Quality Standards, Value Chains, and International Development
Economic and Political Theory

This book offers the first theoretical analysis of the determination of quality standards and their effects along the value chain.

Johan Swinnen (Author), Koen Deconinck (Author), Thijs Vandemoortele (Author), Anneleen Vandeplas (Author)

9781107688865, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 23 July 2015

339 pages, 35 b/w illus.
22.8 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.5 kg

'Jo Swinnen and his co-authors provide a thought-provoking and timely guide to the economics and politics of the rapidly changing world of differentiated products, supply chains, and product quality regulations. It is a well-written book, rich in conceptual insights and fascinating information. A must-read for students of international trade and marketing in the twenty-first century.' David Zilberman, University of California, Berkeley

Over the past decades, the world has witnessed an unprecedented growth in global value chains, propelled by increasingly demanding quality standards. These trends lead to concerns about the impact of value chains on development and poverty and about the possible protectionist nature of quality standards in rich countries. This book offers the first integrated theoretical analysis of the economic and political factors which determine the level of quality standards, as well as their economic effects along the value chain. Using realistic assumptions motivated by empirical research, the theoretical framework in this book makes it possible to study the efficiency effects as well as the distributional consequences of one of the most striking evolutions affecting global trade and development today.

1. Introduction
2. Modelling standards
3. Efficiency and equity effects of standards
4. The political economy of standards and development
5. International trade and standards
6. Risks, externalities and the nature of standards
7. Endogenous private and public standards in value chains
8. Butterflies and political economy dynamics in standard setting
9. The political economy of standards and inclusion in value chains
10. Standards, production structure and inclusion in value chains
11. Standards, market imperfections and vertical coordination in value chains
12. Market power and vertical coordination in value chains
13. Price transmission in value chains
14. Commodity characteristics and value chain governance
15. Economic liberalisation, value chains and development
16. Standards and value chains with contracting costs: towards a general model
17. General equilibrium effects of standards in value chains.

Subject Areas: International business [KJK], International trade [KCLT], Economics of industrial organisation [KCD]