Article

Quality Labels and Firm Survival: Some First Empirical Evidence

Christophe Bontemps, Zohra Bouamra-Mechemache, and Michel Simioni

Abstract

European Union regulation on quality food products (protected designations of origin (PDO) labelling) is expected to sustain competitiveness within the agricultural sector. This paper examines the impact of this policy on the survival of cheese firms over the period 1990–2006 in France. We show that such a policy (Appellation d’Origine Controle´e) reduces exiting risk for smaller firms. However, smaller firms still have a lower survival rate compared with larger ones that cannot be compensated by the quality label effect.

Keywords

quality label; firm survival; PDO;

JEL codes

  • L10: General
  • Q13: Agricultural Markets and Marketing • Cooperatives • Agribusiness
  • Q18: Agricultural Policy • Food Policy

Replaces

Christophe Bontemps, Zohra Bouamra-Mechemache, and Michel Simioni, Quality Labels and Firm Survival in the French Cheese Industry, TSE Working Paper, n. 12-335, April 2012.

Reference

Christophe Bontemps, Zohra Bouamra-Mechemache, and Michel Simioni, Quality Labels and Firm Survival: Some First Empirical Evidence, European Review of Agricultural Economics, vol. 40, n. 3, 2013, pp. 413–439.

Published in

European Review of Agricultural Economics, vol. 40, n. 3, 2013, pp. 413–439