The Marketing of Organic Products: An Instrumental/Symbolic Perspective

ABSTRACT

The fact that organic products are growing in popularity is indisputable. This article looks at organics from an instrumental/symbolic perspective and discusses the marketing implications associated with this perspective. Additionally, the article identifies a number of issues for future research that should be examined in the context of organic product marketing.     

Household Use of Agricultural Chemicals for Soil-Pest Management and Own Labor for Yard Work

In spite of its potential health and environmental risks and contribution to agribusiness, the use of agricultural chemicals for yard care has not been well studied. In our discrete-continuous choice model, estimated with data from a national survey, a household chooses how much money, if any, to initially spend on types of agricultural chemicals and applicators and how much time to subsequently spend on other yard work. Households in big cities or with large gardens are more likely to use organic chemicals. The probability that a household chooses a mix of do-it-yourself and hired applications of synthetic chemicals increases with income, age, and the presence of preschoolers. Among households that apply only synthetic chemicals without hired help, those with young children, with higher incomes, in big cities, and with male heads spend more on the chemicals. The time that such households spend on other yard work increases with expenditures on the chemicals. Cancellation of a pesticide registration might create an extra private cost for households with young children even though the ban might reduce external costs.     

Non-compliance in organic farming: A cross-country comparison of Italy and Germany

This paper describes the Italian and German organic certification systems, including the institutions involved and the definitions of non-compliance and sanctions. Although they are both implementations of the same EU regulatory framework, these systems differ in many respects. Case study data from control bodies on non-compliance and sanctions are presented and analysed using binary choice models. This analysis shows that the occurrence of slight non-compliance and greater farm acreage are significant risk factors that explain severe non-compliance in both countries. However, to implement an efficient risk-based inspection system in the future, the data collection process must be improved and extended to examine personal attributes of farmers and operators.     

Is environmental labeling certification a “green passport” for firm exports in emerging economies? Evidence from China

As the demand for more environmentally friendly products continues to increase, environmental label certification (ELC), as a voluntary environmental practice (VEP), has become a commonly used strategy by firms responding the green demands of the international market. While ELC is playing an increasingly important role in global trade, how ELC affects firms’ exports, especially how it affects the exports of those firms in emerging economies, remains unknown. This study explores the impact of ELC on firms’ exports. Insights are provided from resource-based views (RBV) by analysing China's A-share listed manufacturing firms to estimate the impact of China's ELC on exports. Our empirical results show that ELC can promote firms’ exports, because ELC emphasizes firms to reduce pollutant from the source, thereby, brings about cost advantage and green product differentiated advantage to boost high-quality exports. Using a series of robustness tests, we provide corroborating evidence for our hypotheses. The export-enhancing effect of ELC is impacted by the institutional context of emerging economies, as specialized market intermediaries and greater openness to the global market strengthen the export-enhancing effect of ELC. This research not only contributes to the literature, but also provides a reference for policy-makers and managers in using ELC to develop green trade.     

The socio-economic impact of certification schemes in conflict-affected regions: The case of arabica coffee in the Eastern DRC

The paper investigates the benefits of certification of cooperatives in conflict-affected areas. We study whether and how certification may contribute to attenuate the impact of conflicts on the members of coffee cooperatives in the Eastern DRC. We use an inverse probability weighted difference-in-difference approach to study data collected between December 2017 and October 2019 from four NGO-supported cooperatives. Two of these cooperatives got organic certification in 2018, of which one got an additional Small Producers Symbol (SPP) certification in 2018. Certified cooperatives allow Arabica coffee producers to access markets and buffer against drops in market prices. Results indicate that certified cooperatives were better able to resist the international price drop than non-certified cooperatives and the alternative informal markets. The results also suggest that certified cooperative members increased their sales to the cooperative instead of turning to informal side-selling. We find a decrease in reported food deficits by the members of certified cooperatives and an increase in the importance of coffee in their household's income. We conclude that certification is an effective way forward for smallholder coffee producers and cooperatives in unstable regions.     

基于绿色生产的闭环供应链决策及认证标准研究

在考虑绿色生产的基础上，以单一制造商、零售商和回收商组成的闭环供应链为研究对象，构建以制造商为主导的无认证集中决策、分散决策和有认证集中决策Stackelberg博弈模型，研究不同模型下的供应链决策和政府绿色认证标准，并用算例仿真对比分析消费者绿色偏好和企业信誉对各决策的影响。结果表明：在不进行绿色认证的情况下，集中决策闭环供应链利润和污染物减排量大于分散决策；政府总能够制定合理的绿色认证标准，使制造商自愿认证的同时，提高供应链收益和减少碳排放；不同模型下的最优决策均会随着消费者绿色偏好的增加而提高，无认证模型下还会随着企业信誉的增加而提高。     

确权抑制农户宅基地退出意愿了吗 ——来自川豫皖三省的微观调查

研究目的：分析确权对农户宅基地退出意愿的影响并探究禀赋效应的中介作用和社会资本在其中的调节作用，为落实宅基地确权政策提供经验借鉴。研究方法：有序Probit、逐步回归以及基于Bootstrap有调节的中介作用检验方法。研究结果：（1）确权对农户宅基地退出意愿有显著负向影响，在考虑选择性偏误后，结果依然显著。（2）禀赋效应在确权抑制农户宅基地退出意愿中发挥部分中介作用。（3）社会资本能够削弱禀赋效应对宅基地退出意愿的抑制作用。（4）对于户主年龄较大的农户家庭和宅基地距离县区更近的农户而言，确权对宅基地退出意愿的负向影响作用更大。研究结论：细化确权颁证工作内容，通过政策宣传引导农户正确认识确权的目的和意义，同时重视社会资本等非正式制度在宅基地退出中的补充作用，因地因人制定宅基地退出政策，分类保障农户差异性权益需求，充分激发宅基地确权的政策效果。     

The Value of Mandatory Certification: A Real Effects Perspective

We study the real effects of certification to demonstrate the value of mandatory certification over and above mandatory disclosure in enhancing investment efficiency. In our model, a firm's manager selects a project to maximize the firm's short-term stock price, which is a function of her certification and disclosure decisions about the outcome of the project. Although the manager might be either forthcoming or strategic with regard to the disclosure of her private information, she can strategically choose whether to incur a cost or not to certify her disclosure, unless mandated. The manager always selects the first-best project when both certification and disclosure are mandatory. However, when certification is voluntary, project selection is inefficient. In addition, mandating disclosure without mandating certification can lead to lower investment efficiency than mandating neither. In justifying why mandatory certification is beneficial for public firms, our results offer a note of caution regarding the contemplated regulatory moves for increased disclosures by public firms without corresponding certification requirements, for example, the recent SEC proposal requiring extensive climate-related disclosure.     

Boosting Foreign Investment: The Role of Certification of Corporate Governance

This paper studies the economic consequences of certification of corporate governance practices. For identification, we exploit a recent cross-country initiative by a coalition of key institutions in Southeast Asia; the periodic publication of a “Top List” of companies in the region selected based on an independent assessment of corporate governance practices. Our results suggest that being included in the list induces an increase in foreign investment and changes in corporate governance practices. The announcement of the Top List elicits a positive stock market response among constituents and is followed by higher accounting performance. Overall, the evidence suggests that the certification of governance practices is a meaningful tool to boost foreign investment.