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Rent Seeking and Political Economy of Geographical Indication Foods

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  • Chiara Landi
  • Gianluca Stefani

Abstract

ABSTRACT Protected Designation of Origin and Protected Geographical Indication are European labeling regulations aimed at protecting names of origin and traditional methods of production of specialty foods. Property rights on these marks are allocated, by a public authority, to a specific area. However, the size of the protected area is hardly defined solely on technical characteristics, rather it is often an issue of political debate among different stakeholders (producers and consumers). This paper aims at investigating the bargaining process leading to the definition of a Geographical Indication area. Drawing on historical evidence from three cases, we build a three‐stage Political Economy Model in which the size of the protected area is endogenously determined. The resulting politically optimal area is compared to the social optimum. Results show that lobbying strength, quantity supplied, and market potential play an important role in explaining deviations from the social optimum.

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  • Chiara Landi & Gianluca Stefani, 2015. "Rent Seeking and Political Economy of Geographical Indication Foods," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(4), pages 543-563, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:agribz:v:31:y:2015:i:4:p:543-563
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1002/agr.21412
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    Cited by:

    1. Koen Deconinck & Johan Swinnen, 2014. "The Political Economy of Geographical Indications," LICOS Discussion Papers 35814, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, KU Leuven.
    2. Cei, Leonardo & Stefani, Gianluca & Defrancesco, Edi & Lombardi, Ginevra Virginia, 2018. "Geographical indications: A first assessment of the impact on rural development in Italian NUTS3 regions," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 620-630.
    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. Leonardo Cei & Edi Defrancesco & Gianluca Stefani, 2018. "From Geographical Indications to Rural Development: A Review of the Economic Effects of European Union Policy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-21, October.
    5. Valentina Raimondi & Chiara Falco & Daniele Curzi & Alessandro Olper, 2020. "Trade effects of geographical indication policy: The EU case," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(2), pages 330-356, June.
    6. Koen Deconinck & Jo Swinnen, 2021. "The Size of Terroir: A Theoretical Note on Economics and Politics of Geographical Indications," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(1), pages 321-328, February.
    7. Meloni, Giulia & Swinnen, Johan, 2018. "Trade and terroir. The political economy of the world’s first geographical indications," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 1-20.
    8. Annalisa Zezza & Federica Demaria & Maria Rosaria Pupo d'Andrea & Jo Swinnen & Giulia Meloni & Senne Vandevelde & Alessandro Olper & Daniele Curzi & Valentina Raimondi & Sophie Drogue, 2018. "Research for AGRI Committee - Agricultural trade: assessing reciprocity of standards," Working Papers hal-02787948, HAL.
    9. 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).
    10. Cei, Leonardo & Stefani, Gianluca & Defrancesco, Edi, 2021. "How do local factors shape the regional adoption of geographical indications in Europe? Evidences from France, Italy and Spain," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    11. Daniele Curzi & Martijn Huysmans, 2022. "The Impact of Protecting EU Geographical Indications in Trade Agreements," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 104(1), pages 364-384, January.
    12. Giulia Meloni & Kym Anderson & Koen Deconinck & Johan Swinnen, 2019. "Wine Regulations," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(4), pages 620-649, December.
    13. Susana López‐Bayón & Marta Fernández‐Barcala & Manuel González‐Díaz, 2020. "In search of agri‐food quality for wine: Is it enough to join a geographical indication?," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(4), pages 568-590, October.
    14. Cei, Leonardo & Stefani, Gianluca & Defrancesco, Edi, 2020. "The role of group-time treatment effect heterogeneity in long standing European agricultural policies. An application to the European geographical indication policy," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 9(1), April.

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