IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/ajagec/v107y2025i1p54-80.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Regulatory decentralization and food safety: evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Wen Lin
  • Jiangyuan Liang

Abstract

It is not clear, a priori, whether a centralized or decentralized institutional arrangement is better at providing public goods. This study investigates how decentralization of regulatory authority affects public good provision, focusing on food safety. Using a natural experiment that transfers food safety regulatory authority over the food processing and manufacturing sector from provincial to city‐level governments, we find a 51% decrease in the average number of food safety incidents within cities that experienced the decentralization reform. Decentralization reduces food safety incidents by rectifying information asymmetry in food safety regulations and by increasing local food safety laws and regulations. Additional analyses show that decentralization primarily improves the food safety of larger and more experienced firms, and it has not harmed the total revenue of large‐scale food processing and manufacturing firms. Our study demonstrates the importance of information available to regulatory authorities in food safety regulation and highlights the role of local information in the decentralized provision of public goods.

Suggested Citation

  • Wen Lin & Jiangyuan Liang, 2025. "Regulatory decentralization and food safety: evidence from China," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 107(1), pages 54-80, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:ajagec:v:107:y:2025:i:1:p:54-80
    DOI: 10.1111/ajae.12484
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ajae.12484
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ajae.12484?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peng, Yala & Li, Jiajie & Xia, Hui & Qi, Siyuan & Li, Jianhong, 2015. "The effects of food safety issues released by we media on consumers’ awareness and purchasing behavior: A case study in China," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 44-52.
    2. Chantal Toledo & Sofia Berto Villas-Boas, 2019. "Safe or Not? Consumer Responses to Recalls with Traceability," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(3), pages 519-541, September.
    3. Ernest Liu & Yi Lu & Wenwei Peng & Shaoda Wang, 2022. "Judicial Independence, Local Protectionism, and Economic Integration: Evidence from China," NBER Working Papers 30432, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Mergele, Lukas & Weber, Michael, 2020. "Public employment services under decentralization: Evidence from a natural experiment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    5. Laurian J. Unnevehr & Helen H. Jensen, 1996. "HACCP as a Regulatory Innovation to Improve Food Safety in the Meat Industry," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 78(3), pages 764-769.
    6. David Atkin, 2016. "The Caloric Costs of Culture: Evidence from Indian Migrants," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(4), pages 1144-1181, April.
    7. Klapper, Leora & Laeven, Luc & Rajan, Raghuram, 2006. "Entry regulation as a barrier to entrepreneurship," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(3), pages 591-629, December.
    8. Zhangkai Huang & Lixing Li & Guangrong Ma & Lixin Colin Xu, 2017. "Hayek, Local Information, and Commanding Heights: Decentralizing State-Owned Enterprises in China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(8), pages 2455-2478, August.
    9. Fan, C. Simon & Lin, Chen & Treisman, Daniel, 2009. "Political decentralization and corruption: Evidence from around the world," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(1-2), pages 14-34, February.
    10. Timothy Besley & Maitreesh Ghatak, 2003. "Incentives, Choice, and Accountability in the Provision of Public Services," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 19(2), pages 235-249, Summer.
    11. repec:ner:ucllon:http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/17678/ is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Guojun He & Shaoda Wang & Bing Zhang, 2020. "Watering Down Environmental Regulation in China," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 135(4), pages 2135-2185.
    13. Pranab Bardhan & Dilip Mookherjee, 2006. "Decentralisation and Accountability in Infrastructure Delivery in Developing Countries," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 116(508), pages 101-127, January.
    14. Li, Huijuan & Long, Ruyin & Chen, Hong, 2013. "Economic transition policies in Chinese resource-based cities: An overview of government efforts," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 251-260.
    15. Laurian J. Unnevehr, 2022. "Addressing food safety challenges in rapidly developing food systems," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 53(4), pages 529-539, July.
    16. Wooldridge, Jeffrey M., 2005. "Violating Ignorability Of Treatment By Controlling For Too Many Factors," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(5), pages 1026-1028, October.
    17. Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C. & Zhao, Jun, 2020. "Doubly robust difference-in-differences estimators," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 219(1), pages 101-122.
