Heterogeneous efforts in voluntary programmes on food safety

Elodie Rouviere (1) , Raphael Soubeyran (2) , Céline Bignebat (3)

1 CESAER - Centre d'Economie et de Sociologie Rurales Appliquées à l'Agriculture et aux Espaces Ruraux
2 LAMETA - Laboratoire Montpelliérain d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée
3 UMR MOISA - Marchés, Organisations, Institutions et Stratégies d'Acteurs

In this article we discuss the efforts made by importers of fresh produce within a voluntary programme on food safety. We show theoretically that the larger the rms the lower their efforts directed at food safety. We test this proposition using original primary data from a voluntary programme implemented by French importers of fresh produce. Our results contrast with evidence from environmental economics that large rms are more likely to be proactive with respect to environmental safeguards.

Keywords: Food Safety; Safety Effort; Voluntary Programme

Domains: Humanities and Social Sciences; Economics and Finance

Elodie Rouviere, Raphael Soubeyran, Céline Bignebat. Heterogeneous efforts in voluntary programmes on food safety. European Review of Agricultural Economics, 2010, 37 (4), pp.479-499. ⟨10.1093/erae/jbq037⟩. ⟨hal-01323208⟩