IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/gagfdp/143583.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Impact of Third-Party Enforcement of Contracts in Agricultural Markets - A Field Experiment in Vietnam

Author

Listed:
  • Saenger, Christoph
  • Torero, Maximo
  • Qaim, Matin

Abstract

We study the effect of alleviating information asymmetry regarding product quality that is widespread in developing-country agricultural markets. Opportunistic buyers may underreport quality levels back to farmers to reduce the price they have to pay. In response, farmers may curb investment, negatively affecting farm productivity. In an experiment, we entitle randomly selected smallholder dairy farmers in Vietnam to independently verify milk testing results. Treatment farmers use 13 percent more inputs and also increase their output. We show that the buying company had initially not underreported product quality, which is why third-party monitoring led to a Pareto improvement in the supply chain.

Suggested Citation

  • Saenger, Christoph & Torero, Maximo & Qaim, Matin, 2013. "Impact of Third-Party Enforcement of Contracts in Agricultural Markets - A Field Experiment in Vietnam," GlobalFood Discussion Papers 143583, Georg-August-Universitaet Goettingen, GlobalFood, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:gagfdp:143583
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.143583
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/143583/files/GlobalFood_DP18.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.143583?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
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tomislav Vukina & Porametr Leegomonchai, 2006. "Oligopsony Power, Asset Specificity, and Hold-Up: Evidence from the Broiler Industry," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 88(3), pages 589-605.
    2. Esther Duflo & Michael Kremer & Jonathan Robinson, 2008. "How High Are Rates of Return to Fertilizer? Evidence from Field Experiments in Kenya," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(2), pages 482-488, May.
    3. Minten, Bart & Randrianarison, Lalaina & Swinnen, Johan F.M., 2009. "Global Retail Chains and Poor Farmers: Evidence from Madagascar," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(11), pages 1728-1741, November.
    4. Nava Ashraf & Xavier Giné & Dean Karlan, 2009. "Finding Missing Markets (and a Disturbing Epilogue): Evidence from an Export Crop Adoption and Marketing Intervention in Kenya," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 91(4), pages 973-990.
    5. Barrett, Christopher B., 1996. "On price risk and the inverse farm size-productivity relationship," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 193-215, December.
    6. Key, Nigel & Runsten, David, 1999. "Contract Farming, Smallholders, and Rural Development in Latin America: The Organization of Agroprocessing Firms and the Scale of Outgrower Production," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 381-401, February.
    7. Masakure, Oliver & Henson, Spencer, 2005. "Why do small-scale producers choose to produce under contract? Lessons from nontraditional vegetable exports from Zimbabwe," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1721-1733, October.
    8. Sandmo, Agnar, 1971. "On the Theory of the Competitive Firm under Price Uncertainty," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 61(1), pages 65-73, March.
    9. Wu, Steven Y. & Roe, Brian E., 2007. "AJAE Appendix: Contract Enforcement, Social Efficiency, and Distribution: Some Experimental Evidence," American Journal of Agricultural Economics APPENDICES, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 89(2), pages 1-30, May.
    10. Gow, Hamish R & Swinnen, Johan F M, 1998. "Up- and Downstream Restructuring, Foreign Direct Investment, and Hold-Up Problems in Agricultural Transition," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 25(3), pages 331-350.
    11. Shawn Cole & Xavier Gine & Jeremy Tobacman & Petia Topalova & Robert Townsend & James Vickery, 2013. "Barriers to Household Risk Management: Evidence from India," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 104-135, January.
    12. Steven Y. Wu & Brian Roe, 2007. "Contract Enforcement, Social Efficiency, and Distribution: Some Experimental Evidence," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 89(2), pages 243-258.
    13. Dries, Liesbeth & Germenji, Etleva & Noev, Nivelin & Swinnen, Johan F.M., 2009. "Farmers, Vertical Coordination, and the Restructuring of Dairy Supply Chains in Central and Eastern Europe," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(11), pages 1742-1758, November.
    14. Jia, Xiangping & Huang, Jikun & Luan, Hao & Rozelle, Scott & Swinnen, Johan, 2012. "China’s Milk Scandal, government policy and production decisions of dairy farmers: The case of Greater Beijing," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 390-400.
    15. Johann Kirsten & Kurt Sartorius, 2002. "Linking agribusiness and small-scale farmers in developing countries: Is there a new role for contract farming?," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(4), pages 503-529.
    16. Elizaphan J. O. Rao & Bernhard Brümmer & Matin Qaim, 2012. "Farmer Participation in Supermarket Channels, Production Technology, and Efficiency: The Case of Vegetables in Kenya," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 94(4), pages 891-912.
    17. Throsby, David, 1994. "The Production and Consumption of the Arts: A View of Cultural Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 32(1), pages 1-29, March.
