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International audience; Understanding the hierarchy for consumers between different labels signaling various characteristics defining food sustainability is still an open question. A web survey was conducted in France to examine how providing different scores about the environment and/or nutrition could influence purchase intents for one pizza. 1200 participants were recruited in France in April 2021. They were asked about their purchase intents for one pizza, before and after seeing nutritional and/or ecological scores associated with colors going from green to red. A Global-Score synthetizing both nutritional and ecological dimensions was also tested. The results show that the appearance of scores and colors significantly affect the purchase intents for this pizza. Indeed, for each type of score (namely nutritional, ecological or global), the dominant effect comes from the reduction in purchase intents related to the red color, although green or yellow colors also change purchase intents but to a lesser extent. With the red color, the nutritional score leads to more significant decreases in purchasing intents than the ones related to the ecological score or the Global-Score. With an additional round, the appearance of another score complementing the alternative one underlines that the negative impact of the red color for one score on purchase intents is not outweighed by the positive impact of the green color for the other score.; Comprendre la hiérarchie pour les consommateurs entre les différents labels signalant diverses caractéristiques définissant la durabilité alimentaire est encore une question ouverte. Une enquête en ligne a été menée en France pour examiner comment le fait de fournir différents scores sur l'environnement et/ou la nutrition pouvait influencer les intentions d'achat pour une pizza. 1200 participants ont été recrutés en France en avril 2021. Ils ont été interrogés sur leurs intentions d'achat pour une pizza, avant et après avoir vu les scores nutritionnels et/ou écologiques associés à des couleurs. Un Global-Score synthétisant à la fois les dimensions nutritionnelles et écologiques a également été testé. Les résultats montrent que l'apparition des scores et des couleurs affecte significativement les intentions d'achat pour cette pizza. En effet, pour chaque type de score (à savoir nutritionnel, écologique ou global), l'effet dominant vient de la réduction des intentions d'achat liée à la couleur rouge, bien que les couleurs vertes ou jaunes modifient également les intentions d'achat mais dans une moindre mesure. Avec la couleur rouge, le score nutritionnel entraîne des baisses des intentions d'achat plus importantes que celles liées au score écologique ou au Global-Score. L'apparition d'un autre score complétant le score alternatif souligne que l'impact négatif de la couleur rouge pour un score sur les intentions d'achat n'est pas compensé par l'impact positif de la couleur verte pour l'autre score.

International audience; An economic experiment was conducted in France in 2020 to evaluate consumer attitudes toward two ham products associated with different colorectal cancer risks. We focused specifically on comparing a conventional ham and a new hypothetical antioxidant-enriched ham with a reduced risk of provoking colorectal cancer. Study participants were given descriptions of the two hams before carrying out successive rounds of willingness-to-pay (WTP) assessments. The results show that WTP was higher for the antioxidant-enriched ham than for the conventional ham. WTP estimates were also impacted by providing additional information about the reduction in colorectal cancer risk associated with the antioxidant-enriched ham. Based on the participants’ WTP, we came up with ex ante estimates for the social impacts of introducing the antioxidant-enriched ham onto the market, and we suggest that it would be socially optimal to promote the product. Competition arising from pre-existing product labelling and marketing assertions could greatly limit the market potential of antioxidant-enriched ham, which suggests that alternative approaches may be necessary, such as regulations mandating antioxidant enrichment. These results also concern all countries with high levels of meat consumption.; Une expérimentation économique a été menée en France en 2020 pour évaluer les attitudes des consommateurs par rapport à deux jambons associés à différents risques de cancer colorectal. Nous nous sommes concentrés spécifiquement sur la comparaison d'un jambon conventionnel et d'un nouveau jambon hypothétique enrichi en antioxydants, avec un risque réduit de provoquer un cancer colorectal. Les participants à l'étude ont reçu une description des deux jambons avant de procéder à des séries successives d'évaluations des consentements à payer (CAP). Les résultats montrent que le CAP moyen est plus élevé pour le jambon enrichi en antioxydants que pour le jambon conventionnel. Les CAP ont également été impactés par des informations supplémentaires sur la réduction du risque de cancer colorectal associé au jambon enrichi en antioxydants. Sur la base des CAP des participants, nous avons établi des estimations ex ante des impacts économiques liés à l’introduction du jambon enrichi en antioxydants sur le marché, et nous suggérons qu’il serait socialement optimal de promouvoir ce nouveau produit. La concurrence provenant des étiquetages et des labels préexistants pourrait considérablement limiter le potentiel de vente de ce jambon enrichi en antioxydants. Cela suggère des approches alternatives comme l’enrichissement obligatoire en antioxydants des jambons. Ces résultats concernent également tous les pays à forte consommation de viande.

