The author systematically examines one of the important issues of information — establishing the market price. He introduces the concept of «search» — where a buyer wanting to get a better price, is forced to question sellers. The article deals with various aspects of finding the necessary information.

Economics of Information

The 2008 crash has left all the established economic doctrines - equilibrium models, real business cycles, disequilibria models - in disarray. Part of the problem is due to Smith’s "veil of ignorance": individuals unknowingly pursue society’s interest and, as a result, have no clue as to the macroeconomic effects of their actions: witness the Keynes and Leontief multipliers, the concept of value added, fiat money, Engel’s law and technical progress, to name but a few of the macrofoundations of microeconomics. A good viewpoint to take bearings anew lies in comparing the post-Great Depression institutions with those emerging from Thatcher and Reagan’s economic policies: deregulation, exogenous vs. endoge- nous money, shadow banking vs. Volcker’s Rule. Very simply, the banks, whose lending determined deposits after Roosevelt, and were a public service became private enterprises whose deposits determine lending. These underlay the great moderation preceding 2006, and the subsequent crash.

The Economic Institutions of Capitalism


Purpose
Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.


Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.


Findings
As soon as the UK voted to leave the European Union (EU) in 2017, one of the key discussions among businesses throughout Europe centered on what the likely impact would be on supply chains involving UK companies. Whether you were a mainland European country with supply chain partners in the UK, or a UK manufacturer that depended on European companies for supplies, the uncertainty and potential disruption to well-grooved supply chain processes became a major headache. At first, it was the uncertainty that proved the major issue as governments played politics and refused to define the likely deal that would enable supply chain terms to be put in place. As the UK left the EU and the terms of the overall deal became clearer, firms then had to work out how whether any necessary changes to their supply chains were required.


Practical implications
Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations.


Original/value
The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.


Effective Supply Chain Management

This book opens a fresh chapter in the debate on local enterprise clusters and their strategies for upgrading in the global economy. The authors employ a novel conceptual framework in their research on industrial clusters in Europe, Latin America and Asia and provide new perspectives and insights for researchers and policymakers alike.

Governance in global value chains

The food industry faces many significant risks from public criticism of corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues in the supply chain. This paper draws upon previous research and emerging industry trends to develop a comprehensive framework of supply chain CSR in the industry. The framework details unique CSR applications in the food supply chain including animal welfare, biotechnology, environment, fair trade, health and safety, and labor and human rights. General supply chain CSR issues such as community and procurement are also considered. Ultimately, the framework serves as a comprehensive tool to support food industry practitioners and researchers in the assessment of strategic and operational supply chain CSR practices.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/25123894.pdf

Corporate Social Responsibility in the Supply Chain: An Application in the Food Industry

This paper provides an early assessment of the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for food supply chains and supply chain resilience. The effects of demand-side shocks on food supply chains are discussed, including consumer panic buying behaviors with respect to key items, and the sudden change in consumption patterns away from the food service sector to meals prepared and consumed at home. Potential supply-side disruptions to food supply chains are assessed, including labor shortages, disruptions to transportation networks, and “thickening” of the Canada–U.S. border with respect to the movement of goods. Finally, the paper considers whether the COVID-19 pandemic will have longer-lasting effects on the nature of food supply chains, including the growth of the online grocery delivery sector, and the extent to which consumers will prioritize “local” food supply chains.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/cjag.12237

Food supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic

Observes that supply chain management is a rapidly‐evolving subject which offers many insights into how industries are organized and into the efficiency gains which can be made under different organizational structures, pointing out that it is an interdisciplinary concept, drawing on aspects of marketing, economics, logistics, organizational behaviour, etc. Presents a framework from the economics literature which may be useful for those interested in understanding and exploring the concept of supply chain management. Describes the origins and development of transaction cost analysis and explains the key concepts of the framework. Discusses the potential effects of transaction costs on vertical co‐ordination within an industry and, hence, on supply chain management. Finally, suggests methods for empiricizing transaction cost analysis, resulting in recommendations for closer co‐operation between researchers and business managers.

A transaction cost approach to supply chain management

Transaction cost economics recognizes that transactions do not occur in a frictionless economic environment. Information, negotiation, and monitoring costs arise in any transaction and can influence the vertical coordination outcome. This paper demonstrates a method for measuring the influence of transaction costs on slaughter cattle marketing. The paper focuses on the factors affecting the choice between liveweight (live-ring auction) and deadweight (direct-to-packer) sales. Using Tobit limited dependent variable analysis, data from a survey of UK farmers are used to estimate the relative importance of various transaction costs and farm characteristic variables for the choice of marketing channel.

Measuring the Importance of Transaction Costs in Cattle Marketing

Increased traceability of food and food ingredients through the agri-food chain has featured in recent industry initiatives in the Canadian livestock sector and is an important facet of the new Canadian Agricultural Policy Framework (APF). While traceability is usually implicitly associated with ensuring food safety and delivering quality assurances, there has been very little economic analysis of the functions of traceability systems and the value that consumers place on traceability assurances. This paper examines the economic incentives for implementing traceability systems in the meat and livestock sector. Experimental auctions are used to assess the willingness to pay of Canadian consumers for a traceability assurance, a food safety assurance, and an on-farm production method assurance for beef and pork products. Results from these laboratory market experiments provide insights into the relative value for Canadian consumers of traceability and quality assurances. Traceability, in the absence of quality verification, is of limited value to individual consumers. Bundling traceability with quality assurances has the potential to deliver more value.

/pdf/traceability-in-the-canadian-red-meat-sector-do-consumers-1613tsxdee.pdf

Traceability in the Canadian Red Meat Sector: Do Consumers Care?

The role of food traceability systems in resolving information asymmetry is explored. Three functions of traceability systems are identified: ex post reactive systems that allow the traceback of affected products in the event of a contamination problem so as to minimize social costs, ex post systems that facilitate the allocation of liability, and information systems that provide ex ante quality verification. A taxonomy of traceability systems illustrates the multidimensional nature of the information problems related to food safety and food quality. A model of ex ante quality verification and ex post traceability systems is used to demonstrate the different functions and incentives of a traceability system. Finally, examples of private sector and regulatory traceability initiatives are discussed within the context of the ex post and ex ante models developed in the paper. [EconLit citations: Q130; Q180; L150.] © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Agribusiness 20: 397–415, 2004.

Jill E. Hobbs

Papers

Food supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic

A transaction cost approach to supply chain management

Measuring the Importance of Transaction Costs in Cattle Marketing

Traceability in the Canadian Red Meat Sector: Do Consumers Care?

Information asymmetry and the role of traceability systems