IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecmode/v81y2019icp518-532.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do denominations of origin provide useful quality signals? The case of Bordeaux wines

Author

Listed:
  • Livat, Florine
  • Alston, Julian M.
  • Cardebat, Jean-Marie

Abstract

This paper investigates whether the existing Denominations of Origin (DOs) provide useful quality signals for wine consumers. To test our conjecture that the large number of existing DOs is too many for the typical consumer, we investigate the patterns of co-movement among average monthly wholesale prices for red wines from the 11 main DOs in Bordeaux over 16 years, 1999–2014. Our results indicate that consumers substitute among these wines according to the similarity of semantic elements in the names of DOs on the labels, and not according to prices or terroir that could reflect intrinsic quality where the names as such cannot. This finding suggests that the current DOs are too numerous and complex to provide helpful quality signals to consumers. A substantial reduction of the number of DOs might be warranted to better address the broader informational issue in wine markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Livat, Florine & Alston, Julian M. & Cardebat, Jean-Marie, 2019. "Do denominations of origin provide useful quality signals? The case of Bordeaux wines," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 518-532.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:81:y:2019:i:c:p:518-532
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2018.06.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264999317315468
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econmod.2018.06.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. van Ittersum, Koert & Candel, Math J. J. M. & Meulenberg, Matthew T. G., 2003. "The influence of the image of a product's region of origin on product evaluation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 56(3), pages 215-226, March.
    2. Yoram Barzel, 1997. "Measurement Cost and the Organization of Markets," Chapters, in: Svetozar Pejovich (ed.), The Economic Foundations of Property Rights, chapter 13, pages 171-192, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Bramley, Cerkia & Kirsten, Johann F., 2007. "Exploring the Economic Rationale for Protecting Geographical Indicators in Agriculture," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 46(1), pages 1-25, March.
    4. Johan F. M. Swinnen & Jill McCluskey & Nathalie Francken, 2005. "Food safety, the media, and the information market," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 32(s1), pages 175-188, January.
    5. MacKinnon, James G & Haug, Alfred A & Michelis, Leo, 1999. "Numerical Distribution Functions of Likelihood Ratio Tests for Cointegration," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(5), pages 563-577, Sept.-Oct.
    6. Steven Tadelis, 1999. "What's in a Name? Reputation as a Tradeable Asset," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(3), pages 548-563, June.
    7. Dubois, Pierre & Nauges, Céline, 2010. "Identifying the effect of unobserved quality and expert reviews in the pricing of experience goods: Empirical application on Bordeaux wine," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 205-212, May.
    8. Selnes, Fred & Troye, Sigurd Villads, 1989. "Buying expertise, information search, and problem solving," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 411-428, November.
    9. Venus Khim-Sen Liew, 2004. "Which Lag Length Selection Criteria Should We Employ?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 3(33), pages 1-9.
    10. Stigler, George J & Sherwin, Robert A, 1985. "The Extent of the Market," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 28(3), pages 555-585, October.
      • Stigler, George J. & Sherwin, Robert A., 1983. "The Extent of the Market," Working Papers 31, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    11. Peter Sephton & Janelle Mann, 2013. "Threshold Cointegration: Model Selection with an Application," Journal of Economics and Econometrics, Economics and Econometrics Society, vol. 56(2), pages 54-77.
    12. Daniel Pick, 2008. "Geographical Indications and the Competitive Provision of Quality in Agricultural Markets," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 90(3), pages 794-812.
    13. Beysül Aytaç & Guillaume Coqueret & Cyrille Mandou, 2018. "Herding behavior among wine investors," Post-Print hal-02312228, HAL.
    14. Beysül Aytaç & Guillaume Coqueret & Cyrille Mandou, 2018. "Herding behavior among wine investors," Post-Print hal-02011061, HAL.
    15. Masset, Philippe & Weisskopf, Jean-Philippe, 2018. "Wine indices in practice: Nicely labeled but slightly corked," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 555-569.
    16. Johansen, Soren & Juselius, Katarina, 1990. "Maximum Likelihood Estimation and Inference on Cointegration--With Applications to the Demand for Money," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 52(2), pages 169-210, May.
    17. Jill J. McCluskey & Johan F.M. Swinnen, 2004. "Political Economy of the Media and Consumer Perceptions of Biotechnology," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 86(5), pages 1230-1237.
