Public goods and the value of product quality regulations: the case of food safety

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Hamilton, SF; Sunding, DL; Zilberman, D
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Berkeley; University of Arizona
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/S0047-2727(01)00103-7
• 发表日期: 2003
• 页码: 799-817
• 关键词: voting choice; consumer behavior; public goods

摘要

The paper examines preferences for product quality regulations. Our premise is that preferences for product quality regulations derive from preferences for both private and public goods. The model is used to explain public attitudes toward a referendum measure to eliminate pesticide residues on food. Results from a survey of consumers are consistent with the conceptual model and show that preferences for public goods influence support for the product quality regulation. The results help explain why consumption behavior is a poor predictor of political behavior, and have implications for methods that use voting and market behavior to value public goods. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.