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Leniency and Loyalty in the Choice of Certifiers: Evidence from the BRC Food Safety Standard

Author

Listed:
  • Talia Bar

    (University of Connecticut)

  • Yuqing Zheng

    (University of Kentucky)

Abstract

Standards play a vital role in promoting food safety. Certification bodies audit manufacturing sites to certify them for a standard. Using data from the British Retail Consortium global standards program, we offer a glimpse at the market for and examine manufacturers’ choices of certification bodies. Manufacturers prefer geographically close certifiers and those that assigned a higher share of A grades in the previous year. This behavior provides an incentive for lenient grading. We also find a strong tendency of manufacturers to return to the same certification body that audited their site in the previous year.

Suggested Citation

  • Talia Bar & Yuqing Zheng, 2016. "Leniency and Loyalty in the Choice of Certifiers: Evidence from the BRC Food Safety Standard," Working papers 2016-22, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:uct:uconnp:2016-22
    Note: Talia Bar is the corresponding author
    as

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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Certifiers; Certification bodies; food safety; standard; product quality; audit grade; British Retail Consortium;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L66 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Food; Beverages; Cosmetics; Tobacco
    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets

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