    18. Stéphan Marette, 2005. "The Collective-Quality Promotion in the Agribusiness Sector: An Overview," Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) Publications (archive only) 05-wp406, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University.
    19. Hakenes, Hendrik & Peitz, Martin, 2008. "Umbrella branding and the provision of quality," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 546-556, March.
    20. Jay Pil Choi, 1998. "Brand Extension as Informational Leverage," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 65(4), pages 655-669.
    21. Anderson, Kym & Nelgen, Signe, 2012. "Trade Barrier Volatility and Agricultural Price Stabilization," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 36-48.
    22. Cuellar, Steven S. & Karnowsky, Dan & Acosta, Frederick, 2009. "The Sideways Effect: A Test for Changes in the Demand for Merlot and Pinot Noir Wines," Journal of Wine Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(2), pages 219-232, January.
    23. Helmut Lütkepohl & Pentti Saikkonen & Carsten Trenkler, 2001. "Maximum eigenvalue versus trace tests for the cointegrating rank of a VAR process," Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 4(2), pages 1-8.
    24. Wickens, Michael R., 1996. "Interpreting cointegrating vectors and common stochastic trends," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 255-271, October.
    25. Dronne, Yves & Tavéra, Christophe, 1992. "Substitution dans l'alimentation animale : l'apport des modèles de séries temporelles," Cahiers d'Economie et de Sociologie Rurales (CESR), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), vol. 23.
    26. Ashenfelter, Orley & Ciccarella, Stephen & Shatz, Howard J., 2007. "French Wine and the U.S. Boycott of 2003: Does Politics Really Affect Commerce?," Journal of Wine Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(1), pages 55-74, April.
    27. Dolado, Juan J & Jenkinson, Tim & Sosvilla-Rivero, Simon, 1990. "Cointegration and Unit Roots," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(3), pages 249-273.
    28. Combris, Pierre & Lecocq, Sebastien & Visser, Michael, 1997. "Estimation for a Hedonic Price Equation for Bordeaux Wine: Does Quality Matter?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(441), pages 390-402, March.
    29. Fackler, Paul L. & Goodwin, Barry K., 2001. "Spatial price analysis," Handbook of Agricultural Economics, in: B. L. Gardner & G. C. Rausser (ed.), Handbook of Agricultural Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 17, pages 971-1024, Elsevier.
    30. Johansen, Soren, 1995. "Likelihood-Based Inference in Cointegrated Vector Autoregressive Models," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198774501, Decembrie.
    31. Ali, Héla Hadj & Lecocq, Sébastien & Visser, Michael, 2010. "The Impact of Gurus: Parker Grades and en primeur Wine Prices," Journal of Wine Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(1), pages 22-39, April.
    32. Van Campenhout, Bjorn, 2007. "Modelling trends in food market integration: Method and an application to Tanzanian maize markets," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 112-127, February.
    33. Barry K. Goodwin & Nicholas E. Piggott, 2001. "Spatial Market Integration in the Presence of Threshold Effects," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 83(2), pages 302-317.
    34. Meloni, Giulia & Swinnen, Johan, 2013. "The Political Economy of European Wine Regulations," Journal of Wine Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(3), pages 244-284, December.
    35. Engle, Robert & Granger, Clive, 2015. "Co-integration and error correction: Representation, estimation, and testing," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 39(3), pages 106-135.
    36. Kjell G. Salvanes, 1997. "Market Delineation and Demand Structure," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 79(1), pages 139-150.
    37. Aytaç, Beysül & Coqueret, Guillaume & Mandou, Cyrille, 2018. "Herding behavior among wine investors," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 318-328.
    38. Auteri, Monica & Costantini, Mauro, 2010. "A panel cointegration approach to estimating substitution elasticities in consumption," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 782-787, May.
    39. Jason A. Winfree & Jill J. McCluskey, 2005. "Collective Reputation and Quality," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 87(1), pages 206-213.
    40. James Fogarty, 2010. "The Demand For Beer, Wine And Spirits: A Survey Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 428-478, July.
    41. Verlegh, Peeter W. J. & Steenkamp, Jan-Benedict E. M., 1999. "A review and meta-analysis of country-of-origin research," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 521-546, October.
