyze the process of supermarketization in the vegetable retail sector in China and its impact on food safety.

Data from food safety reports by the Chinese Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) are used to investigate the degree of vegetable safety in different value chain types. To assess the predictors of the degree of vegetable safety, a logistic regression model is applied.

Supermarketization has led to the reorganization of the vegetables provision system, through closer coordination along the supply chain and the use of secured production bases. We identify four types of vegetable value chains in China based on their form of coordination. Supermarkets improve vegetable safety even when they rely on external suppliers, but also wet markets perform significantly better than other small-scale retailers in terms of vegetable safety.

The study has expanded the knowledge of the supermarketization in urban China by collecting data from CFDA. Furthermore, the study used the theory of food value chain to understand determinant factors in securing food safety. Moreover, this study reveals that wet markets also have prospects in solving vegetable safety problems in China, especially in underdeveloped areas.

Geographical indications (GIs) are expected to stimulate rural development by increasing the viability and resilience of farms in disadvantaged and remote areas. However, little quantitative evidence exists to support this expectation. This study fills this knowledge gap by quantitatively analyzing the effect of GI adoption on farm incomes in the EU olives and wine sectors.

The analysis uses data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network and EUROSTAT and an endogenous switching regression model to analyze the impact of GI adoption on farm incomes for specialized quality wine and olives producers in the year 2014.

The results show that GI adoption significantly improves farm incomes in both the olives and the wine sector.

The research uses data from the farm accountancy data network (FADN). This is seen as a limitation of the analysis. The research raises some concerns about the appropriateness of FADN for the assessment of farmers' involvement in food quality schemes and a reconsideration of FADN as a tool for farm performance analysis is advised.

This is one of few quantitative studies of the impact of geographical indications on farm performance. Furthermore, it gives insights into the mechanisms by which GI can affect farm incomes.

In the past decade, there has been a dramatic decline in agricultural employment in Bulgaria and several reports have pointed at supply chain modernisation and poor milk quality as the main reasons for the dramatic decline in the number of farms. However, to date the policy debate is been based on ad hoc claims, while there is relatively little micro-level evidence. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the determinants of structural change in the Bulgarian dairy sector in the period 2003-2009.

This paper analyses the determinants of structural change in the Bulgarian dairy sector in the period 2003-2009, using a unique panel survey of 296 farm households in the North and South Central Region of Bulgaria. In order to control for sample attrition bias, the authors use a two-step Heckman model of farm survival and growth model.

The data confirms the rapid outflow of agricultural labour from dairy farming activities: 55 per cent of the farm households supplying milk to a dairy company in 2003 stopped supplying in 2009. The main reasons for quitting are ageing of the household, health problems and an increase in off-farm employment alternatives and not supply chain modernisation and milk quality standards. The institutional innovations which are associated with integration in modern supply chains, such as the provision of farm assistance programmes, have a positive impact on small farms’ growth.

The study is one of the first to use panel data to analyse the impact of standards on the survival and growth of small farms in value chains. The authors analyse the determinants of farm survival and growth in the Bulgarian dairy sector in the period 2003-2009, using panel surveys of 296 dairy farm households in the North and South Central Region of Bulgaria and panel data from interviews with dairy companies. The findings are relevant beyond the Bulgarian dairy sector as supply chain modernisation and changes in quality regulations are taken place in many other transition and developing countries.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the determinants of supply chain relationships, the provision of supplier support measures and the role that support measures play in stimulating investment by suppliers in emerging economies.

The paper draws on survey evidence for 300 commercial dairy farms in Armenia. The identification of potential determinants of supply chain relationships and support programmes is based on literature on supply chain management and transaction cost economics.

Positive determinants of supplier support programmes are the degree of exclusivity of the buyer-supplier relationship, initial capital of the supplier, co-operation between suppliers, and foreign ownership of the buyer. Support programmes are less likely to be offered in very competitive environments. Support measures such as loans, physical inputs and guaranteed prices facilitate supplier investments.

