Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-cjp7w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-21T02:22:04.639Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Agricultural Organization in an Era of Traceability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 April 2015

Michael Sykuta
Michael Sykuta*
Affiliation:
Agribusiness, Division of Applied Social Sciences, andContracting and Organizations Research Institute, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

From production to retail, information systems have become increasingly important in the agrifood system. Retailers use information systems to improve inventory management and increase efficiency in production and logistics. Innovations in agribiotechnology and food safety issues highlighted by incidences related to Starlink corn and “mad cow disease” have raised consumer concerns about their food products. In addition to food safety concerns, consumers are increasingly willing to pay premiums for nonobservable quality characteristics in their food products. This paper outlines a framework for evaluating the implications of traceability for the organization of the agricultural system and highlights potential organizational responses to traceability issues.

Keywords

agrifood systemcontractingorganizational economicstraceabilityL14L22L23Q13
Type
Invited Paper Sessions
Information
Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics , Volume 37 , Issue 2 , August 2005 , pp. 365 - 377
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 2005

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, J., and Hudson, D.. “Potential Impact of Country-of-Origin Labeling on Beef Industry Structure.” Choices 19(2004). Internet site: http://www.choicesmagazine.org/2004-4/index.htm (Accessed January 11, 2005).Google Scholar
Baker, G., and Hubbard, T.. “Contractibility and Asset Ownership: On-Board Computers and Governance in U.S. Trucking.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 119(2004):1443–1479.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, G., and Hubbard, T.. “Make Versus Buy in Trucking: Asset Ownership, Job Design, and Information.” American Economic Review 93(2003):551–572.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnes, J.N. “Regulation of Agricultural Biotechnology and Vertical Control in the Global Agri-Food Chain: An Application of the Coasian Lens.” Ph.D. dissertation. University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004.Google Scholar
Brickley, J., Smith, C., and Zimmerman, J.. Managerial Economics and Organizational Architecture. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2001.Google Scholar
Buhr, B. “Traceability and Information Technology in the Meat Supply Chain: Implications for Firm Organization and Market Structure.” Journal of Food Distribution Research 34(2003):13–26.Google Scholar
Cachon, G. “The Allocation of Industry Risk in a Supply Chain: Push, Pull, and Advance-Purchase Discount Contracts.” Management Science 50(2004):222–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cachon, G. “On the Operational Implication of Continuous Product Replenishment in the Grocery Industry.” Ph.D. dissertation. The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, November 1995.Google Scholar
Cachon, G., and Fisher, M.. “Supply Chain Inventory Management and the Value of Shared Information.” Management Science 46(2000):1032–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carter, C, and Gruere, G.. “International Approaches to the Labeling of Genetically Modified Foods.” Choices 18(2003). Internet site: http://www.choicesmagazine.org/2003-2/index.htm (Accessed January 11, 2005).Google Scholar
Claus, R. “Supply Chains, Quality Assurance and Traceability Using ISO 9000-2000 in Ariculture,” Product Differentiation and Market Segmentation in the Grains and Oilseeds Industry, Farm Foundation. Internet site: http://www.farmfoundation.org/projects/03-43ConferencePapers.htm, 2003 (Accessed January 12, 2005).Google Scholar
Collins, J. “‘Slap and Ship’ Drives Automation.” RFID Journal Nov. 1, 2004. Internet site: http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/1217/1/1/ (Accessed January 10, 2005).Google Scholar
Golan, E., Krissoff, B., Kuhler, F., Calvin, L., Nelson, K., and Price, G.. “Traceability in the U.S. Food Supply: Economic Theory and Industry Studies.” Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Economic Report No. 830, March 2004.Google Scholar
Grossman, S., and Hart, O.. “The Costs and Benefits of Ownership: A Theory of Vertical and Lateral Integration.” Journal of Political Economy 94(1986):691–719.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hart, O. “Corporate Governance: Some Theory and Implications.” The Economic Journal 105(1995):678–689.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hart, O., and Holmström, B.. “The Theory of Contracts.” Advances in Economic Theory. Bewley, T.R., ed., pp. 369–98. Fifth World Congress. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.Google Scholar
Hart, O., and Moore, J.. “Property Rights and the Nature of the Firm.” Journal of Political Economy 98(1990):1119–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hipp, J., and Francis, H.. “The Legal Environment Facing Economic Agents in Production.” Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics 37,2(August 2005):this issue.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobbs, J.E. “Information Asymmetry and the Role of Traceability Systems.” Agribusiness 20(2004):397–415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoyle, D.ISO 9000:2000, An A-Z Guide. Oxford, UK: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2003.Google Scholar
Hubbard, T.N. “Information, Decisions, and Productivity: On-Board Computers and Capacity Utilization in Trucking.” American Economic Review 93(2003):1328–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ISO, International Organization for Standards. About ISO. Internet site: http://www.iso.org/iso aboutiso/introduction/index.html (Accessed January 10, 2005).Google Scholar
Jensen, M., and Meckling, W.. “Theory of the Firm: Managerial Behavior, Agency Theory, and Organizational Structure.” Journal of Financial Economics 3(1976):305–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liddell, S., and Bailey, D.. “Market Opportunities and Threats to the US Pork Industry Imposed by Traceability Systems.” International Food and Agribusiness Management Review 4(2001):287–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loureiro, M. “GMO Food Labelling in the EU: Tracing ‘the Seeds of Dispute.’“ EuroChoices 2(2003):18–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mahoney, J. “The Choice of Organizational Form: Vertical Financial Ownership Versus Other Methods of Vertical Integration.” Strategic Management Journal 13(1992):559–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martinez, S., and Zering, K.. “Pork Quality and the Role of Market Organization,” Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Economic Report No. 835, October 2004.Google Scholar
Smyth, S., and Phillips, P.W.B.. “Product Differentiation Alternatives: Identity Presevation, Segregation, and Traceability.” AgBioForum 5(2002):30–42.Google Scholar
Sykuta, M., and Parceli, J.. “Contract Structure and Design in Identity-Preserved Soybean Production.” Review of Agricultural Economics 25(2003):332–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Varian, H. “With evolving technology, good monitors makes for better contracts,” New York Times, August 23, 2001.Google Scholar
Williamson, O.The Economics Institutions of Capitalism: Firms, Markets, Relational Contracting. New York: The Free Press, 1985.Google Scholar