International audience; We compare consumers’ attitude towards and willingness to pay (WTP) for gene-edited (GE) apples in Europe and the US. Using hypothetical choices in a lab and different technology messages, we estimate WTP of 162 French and 166 US consumers for new apples, which do not brown upon being sliced or cut. Messages center on (i) the social and private benefits of having the new apples, and (ii) possible technologies leading to this new benefit (conventional hybrids, GE, and genetically modified (GMO)). French consumers do not value the innovation and actually discount it when it is generated via biotechnology. US consumers do value the innovation as long as it is not generated by biotechnology. In both countries, the steepest discount is for GMO apples, followed by GE apples. Furthermore, the discounting occurs through “boycott” consumers who dislike biotechnology. However, the discounting is weaker for US consumers compared to French consumers. Favorable attitudes towards sciences and new technology totally offset the discounting of GE apples.; Nous comparons l’attitude des consommateurs et leur consentement à payer (CAP) pour des pommes modifiées via l’édition génétique (GE) en Europe et aux États-Unis. À partir de choix hypothétiques dans un laboratoire et de différents messages sur la technologie, nous estimons le CAP de 162 Français et 166 Américains pour les nouvelles pommes, qui ne brunissent pas après avoir été tranchées. Les messages sont centrés sur (i) les avantages sociaux et privés d'avoir de nouvelles pommes, et (ii) sur les technologies possibles menant à ces nouveaux avantages (hybrides conventionnelles, GE et génétiquement modifiés (OGM)). Les consommateurs français ne valorisent pas l'innovation, et ils la minimisent lorsqu'elle est générée par la biotechnologie. Les consommateurs américains apprécient l'innovation tant qu'elle n'est pas générée par la biotechnologie. Dans les deux pays, la diminution de CAP la plus forte concerne les pommes OGM, suivies par les pommes GE. Cependant, la diminution de CAP est plus faible pour les consommateurs américains que pour les consommateurs français. Les attitudes favorables envers les sciences et les nouvelles technologies compensent totalement la réduction des CAP pour les pommes GE.

International audience; We present a model for research and development (R&D) investment in food innovations based on new plant engineering techniques (NPETs) and traditional hybridization methods. The framework combines uncertain and costly food innovation with consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for the new food. The framework is applied with elicited WTP of French and US consumers for new improved apples. NPETs may be socially beneficial under full information and when the probability of success under NPETs is relatively high. Otherwise, the traditional hybridization is socially optimal. A probable collapse of conventional apples raises the social desirability of new apples generated by NPETs and traditional hybridization.; Nous présentons un modèle d'investissement en recherche et développement (R&D) dans le domaine alimentaire, en prenant en considération les nouvelles techniques d'ingénierie végétale (NTIV) et les méthodes d'hybridation traditionnelles. Le modèle intègre une innovation alimentaire incertaine et coûteuse, ainsi que les consentements à payer des consommateurs (CAP) pour le nouvel aliment. Ce cadre conceptuel est appliqué au cas de nouvelles pommes se conservant plus longtemps et brunissant moins vite, en prenant en compte les CAP des consommateurs français et américains pour ces nouvelles pommes. Il est montré que les NTIV peuvent être socialement bénéfiques dans un contexte d’information complète, et lorsque la probabilité de succès avec ces NTIV est relativement élevée. Sinon, l'hybridation traditionnelle est socialement optimale. Une menace importante sur la production des pommes conventionnelles augmente la désirabilité sociale de nouvelles pommes générées par les NTIV ou l'hybridation traditionnelle.