Research is limited to cross-sectional data for a single country and further testing would help assess the generalizability of the findings.

The findings highlight the gains that can be made from openness to international firms. The negative competition effect suggests that buyers are constrained in their ability to monitor use of the provided services in an environment where a lot of buyers are competing for the same supply. Improving the enforcement capability of companies under these circumstances is an important challenge for the industry and policy makers.

The novelty of the study lies in the investigation of the relationships between the nature of supply chain linkages and suppliers' investments.

Recent literature has considerably improved our understanding of vertical relations in the food chain. One area which has received relatively little attention however relates to the resilience of an agro-food supply chain, that is its ability to face and, if needed, to recover after a major disruption. The purpose of this paper is to study what factors, including characteristics of vertical links between upstream and downstream sectors, may make farmer-processor relationships more or less resilient to adverse shocks.

To do so, the author uses a unique region-level data set on disruptions to dairy supply chain in Poland during the transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy. More specifically, using between-region variation, the author investigates why in some regions supply chain disruptions, measured as the breakdown of relationships between farmers and processing industry, were smaller than in other regions.

The findings suggest that the supply chain which the author analysed was less resilient to crisis, i.e. the author observed larger disruptions to supply relations, when the supply base was more fragmented and when farmers had better outside options to market their produce via direct sales to consumers. In addition, dairy supply chain in Poland seemed to be less resilient in regions with larger share of the state-owned land.

The results come with several caveats. First, the empirical evidence comes from Poland during the specific period and thus it may not be easily generalised. Second, the results are based on historical correlations. Therefore, although they are robust across various specifications which the author estimates, they may not establish causal relationship due to some omitted variables or potential endogeneity issue. Finally, what the author uses here are region-level data. One may argue therefore that farm-level data would give more fine-tuned focus for testing impacts and theories regarding supply chain resilience.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the first to provide some evidence on agro-food supply chain from this perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework that models farmers’ strategic decision making, taking into account that farmers adapt to institutional changes, given the social structure in which they are embedded.

First, a theoretical framework was developed using the reasoned action approach, innovation diffusion research, identity research, and the theory of structuration. Second, the framework was refined based on insights gained through semi-structured interviews with seven pork farmers and six pork farming experts on innovation decisions in general and added-value market adoption in particular.

The farmer decision-making framework distinguishes personal characteristics, social influence related to reference groups, and the institutional context that determines the space for manoeuvre. The interviews reveal the importance of context specific factors, such as trust in policy and market requirements, and point at general mechanisms of path dependency as a result of previous decision making and social influence related to identity reference groups.

The authors include feedback mechanisms between on the one hand social structure and institutional context, and on the other, farmer decision making. The framework is designed to explore the combined influence of factors of decision making on sector behaviour and study the relation between individual and collective behaviour.

Geographical Indications (GI) are complex and multi-purpose institutions. Their objectives include encouraging diversification of agricultural production, improving farmers’ income, countering depopulation of rural areas, satisfying consumer demand for high-quality good, and protecting consumers from food fraud. The authors argue that such objectives are not necessarily aligned as divergence may arise among stakeholders (such as farmers, consumers or rural communities) about the optimal design of the GI. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The authors developed a simple, static game-theory model describing the basic choices that a planner faces in designing a GI.

The authors conclude that the optimal organization requires finding trade-offs among conflicting but equally desirable objectives. Perfect monitoring is not a sufficient condition to resolve such conflicts. Sub-consortia and flexible production agreements may increase the efficiency of a GI.

The authors described basic trade-offs in GI design using the simplest possible model. To this purpose the authors introduced limiting assumptions that may be relaxed in future research. The representation of the GI agreement focussed on the quality level only, abstracting from all other consideration. Using a static model prevented us from explicit modeling of (loss of) reputation effects. The simplifying assumptions about consumer behavior and cost functions have reduced the generality of the results. Extensions of the model may consider introducing additional elements in the GI agreement such as production areas or governance models, dynamic games and general functional forms.