    42. Giovanni Anania & Rosanna Nisticò, 2004. "Public Regulation as a Substitute for Trust in Quality Food Markets: What if the Trust Substitute cannot be Fully Trusted?," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 160(4), pages 681-701, December.
    43. Robert J. Myers & T.S. Jayne, 2012. "Multiple-Regime Spatial Price Transmission with an Application to Maize Markets in Southern Africa," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 94(1), pages 174-188.
    44. Christopher B. Barrett & Jau Rong Li, 2002. "Distinguishing between Equilibrium and Integration in Spatial Price Analysis," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 84(2), pages 292-307.
    45. Jean-Marie Cardebat & Jean-Marc Figuet, 2004. "What explains Bordeaux wine prices?," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(5), pages 293-296.
    46. Durham, Catherine A. & Pardoe, Iain & Vega-H, Esteban, 2004. "A Methodology for Evaluating How Product Characteristics Impact Choice in Retail Settings with Many Zero Observations: An Application to Restaurant Wine Purchase," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 29(1), pages 1-20, April.
    47. Granger, Clive W J, 1986. "Developments in the Study of Cointegrated Economic Variables," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 48(3), pages 213-228, August.
    48. Orth, U.R. & Krska, P., 2001. "Quality Signals In Wine Marketing: The Role Of Exhibition Awards," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 4(4), pages 1-13.
    49. Shabbar Jaffry & Sean Pascoe & Catherine Robinson, 1999. "Long run price flexibilities for high valued UK fish species: a cointegration systems approach," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(4), pages 473-481.
    50. Tim Josling, 2006. "The War on Terroir: Geographical Indications as a Transatlantic Trade Conflict," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(3), pages 337-363, September.
    51. Carl Shapiro, 1983. "Premiums for High Quality Products as Returns to Reputations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 98(4), pages 659-679.
    52. Klaus G. Grunert, 2005. "Food quality and safety: consumer perception and demand," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Foundation for the European Review of Agricultural Economics, vol. 32(3), pages 369-391, September.
    53. Listorti, Giulia & Esposti, Roberto, 2012. "Horizontal Price Transmission in Agricultural Markets: Fundamental Concepts and Open Empirical Issues," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 1(1), pages 1-28, April.
    54. Stuart Landon & Constance E. Smith, 1998. "Quality Expectations, Reputation, and Price," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 64(3), pages 628-647, January.
    55. T. A. Lloyd & S. McCorriston & C. W. Morgan & A. J. Rayner, 2006. "Food scares, market power and price transmission: the UK BSE crisis," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Foundation for the European Review of Agricultural Economics, vol. 33(2), pages 119-147, June.
    56. Deaton, Angus S & Muellbauer, John, 1980. "An Almost Ideal Demand System," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(3), pages 312-326, June.
    57. Vogelvang, E, 1992. "Hypotheses Testing Concerning Relationships between Spot Prices of Various Types of Coffee," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 7(2), pages 191-201, April-Jun.
    58. Minot, Nicholas, 2010. "Transmission of World Food Price Changes to African Markets and its Effect on Household Welfare," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 58563, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhanguo Zhu & Qinyuan Shen & Zhifeng Gao, 2022. "Consumer choices in agricultural markets with multitier collective labels and private brands," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(4), pages 905-922, October.
    2. Catherine Haeck & Giulia Meloni & Johan Swinnen, 2019. "The Value of Terroir: A Historical Analysis of the Bordeaux and Champagne Geographical Indications," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(4), pages 598-619, December.
    3. Marta Martínez-Arnáiz & Eugenio Baraja-Rodríguez & Daniel Herrero-Luque, 2022. "Multifunctional Territorialized Agri-Food Systems, Geographical Quality Marks and Agricultural Landscapes: The Case of Vineyards," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-28, March.
    4. Pecchioli, Bruno & Moroz, David, 2023. "Do geographical appellations provide useful quality signals? The case of Scotch single malt whiskies," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    5. Masset, Philippe & Maurer, Frantz, 2021. "Mitigating downside risk of portfolio diversification: Wine versus other tangible assets," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    6. Luca Cattivelli & Federico Antonioli, 2023. "When cointegration is interrupted: Price transmission analysis in the Italian dairy‐feed industry," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(3), pages 744-761, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pecchioli, Bruno & Moroz, David, 2023. "Do geographical appellations provide useful quality signals? The case of Scotch single malt whiskies," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    2. Florine Livat, 2007. "Mesure des interactions de prix : une analyse des modalités de substitution parmi sept vins de Bordeaux," Économie et Prévision, Programme National Persée, vol. 180(4), pages 127-145.