    18. Hamilton, Stephen F. & Sunding, David L. & Zilberman, David, 2003. "Public goods and the value of product quality regulations: the case of food safety," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(3-4), pages 799-817, March.
    19. Charles M. Tiebout, 1956. "A Pure Theory of Local Expenditures," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(5), pages 416-416.
    20. David J. Deming, 2014. "Using School Choice Lotteries to Test Measures of School Effectiveness," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(5), pages 406-411, May.
    21. Pozo, Veronica F. & Schroeder, Ted C., 2016. "Evaluating the costs of meat and poultry recalls to food firms using stock returns," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 66-77.
    22. Besley, Timothy & Coate, Stephen, 2003. "Centralized versus decentralized provision of local public goods: a political economy approach," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(12), pages 2611-2637, December.
    23. Callaway, Brantly & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C., 2021. "Difference-in-Differences with multiple time periods," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 200-230.
    24. Lin, Wen & Ma, Baojie & Liang, Jiangyuan & Jin, Shaosheng, 2024. "Price response to government disclosure of food safety information in developing markets," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    25. Aghion, Philippe & Tirole, Jean, 1997. "Formal and Real Authority in Organizations," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(1), pages 1-29, February.
    26. Jie Bai & Ludovica Gazze & Yukun Wang, 2022. "Collective Reputation in Trade: Evidence from the Chinese Dairy Industry," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 104(6), pages 1121-1137, November.
    27. Ollinger, Michael & Houser, Matthew, 2020. "Ground beef recalls and subsequent food safety performance," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    28. Han, Li & Kung, James Kai-Sing, 2015. "Fiscal incentives and policy choices of local governments: Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 89-104.
    29. Mark T. Buntaine & Michael Greenstone & Guojun He & Mengdi Liu & Shaoda Wang & Bing Zhang, 2024. "Does the Squeaky Wheel Get More Grease? The Direct and Indirect Effects of Citizen Participation on Environmental Governance in China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 114(3), pages 815-850, March.
    30. Francisco A. Gallego, 2010. "Historical Origins of Schooling: The Role of Democracy and Political Decentralization," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(2), pages 228-243, May.
    31. John M. Antle, 2000. "No Such Thing as a Free Safe Lunch: The Cost of Food Safety Regulation in the Meat Industry," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 82(2), pages 310-322.
    32. Barankay, Iwan & Lockwood, Ben, 2007. "Decentralization and the productive efficiency of government: Evidence from Swiss cantons," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(5-6), pages 1197-1218, June.
    33. Ashley Spalding & Rachael E. Goodhue & Kristin Kiesel & Richard J. Sexton, 2023. "Economic impacts of food safety incidents in a modern supply chain: E. coli in the romaine lettuce industry," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 105(2), pages 597-623, March.
    34. John M. Antle, 1996. "Efficient Food Safety Regulation in the Food Manufacturing Sector," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 78(5), pages 1242-1247.
    35. Xavier Giroud, 2013. "Proximity and Investment: Evidence from Plant-Level Data," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 128(2), pages 861-915.
    36. Galiani, Sebastian & Gertler, Paul & Schargrodsky, Ernesto, 2008. "School decentralization: Helping the good get better, but leaving the poor behind," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(10-11), pages 2106-2120, October.
    37. Joana Naritomi, 2019. "Consumers as Tax Auditors," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(9), pages 3031-3072, September.
    38. Lan Liu & Chengyan Yue, 2012. "Investigating the impact of SPS standards on trade using a VES model," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 39(3), pages 511-528, July.
    39. Sigman, Hilary, 2005. "Transboundary spillovers and decentralization of environmental policies," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 82-101, July.
    40. Joshua D. Coval & Tobias J. Moskowitz, 1999. "Home Bias at Home: Local Equity Preference in Domestic Portfolios," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(6), pages 2045-2073, December.
    41. Bardhan, Pranab & Mookherjee, Dilip, 2005. "Decentralizing antipoverty program delivery in developing countries," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(4), pages 675-704, April.
    42. Richards, Timothy J. & Nganje, William E. & Acharya, Ram N., 2009. "Public Goods, Hysteresis, and Underinvestment in Food Safety," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 34(3), pages 1-19, December.
    43. Tirole, Jean, 1986. "Hierarchies and Bureaucracies: On the Role of Collusion in Organizations," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 2(2), pages 181-214, Fall.
