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 firms the lower their efforts directed at food safety. We test this proposition using original primary data from a voluntary programme...

The European General Food Law of 2005 and the newly promulgated FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FFSMA) of 2010 ask all food operators to implement preventive efforts. In this article, we explore the link between firm’s size and preventive efforts. We show two main results. First, when there...

This article deals with the issue of entry into an industry where firms share a collective reputation. First, we show that free entry is not socially optimal; there is a need for regulation through the imposition of a minimum quality standard. Second, we argue that a minimum quality standard can...

We consider an industry where firms produce goods that have different quality levels but firms cannot differentiate themselves from rivals. In this situation, producing low-quality generates a negative externality on the whole industry. This is particularly true when consumers cannot identify...

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 firms the lower their efforts directed at food safety. We test this proposition using original primary data from a voluntary programme...

Si la maîtrise de la qualité organoleptique et de la fraîcheur reste la cause principale de l'insatisfaction du consommateur, les distributeurs anticipent d'ores et déjà les effets que pourrait avoir une crise de confiance des consommateurs vis-à-vis de la qualité sanitaire des fruits et...

This paper presents empirical work grounded in the soft budget constraint (SBC) literature. A loan is soft when a bank cannot commit the enterprise to hold to a fixed initial budget and/or the timing of repayment. Using data collected by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development...