both certification and trademarks are available. Shapiro’s (1983) model ofreputation is extended to reflect both collective … and firm-specific reputations, and this framework isused to study certification and trademarks for food products with a … withasymmetric information and moral hazard problems, credible certification schemes reduce the costof establishing reputation and …

Certification Programs,' estimates the consumer welfare benefits from the increase in scope of USDA beef quality certification … has been offered as a reason for the decline. Certification programs provide producers a new way to differentiate and … consumer welfare by approximately 2% of beef expenditure. The second essay, 'Grading and Quality Certification in Beef …

This paper focuses on consumer confusion when firms may choose between credible and non-credible certification systems … equilibria, in which either all firms select the credible certification or all firms select the non-credible certification. A … situation with numerous confused consumers is characterized by the complete absence of credible certification. …