    18. Dries, Liesbeth & Swinnen, Johan F. M., 2004. "Foreign Direct Investment, Vertical Integration, and Local Suppliers: Evidence from the Polish Dairy Sector," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(9), pages 1525-1544, September.
    19. Michael E. Sykuta & Michael L. Cook, 2001. "A New Institutional Economics Approach to Contracts and Cooperatives," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 83(5), pages 1273-1279.
    20. Steven D. Levitt & John A. List, 2007. "What Do Laboratory Experiments Measuring Social Preferences Reveal About the Real World?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(2), pages 153-174, Spring.
    21. Christoph Saenger & Matin Qaim & Maximo Torero & Angelino Viceisza, 2013. "Contract farming and smallholder incentives to produce high quality: experimental evidence from the Vietnamese dairy sector," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 44(3), pages 297-308, May.
    22. Marc F. Bellemare, 2010. "Agricultural extension and imperfect supervision in contract farming: evidence from Madagascar," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 41(6), pages 507-517, November.
    23. George A. Akerlof, 1970. "The Market for "Lemons": Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 84(3), pages 488-500.
    24. Gow, Hamish R. & Streeter, Deborah H. & Swinnen, Johan F. M., 2000. "How private contract enforcement mechanisms can succeed where public institutions fail: the case of Juhocukor a.s," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 253-265, September.
    25. Israel Finkelshtain & James A. Chalfant, 1991. "Marketed Surplus under Risk: Do Peasants Agree with Sandmo?," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 73(3), pages 557-567.
    26. Ruth Hill & Angelino Viceisza, 2012. "A field experiment on the impact of weather shocks and insurance on risky investment," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 15(2), pages 341-371, June.
    27. Reardon, Thomas & Barrett, Christopher B. & Berdegué, Julio A. & Swinnen, Johan F.M., 2009. "Agrifood Industry Transformation and Small Farmers in Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(11), pages 1717-1727, November.
    28. Mergenthaler, Marcus & Weinberger, Katinka & Qaim, Matin, 2009. "The food system transformation in developing countries: A disaggregate demand analysis for fruits and vegetables in Vietnam," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 426-436, October.
    29. Linda M. Young & Jill E. Hobbs, 2002. "Vertical Linkages in Agri-Food Supply Chains: Changing Roles for Producers, Commodity Groups, and Government Policy," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 24(2), pages 428-441.
    30. Dean Yang, 2008. "Integrity for Hire: An Analysis of a Widespread Customs Reform," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 51(1), pages 25-57, February.
    31. Baron, David P, 1970. "Price Uncertainty, Utility, and Industry Equilibrium in Pure Competition," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 11(3), pages 463-480, October.
    32. Marc F. Bellemare & Christopher B. Barrett & David R. Just, 2013. "The Welfare Impacts of Commodity Price Volatility: Evidence from Rural Ethiopia," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 95(4), pages 877-899.
    33. Ashraf, Nava & Giné, Xavier & Karlan, Dean S., 2009. "AJAE appendix for “Finding Missing Markets (and a Disturbing Epilogue): Evidence from an Export Crop Adoption and Marketing Intervention in Kenya”," American Journal of Agricultural Economics APPENDICES, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 91(4), pages 1-9, February.
    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. Sandip Mitra & Dilip Mookherjee & Maximo Torero & Sujata Visaria, 2018. "Asymmetric Information and Middleman Margins: An Experiment with Indian Potato Farmers," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 100(1), pages 1-13, March.
    2. Nicholas Minot & Loraine Ronchi, 2014. "Contract Farming," World Bank Publications - Reports 24249, The World Bank Group.
    3. Romero, Cristina & Wollni, Meike, 2015. "Supplier dynamics in horticultural export chains – Evidence from Ecuador. Revised version," GlobalFood Discussion Papers 209961, Georg-August-Universitaet Goettingen, GlobalFood, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development.
    4. Johan Swinnen, 2016. "Value Chain Innovations for Technology Transfer in Developing and Emerging Economies: Concept, Typology and Policy Implications," Working Papers id:10694, eSocialSciences.
    5. Qaim, Matin & Andersson, Camilla I.M. & Chege, Christine G.K. & Kimenju, Simon Chege & Klasen, Stephan & Rischke, Ramona, 2014. "Nutrition Effects of the Supermarket Revolution on Urban Consumers and Smallholder Farmers in Kenya," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 177204, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    6. Torero, Maximo & Viceisza, Angelino C.G., 2016. "Potential collusion and trust: Evidence from a field experiment in Vietnam," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 11(1), pages 1-11.
    7. Bernard, Tanguy & Hidrobo, Melissa & Le Port, Agnès & Rawat, Rahul, 2017. "Nutrition incentives in dairy contract farming in northern Senegal," IFPRI discussion papers 1629, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    8. Ochieng, Dennis O. & Veettil, Prakashan C. & Qaim, Matin, 2017. "Farmers’ preferences for supermarket contracts in Kenya," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 100-111.