The authors found that in designing a GI: first, promotion approaches revolving around small groups of local leaders (i.e. efficient, high-quality producers) might overshoot quality, resulting in unsustainable production agreements; second, introducing degrees of flexibility in the production agreement may help achieving a sustainable GI; and finally, sub-consortia/optional labels may help dealing with producers’ heterogeneity.

The authors found that setting a high standard in the production agreement is not sufficient condition for delivering quality food to consumers, as producers might have incentive to commit frauds. A simple command and control approach to quality in GI’s is not always the most efficient strategy, because it may reduce participation. In designing the GI, the goals of identity preservation and food quality must be balanced with consideration of producers’ incentives. The involvement of producers in the design of the GI is a critical success driver. Yet, this practice can be problematic because of producers’ heterogeneity.

The paper provides theoretical foundation for best practices in forming a GI, including: multi-stakeholder involvement, management of farmer heterogeneity and monitoring.

The need for food safety and food quality standards is acknowledged by public regulators, private actors, and the society. The purpose of this paper is to identify the types of actors in the multilevel transnational food chain regulatory governance and how their interlinking affects regulatory outcomes over time.

Food chain regulatory standards emerge within a complex process beyond the state. Based on interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives, namely regulatory governance and political economy, this paper provides a integrative framework of analysis by identifying the types of actors and their interactions in the food chain regulatory governance.

Food chain regulatory standards setting have been mainly studied either from the public regulator or the firm self-regulating point of view. This paper demonstrates how the political and economics dynamics of the interactions among public and private actors operate within the transnational food standards setting process. The study identifies the groups of interdependent actors (public and private) that interact within the transnational food chain regulatory process and develop public-private regulations, self-regulations, and co-regulations over time. In this process, the actors’ different power, operational and regulatory capacity, experience, resources affect the regulatory outcome with socio-economic and governance implications.

The paper does not examine in detail how these interactions operate empirically on specific regulations.

The paper offers an integrative thorough understanding of the food chain regulatory standard setting process, relevant for academics, policy makers, the industry, and society.

The paper constitutes new research by identifying the actors and interactions in the integrative regulatory governance of the food chain standards.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the governance implications of non-genetically modified (GM) voluntary private standards on the private label poultry meat value chain of the leading Italian retailer. Considered aspects are: first, the organizational practices adopted along the chain to assure effective segregation; second, the changes in the characteristics and governance of the key transaction (meat processor-retailer); finally, what makes the chain economically sustainable.

A picture of the chain is obtained collecting information from the businesses involved; the snowball selection criterion is used in identifying people to interview. Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) is used to conceptualize the organizational changes in the meat processor-retailer transaction; the coherence of expected-actual variations in asset specificity, uncertainty and frequency, as well as of the observed governance with TCE predictions is assessed.

The creation of the non-GM chain required investments by both the key actors involved and the establishment of a partnership based on trust and mutual dependence. The increase in uncertainty coupled with the rise in asset specificity led to higher transaction costs, requiring a shift of the governance structure toward the right side of the market-hierarchy continuum to economize on costs and improve supply chain performance. TCE well explains the changes occurred. The retailer values the return on image as a strategic asset and bears the non-GM extra costs making the chain economically sustainable.

The implications of the findings are twofold. First, they help to identify the critical factors for an effective and economically sustainable segregation of non-GM products/raw materials along agro-food value chains. Second, they show how chain actors could adopt tighter governance structures in order to comply with binding technical and quality specifications, economize on transaction costs and improve supply chain performance.

Retailer-led private standards used as regulation and enforcement mechanisms in vertical relations, as well as their organizational implications in the governance of transactions between actors in agro-food value chains have received insufficient attention. This research contributes to fill out this gap.