采用食品安全的私人激励和质量保证(pdf15)英文(1)

FoodPolicy24(1999)669–683*,MauryE.Bredahlb,LokmanZaibetcaDepartmentofAgriculturalEconomics,UniversityofMissouri,200MumfordHall,Columbia,MO65211,USAbCenterforInternationalTradeStudies,DepartmentofAgriculturalEconomics,UniversityofMissouri,200MumfordHall,Columbia,MO65211,USAcDepartmentofAgriculturalEconomics,SultanQaboosUniversity,SultanateofOmanAbstractThecompetitivenessoffoodcompaniesinnationalandinternationalmarketsdependsupontheirabilitytoadoptproductionprocesseswhichmeetfoodsafetyandqualityrequirements.Foodsafetyandqualityassuranceaffectthecostofcarryingouttransactions,andthereinliestheprivateincentiveforadoptingvoluntaryqualityassurancesystems.Whilequalityassurancesystemshavethepotentialtoreducetransactioncostsbyservingastheseller’sguaranteeofsafetyorquality,theymayalsoserveastradebarriers.1999ElsevierScienceLtd.Allrightsreserved.Keywords:ISO9000;Transactioncosts;Tradebarriers;Qualitysystem;FoodsafetyIntroductionGovernmentsenactandadministrativelydetermineexantenational-levelfoodlegislationandtechnicalrequirementsforfoodprocessing,handlingandproductionprocesses,aswellasexpostproductliabilitylaw.Thesefoodsafetytechnicalrequirementsandliabilitylawsare,ofcourse,incentivesforfirmstoadoptappropri-ateproductionprocessesandmethods.Inadditiontotheincentivesdrivenbyfoodandliabilitylaw,privateincentivesdrivefirmstomovebeyondadoptingapprovedpracticesthatmeettechnicalrequirementstowardsadoptingqualityassuranceprac-*Correspondingauthor.Tel.:[phone];fax:[phone].E-mailaddress:[e-mail](E.Holleran)0306-9192/99/$-seefrontmatter1999ElsevierScienceLtd.Allrightsreserved.PII:S0306-9192(99)00071-8670E.Holleranetal./FoodPolicy24(1999)669–683ticesandsystems,suchasTotalQualityManagement,ISO9000,farmassurancesystemsandproprietaryproductqualitysystems.Thesequalityassurancepro-grammesaredesignedtoassurecustomersthatagreed-upon(contractual)productcharacteristicsand/orproductionprocessesareconsistentlydelivered.Betweencon-tractingparties,sellersandbuyers,technicalrequirementsandcontractualarrange-mentsdefineexanteexpectationsandthequalityassurancesystemassuresexpostthatagreed-uponcharacteristicsandattributesareproduced.Thephilosophiesunderlyingtechnicalregulationsandfoodlawvaryacrosscoun-tries.Insomecountriesthebasisfortechnicalregulationsandfoodlawisanegativelist;productsaregenerallyregardedassafe,unlessprovedharmfulandplacedonanegativelist.Inothercountries,aproductcannotbesoldunlessitfirstappearsontheapprovedpositivelist.But,regardlessofthevariationintheconceptualframe-workforfoodsafetylaw,foodqualityandsafetyassurancecanbebasedonsimilarnormsandstandards.Transactioncostsrepresenttheframeworktoanalysethebenefitsandcostsoffoodqualitystandards.Transactioncostsarisefromuncertaintyregardingfoodqual-ityattributesandthecostsvarydependingonfactorssuchasproductdifferentiationandfirmsize.Highertransactioncostsimplygreaterincentivetoimplementqual-itysystems.Foodsafetyandfoodqualityassuranceareformsofguarantees.Safetyisdefinedastheconditionofbeingsafefromundergoingorcausinghurt,injuryorloss(Webster’sNinthNewCollegiateDictionary,1990).Theassuranceoffoodsafetyisaguaranteethatthefoodissafefromcausingharm.Quality,ontheotherhand,isnotanabsoluteandisdefinedasmeetingagreed-uponrequirements.Theassuranceofqualityisaguaranteethatagreed-uponspecificationshavebeenmet.Ifsafety-relatedspecificationsareincludedinthequalityassurancesystem,thentheassuranceofqualityencompassessafety.Qualityandsafetyattributesinfoodstuffscanbedifficulttoidentifyandobserve.Akerloffarguedthatinformationasymmetrybetweenbuyersandsellerscomplicatesthebuyer’sproblemofidentifyingquality,assertingthatguaranteesinaninstitutionalform(e.g.,qualityassurancestandards)werenecessarytocounteracttheeffectsofqualityidentificationanduncertainty(Akerloff,1970).Thepaper’sfirstsectionidentifiesanddiscussesthecharacteristicsofseveralfoodqualityassurancesystems.Thecontractualdefinitionofqualityfocusesonthetransactionbetweenthebuyerandtheseller.Qualityandfoodsafetyassuranceaffectthecostofcarryingouttransactions,andthereinliestheprivateincentiveforadoptingvoluntaryfoodqualityassuranceprogrammes.Transactioncostsarethecostsofundertakinganexchangebetweenbuyersandsellers,includingthemonitoringandenforcementcosts.Suchcostsaredirectlyaffectedby,andmayoftenbeincreasedby,foodsafetyregulations,productliabilitylawandcustomerrequirements.Qualityassurancesystems,suchastheISO9000QualityAssuranceStandards,canmitigatetransactioncostsinseveralwaysthatarediscussedinthesecondsectionofthispaper.Qualityassurancesystemscandirectlyaffectthecosts,pricesandprofitsoffirms,servingasaprivateincentiveforadoptingaqualitysystem.Thesecondsectiondiscussesandillustratestransactioncostswithinthecontextofqualityandfoodsafetyassurance.671E.Holleranetal./FoodPolicy24(1999)669–683Thethirdsectionanalysestheprivate,internalandexternalincentivesforqualityassurancesystemadoption.Internalincentivesincludethecostsandbenefitsdirectlya