International audience; Consumers are being encouraged to increase the proportion of plant protein in their diets to enhance the sustainability of food systems. One approach is to develop plant-protein-rich foods that are acceptable to consumers. This study examined French people’s reactions to cheese alternatives—new fermented products that mixed animal and plant protein sources. We conducted experimental sessions with 240 French participants to assess their responses to three fermented products containing different percentages of yellow pea and cow’s milk. First, we asked the participants to blind-taste the three products and solicited hedonic scores of products. We then provided the participants with simple information about the products’ composition and asked them to taste and score the liking of the products a second time. We also asked consumers to estimate their willingness to pay (WTP) for each product before and after revealing additional information about the nutritional or environmental benefits of consuming pea-based foods. The product with the lowest percentage of pea and the highest percentage of milk received the highest hedonic scores, and WTP was correlated with the hedonic scores. The additional information about the nutritional and environmental benefits of pea-based foods led to significant increases in WTP for two of the fermented products, but not for the least preferred product, namely the one with the highest percentage of pea. This finding suggests that participant reactions to information depended on hedonic preferences.; Les consommateurs sont encouragés à augmenter la proportion de protéines végétales dans leur alimentation afin d'améliorer la durabilité des systèmes alimentaires. Une approche consiste à développer des aliments riches en protéines végétales acceptables pour les consommateurs. Cette étude examine les réactions des Français face aux alternatives au fromage - de nouveaux produits fermentés mélangeant des sources de protéines animales et végétales. Nous avons mené des sessions expérimentales avec 240 participants français pour évaluer leurs réponses à trois produits fermentés contenant différents pourcentages de pois jaunes et de lait de vache. Tout d'abord, nous avons demandé aux participants de goûter à l'aveugle les trois produits, et nous avons sollicité leur jugement hédonique. Nous avons ensuite fourni aux participants des informations simples sur la composition des produits et leur avons demandé de goûter à nouveau, en notant le goût des produits une seconde fois. Nous avons également demandé aux consommateurs d'estimer leur consentement à payer (CAP) pour chaque produit avant, et après avoir révélé des informations supplémentaires sur les avantages nutritionnels ou environnementaux de la consommation d'aliments à base de pois. Le produit avec le pourcentage le plus bas de pois et le pourcentage le plus élevé de lait a reçu les scores hédoniques les plus élevés, et les CAP étaient corrélés aux scores hédoniques. Les informations supplémentaires sur les avantages nutritionnels et environnementaux des aliments à base de pois ont conduit à des augmentations significatives du CAP pour deux des produits fermentés, mais pas pour le produit le moins préféré, à savoir celui avec le pourcentage le plus élevé de pois. Cette découverte suggère que les réactions des participants à l'information dépendent des préférences hédoniques.

International audience; No abstract available; Introduction à la rubrique "New and Views" sur la viande

International audience; No abstract available; Ce court article présente les sept articles du numéro spécial sur l'économie et la sociologie du Nexus alimentation-santé-environnement.

International audience; AbstractThis introductory article presents the three main challenges faced in economics to issues raised by dietary models. The first part of this paper examines the dietary models that maximise the health profile of a population under various constraints, including environmental and agronomic criteria. The second part introduces the possibilities of economic modelling to complement these dietary models, despite the limitations of economic approaches. The third part suggests new research proposals by asserting that overlooked questions deserve further scrutiny. We emphasise that economic models are particularly useful to analyse trade-offs between the various objectives underlying a sustainable food system. However, possible improvements should tackle, first, possible substitutions between food categories by consumers; second, adjustments in supply chains; and third, measures of inequality resulting from significant changes towards sustainability. Such improvements may be difficult to realise but are technically possible.; Cet article introductif présente les trois principaux défis auxquels sont confrontés les modèles économiques face aux problèmes soulevés par les modèles alimentaires. La première partie de cet article présente les modèles alimentaires qui maximisent le profil de santé d'une population sous diverses contraintes, incluant des critères environnementaux et agronomiques. La deuxième partie présente les possibilités de modélisation économique permettant de compléter ces modèles alimentaires. La troisième partie suggère de nouvelles propositions de recherche méritant un examen plus approfondi. Nous soulignons que les modèles économiques sont particulièrement utiles pour analyser les compromis entre les différents objectifs définissant un système alimentaire durable. Les améliorations possibles devraient étudier, premièrement, les substitutions possibles entre les catégories d'aliments par les consommateurs, deuxièmement, les ajustements dans les chaînes d'approvisionnement, et troisièmement, les mesures d’inégalités résultant de changements importants pour atteindre la durabilité. De telles améliorations peuvent être difficiles à réaliser, mais elles sont techniquement possibles.