    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. Sylvaine Lemeilleur, 2014. "The role of input vouchers in modernizing the fresh fruit and vegetable market in Turkey," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 45(4), pages 477-487, July.
    2. Sebastian Kunte & Meike Wollni & Claudia Keser, 2017. "Making it personal: breach and private ordering in a contract farming experiment," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 44(1), pages 121-148.
    3. Boyd, Chris M. & Bellemare, Marc F., 2022. "Why not insure prices? Experimental evidence from Peru," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 580-631.
    4. Adu-Gyamfi Poku & Regina Birner & Saurabh Gupta, 2018. "Making Contract Farming Arrangements Work in Africa’s Bioeconomy: Evidence from Cassava Outgrower Schemes in Ghana," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-21, May.
    5. John C. Beghin & Miet Maertens & Johan Swinnen, 2017. "Nontariff Measures and Standards in Trade and Global Value Chains," World Scientific Book Chapters,in: Nontariff Measures and International Trade, chapter 2, pages 13-38 World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    6. John C. Beghin & Miet Maertens & Johan Swinnen, 2017. "Nontariff Measures and Standards in Trade and Global Value Chains," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: John Christopher Beghin (ed.), Nontariff Measures and International Trade, chapter 2, pages 13-38, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    7. Maertens, Miet & Vande Velde, Katrien, 2017. "Contract-farming in Staple Food Chains: The Case of Rice in Benin," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 73-87.
    8. Rob Kuijpers & Johan Swinnen, 2016. "Value Chains and Technology Transfer to Agriculture in Developing and Emerging Economies," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 98(5), pages 1403-1418.
    9. Swinnen, Johan & Kuijpers, Rob, 2019. "Value chain innovations for technology transfer in developing and emerging economies: Conceptual issues, typology, and policy implications," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 298-309.
    10. Abebe, Gumataw K. & Bijman, Jos & Kemp, Ron & Omta, Onno & Tsegaye, Admasu, 2013. "Contract farming configuration: Smallholders’ preferences for contract design attributes," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 14-24.
    11. Swinnen Johan & Vandeplas Anneleen, 2012. "Rich Consumers and Poor Producers: Quality and Rent Distribution in Global Value Chains," Journal of Globalization and Development, De Gruyter, vol. 2(2), pages 1-30, January.
    12. repec:oup:apecpp:v:40:y:2018:i:3:p:379-401. is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Arouna, Aminou & Michler, Jeffrey D. & Lokossou, Jourdain C., 2021. "Contract farming and rural transformation: Evidence from a field experiment in Benin," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    14. Ola, Oreoluwa & Menapace, Luisa, 2020. "Smallholders' perceptions and preferences for market attributes promoting sustained participation in modern agricultural value chains," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    15. Marc F. Bellemare & Yu Na Lee & David R. Just, 2020. "Producer Attitudes Toward Output Price Risk: Experimental Evidence from the Lab and from the Field," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(3), pages 806-825, May.
    16. Bellemare, Marc F. & Bloem, Jeffrey R., 2018. "Does contract farming improve welfare? A review," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 259-271.
    17. Nicholas J. Sitko & Brian Chisanga & David Tschirley & Thomas S. Jayne, 2018. "An evolution in the middle: examining the rise of multinational investment in smallholder grain trading in Zambia," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 10(2), pages 473-488, April.
    18. Ola, Oreoluwa & Menapace, Luisa, 2020. "A meta-analysis understanding smallholder entry into high-value markets," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    19. Maertens, Miet & Swinnen, Johan, 2015. "Agricultural trade and development: A value chain perspective," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2015-04, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    20. de Janvry, Alain & Sadoulet, Elisabeth, 2020. "Using agriculture for development: Supply- and demand-side approaches," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    21. Andersson, Camilla I.M. & Kiria, Christine G. & Qaim, Matin & Rao, Elizaphan J.O., 2013. "Following up on smallholder farmers and supermarkets," GlobalFood Discussion Papers 158142, Georg-August-Universitaet Goettingen, GlobalFood, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agribusiness; Industrial Organization; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; International Development; Livestock Production/Industries;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D86 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Economics of Contract Law
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • Q12 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:ags:gagfdp:143583. 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: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iagoede.html .

    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.