    3. Catherine Haeck & Giulia Meloni & Johan Swinnen, 2019. "The Value of Terroir: A Historical Analysis of the Bordeaux and Champagne Geographical Indications," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(4), pages 598-619, December.
    4. Nzuma, Jonathan Makau & Kirui, Patrick Kipruto, 2021. "Transmission of global wheat prices to domestic markets in Kenya: A cointegration approach," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 16(1), March.
    5. Menival, David & Charters, Steve, 2014. "The impact of geographic reputation on the value created in Champagne," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 58(2), April.
    6. Ankamah-Yeboah, Isaac, 2012. "Spatial Price Transmission in the Regional Maize Markets in Ghana," MPRA Paper 49720, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Irz, Xavier & Mazzocchi, Mario & Réquillart, Vincent & Soler, Louis-Georges, 2015. "Research in Food Economics: past trends and new challenges," Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement, Editions NecPlus, vol. 96(01), pages 187-237, March.
    8. Eleni Constantinou & Avo Kazandjian & Georgios P. Kouretas & Vera Tahmazian, 2008. "Common Stochastic Trends Among The Cyprus Stock Exchange And The Ase, Lse And Nyse," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(4), pages 327-349, October.
    9. Asai Manabu & Peiris Shelton & McAleer Michael & Allen David E., 2020. "Cointegrated Dynamics for a Generalized Long Memory Process: Application to Interest Rates," Journal of Time Series Econometrics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(1), pages 1-18, January.
    10. Ijambo, Bertha Deshimona, 2017. "An econometric analysis of spatial market integration and price formation in the Namibian sheep industry," Research Theses 334744, Collaborative Masters Program in Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    11. Babatunde O. Abidoye & Marlene Labuschagne, 2014. "The transmission of world maize price to South African maize market: a threshold cointegration approach," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 45(4), pages 501-512, July.
    12. Zou, Gao Lu, 2012. "The long-term relationships among China's energy consumption sources and adjustments to its renewable energy policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 456-467.
    13. Ivan Djuric & Linde Götz & Thomas Glauben, 2015. "Are Export Restrictions an Effective Instrument to Insulate Domestic Prices Against Skyrocketing World Market Prices? The Wheat Export Ban in Serbia," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(2), pages 215-228, April.
    14. Noriega Antonio E. & Ramos Francia Manuel & Rodríguez-Pérez Cid Alonso, 2015. "Money Demand Estimations in Mexico and of its Stability 1986-2010, as well as Some Examples of its Uses," Working Papers 2015-13, Banco de México.
    15. Shehu Usman Rano Aliyu, 2010. "Exchange rate volatility and export trade in Nigeria: an empirical investigation," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(13), pages 1071-1084.
    16. Sungill Han & Chanjin Chung & Prasanna Surathkal, 2017. "Impacts of Increased Corn Ethanol Production on Price Asymmetry and Market Linkages in Fed Cattle Markets," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(3), pages 378-402, June.
    17. Maswana, Jean-Claude, 2010. "Will China’s Recovery Affect Africa’s Prospects for Economic Growth?," Working Papers 19, JICA Research Institute.
    18. Masset, Philippe & Weisskopf, Jean-Philippe & Cardebat, Jean-Marie & Faye, Benoît & Le Fur, Eric, 2021. "Analyzing the risks of an illiquid and global asset: The case of fine wine," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 1-25.
    19. Nassar S. Al-Nassar & Razzaque H. Bhatti, 2019. "Are common stocks a hedge against inflation in emerging markets?," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 43(3), pages 421-455, July.
    20. Eleftherios J. Thalassinos & Evagelos D. Politis, 2011. "International Stock Markets: A Co-integration Analysis," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(4), pages 113-130.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Quality signal; Wine; Denomination of origin; Cointegration; Substitution; Price;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C32 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes; State Space Models
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • Q11 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Aggregate Supply and Demand Analysis; Prices
    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:81:y:2019:i:c:p:518-532. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/30411 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.