Production Contracts and Food Quality: A Transaction Cost Analysis for the Italian Durum Wheat Sector

Angelo Frascarelli, Stefano Ciliberti, Gustavo Magalhães de Oliveira, Gabriele Chiodini and Gaetano Martino
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Angelo Frascarelli: Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia, 06121 Perugia, Italy
Stefano Ciliberti: Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia, 06121 Perugia, Italy
Gustavo Magalhães de Oliveira: Center for Organization Studies (CORS), School of Economics, Business and Accounting (FEA), University of São Paulo (USP), Sao Paulo 05508-011, Brazil
Gabriele Chiodini: Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia, 06121 Perugia, Italy
Gaetano Martino: Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia, 06121 Perugia, Italy

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 5, 1-12

Abstract: Agribusiness firms requiring a consistent supply of high quality agricultural raw materials have increasingly adopted production contracts to coordinate their supply chains. The present work is aimed to shed light on the role played by sources of asset specificity and uncertainty related to quality strategies in the diffusion of contractual arrangements within the Italian durum wheat sector. To this purpose, factor analyses and probit regressions are estimated in data collected among durum wheat producers. The findings confirm that the role of asset specificity is negligible in presence of staple crops. Moreover, they reveal that experience, transparency and technological stability are all relevant aspects that reduce uncertainty and, in turn, trigger the adoption of production contracts as a governance solution for durum wheat.

Keywords: contracts; TCE; quality; uncertainty; agri-food; wheat; Italy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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