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Is Fair Trade Honey Sweeter? An Empirical Analysis on the Effect of Affiliation on Productivity

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Abstract

We evaluate the impact of affiliation to Fair Trade on a sample of Chilean honey producers. Evidence from standard regressions and propensity score matching shows that affiliated farmers have higher productivity (income from honey per worked hour) than the control sample. Additional results on the effects of affiliation on training, cooperation and advances on payments suggest that affiliation contributed both to, and independently from, the economies of scale effect. Therefore, we show that the productivity effect is partially explained by the superior capacity of affiliated workers to exploit economies of scale.

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  • Leonardo Becchetti & Stefano Castriota, 2009. "Is Fair Trade Honey Sweeter? An Empirical Analysis on the Effect of Affiliation on Productivity," CEIS Research Paper 141, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 30 Jun 2009.
    • Handle: RePEc:rtv:ceisrp:141
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    Cited by:

    1. Leonardo Becchetti & Stefano Castriota & Melania Michetti, 2013. "The effect of fair trade affiliation on child schooling: evidence from a sample of Chilean honey producers," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(25), pages 3552-3563, September.
    2. Alexander Kadow, 2011. "The Fair Trade movement:an economic perspective," Working Papers 2011_05, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    3. Leonardo Becchetti & Marco Costantino, 2010. "Fair Trade in Italy: Too Much ‘Movement’ in the Shop?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 92(2), pages 181-203, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    fair trade; economies of scale; productivity.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • O19 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - International Linkages to Development; Role of International Organizations
    • O22 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Project Analysis

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