    44. Holtkamp, Nicholas & Liu, Peng & McGuire, William, 2014. "Regional patterns of food safety in China: What can we learn from media data?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 459-468.
    45. Dela-Dem Doe Fiankor & Daniele Curzi & Alessandro Olper, 2021. "Trade, price and quality upgrading effects of agri-food standards [Endogenous Trade Policy with Heterogeneous Firms]," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 48(4), pages 835-877.
    46. John Bovay, 2023. "Food safety, reputation, and regulation," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 45(2), pages 684-704, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Chen, Jidong & Shi, Xinzheng & Zhang, Ming-ang & Zhang, Sihan, 2024. "Centralization of environmental administration and air pollution: Evidence from China," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    2. Kis-Katos, Krisztina & Sjahrir, Bambang Suharnoko, 2017. "The impact of fiscal and political decentralization on local public investment in Indonesia," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 344-365.
    3. Michele Cincera & Antonio Estache & Wolf Alexander, 2012. "Would Less Fiscal Decentralization Reduce Public Sector Size across Sectors in Europe ?," Working Papers ECARES ECARES 2012-028, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    4. Gertler, Paul J. & Patrinos, Harry Anthony & Rubio-Codina, Marta, 2012. "Empowering parents to improve education: Evidence from rural Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 68-79.
    5. Chowdhury, Shyamnal & Yamauchi, Futoshi & Dewina, Reno, 2009. "Governance decentralization and local infrastructure provision in Indonesia:," IFPRI discussion papers 902, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    6. Emilie Caldeira & Martial Foucault & Grégoire Rota-Graziosi, 2014. "Does Decentralization Facilitate Access to Poverty-Related Services? Evidence from Benin," NBER Chapters, in: African Successes, Volume I: Government and Institutions, pages 57-102, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Kong, Dongmin & Liu, Chenhao, 2024. "Centralization and regulatory enforcement: Evidence from personnel authority reform in China," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    8. Cao, Chunfang & Li, Xiaoyang & Xia, Changyuan, 2021. "The complicit role of local government authorities in corporate bribery: Evidence from a tax collection reform in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    9. Mergele, Lukas & Weber, Michael, 2020. "Public employment services under decentralization: Evidence from a natural experiment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    10. Kerui Du & Qilin Huang & Presley K. Wesseh, 2025. "Domestic Pollution Havens: Linking Interregional Capital Flight and Water Pollution Regulation in China," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 88(1), pages 125-161, January.
    11. Kong, Dongmin & Kong, Gaowen & Liu, Shasha & Zhu, Ling, 2022. "Does competition cause government decentralization? The case of state-owned enterprises," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(4), pages 1103-1122.
    12. Buerger, Christian & Lincove, Jane Arnold & Mata, Catherine, 2023. "How context shapes the relationship between school autonomy and test-scores. An explanatory analysis using PISA 2015," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    13. Astrid Marie Jorde Sandsør & Torberg Falch & Bjarne Strøm, 2022. "Long‐run Effects of Local Government Mergers on Educational Attainment and Income," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 84(1), pages 185-213, February.
    14. Grégoire ROTA-GRAZIOSI & Emilie CALDEIRA, 2014. "La décentralisation dans les pays en développement : une revue de la littérature - Decentralization in developing countries: A literature review," Working Papers 201411, CERDI.
    15. Oumarou Zallé & Pousseni Bakouan, 2024. "Spillover effects of fiscal decentralization on access to basic social services in Burkina Faso," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), March.
    16. Guccio, Calogero & Pignataro, Giacomo & Rizzo, Ilde, 2014. "Do local governments do it better? Analysis of time performance in the execution of public works," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 237-252.
    17. Galiani, Sebastian & Gertler, Paul & Schargrodsky, Ernesto, 2008. "School decentralization: Helping the good get better, but leaving the poor behind," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(10-11), pages 2106-2120, October.
    18. Manabu Nose, 2022. "Decentralized provision of disaster aid: aid fragmentation and the poverty implications," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(5), pages 1098-1127, October.
    19. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Santiago Lago-Peñas & Agnese Sacchi, 2017. "The Impact Of Fiscal Decentralization: A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1095-1129, September.
    20. Han, Li, 2013. "Is centralized teacher deployment more equitable? Evidence from rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 65-76.

    More about this item

    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:wly:ajagec:v:107:y:2025:i:1:p:54-80. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1467-8276 .

    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.