Abstract
Third-party certification bodies (CBs) audit companies to determine compliance with standards. Using panel data from the British Retail Consortium food program, a leading international food safety standard for manufacturers, we empirically examine determinants of audit grades. We show that on average, audit grades are lower the first-time manufacturers certify, consistent with certification improving food safety practices. Small manufacturers are disadvantaged compared with large (multisite) producers who obtain on average higher grades. We also test and support the hypothesis that a higher degree of CB competition leads to higher grades, raising concern for a potential conflict of interest in certification.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 182-196 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2021 Agricultural & Applied Economics Association.
Funding
The authors are grateful to Antony Harrison, Directory Services Manager at the BRC global standards, and Samuel Crome, Senior Directory Network Administrator for providing data and for their insights about the program. The authors are indebted to Haim Bar, Steven Buck, and Craig Landry for their comments. The authors thank Brendan Costello and Joe Roessler for outstanding research assistance. This work was supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Hatch project 1011683. 1 The authors are grateful to Antony Harrison, Directory Services Manager at the BRC global standards, and Samuel Crome, Senior Directory Network Administrator for providing data and for their insights about the program. The authors are indebted to Haim Bar, Steven Buck, and Craig Landry for their comments. The authors thank Brendan Costello and Joe Roessler for outstanding research assistance. This work was supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Hatch project 1011683.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Brendan Costello and Joe Roessler | |
| USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Hatch | |
| National Institute of Food and Agriculture | 1011683 |
Keywords
- BRC
- audit grade
- certification body
- competition
- food safety certification
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Development
- Economics and Econometrics