The impact of product and production standards on trade flows is of critical relevance for developing countries aiming at a higher participation in world trade. While economic theory suggests that the effect of standards on trade can entail two opposing forces, acting either as non-tariff...

The effect of food standards on agricultural trade flows remains unclear. We contribute to the debate with a unique dataset that contains the number of food processing firms of 88 countries from 2008 to 2013 that are certified with the International Featured Standard (IFS). Based on a...

This paper studies the effect of strengthening intellectual property rights (IPRs) after the signing of the TRIPS on agricultural trade and bilateral trade links, for the period 1995-2011. It uses data of agricultural exports and an index of intellectual property (IP) protection that considers...

In this thesis, I dealt with the question if the so-called 'New New Trade Theory' can also be applied to the agricultural sector, and if so, which recommendations arise. The thesis consists of five discussion papers dealing with a special problem each. While the first two papers focus on...

Large chocolate manufacturers have committed themselves to only using certifiedcocoa beans and some governments want to increase the share of certified cocoaproducts consumed in their countries. Thus, Voluntary Sustainability Standards(VSSs) become quasi-mandatory for cocoa producers and...