The aims of the present study are to assess the impact of a pleasure-oriented intervention on the nutritional quality of midafternoon snacks chosen by mother-child dyads and to evaluate the evolution of the relationship between the liking and perceived healthiness of the food items offered for the snack choices. Data were collected at two laboratory sessions (T1 and T2), during which children and mothers were separately asked to choose two food items (among 10) for a midafternoon snack, first for themselves and then for the other dyad member. Participants also rated their liking and perceived healthiness of the 10 food items. After T1, dyads were randomly assigned to an experimental group (N = 94) with an in-home pleasure-oriented intervention to stimulate the pleasure of consuming healthy foods or to a control group (N = 93). Our study shows the lack of a significant effect of the intervention on the nutritional quality of snacks chosen at T2. However, for the children in the experimental group, the relationship between liking and perceived healthiness which was not significant at T1 (τmedian = −0.05, P = 0.56) became significant and positive at T2 (τmedian = 0.13, P = 0.002). Moreover, this increase of the relationship in T2 was significantly higher for the experimental group compared to the control group (P = 0.05). For mothers, the existing relationship between liking and perceived healthiness at T1 (τmedian = 0.27, P < 0.001) increased significantly between T1 and T2 (P = 0.006) only in the experimental group, even if this increase was not significantly higher compared to the control group (P = 0.21). Since the relationship between food liking and perceived healthiness in mother-child dyads increased after the intervention, one could argue that this higher positive attitude towards healthy foods could constitute the first step in a behavioural change in favour of healthier choices.

International audience; No abstract available; Présentation de la rubrique "news and views", Cette rubrique vise à rassembler deux ou trois courts articles qui apportent un éclairage nouveau sur un sujet précis. Chaque article propose un point de vue scientifique rédigé par un expert dans son domaine, pour aborder des problèmes négligés, offrir de nouvelles perspectives ou souligner de nouvelles façons de concevoir les réglementations et les politiques.

This article presents a new experimental protocol for estimating consumers’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) for products involved in a reshuffle of geographical indications (GIs), e.g., a change of hierarchical levels within a restricted area. Although the collective reputation of a given GI depends on its temporal stability, reshuffling a GI area could make it better aligned with product quality or consumers’ perception. We first provide a simple theoretical model in which consumers put a negative value on within-GI quality variance, thereby showing that reshuffling the GI designation scheme may increase WTP without any change in product quality. Using the experimental protocol, we evaluate consumer perceptions of different reshuffling scenarios for the vineyards of Marsannay, Burgundy, France. The results reveal a significant increase in WTP for the current distribution of products’ quality. Elicited WTP values are then used to simulate the optimal GI reshuffle. (JEL Classifications: L66, Q18, Q28)

There is an increasing interest in healthy and sustainable product characteristics. Consumers determine their dietary intake and frame production systems with their choices. However, little is known about the relationships between health and environmental information in influencing these choices, especially when considering functional foods. This study assessed the influence of health-related and environmental-friendliness-related product information on the willingness to pay (WTP) for functional foods. To this end, a WTP elicitation experiment was set up using a jam-like fruit compote enriched with Aloe vera gel. Participants were provided with different messages related to the health and environmental benefits of Aloe vera products, and were also asked to taste the product. Results indicated that providing new information significantly increased the WTP for the enriched compote. This increase was significant for both health and environmentally based benefits, with the health message leading to a higher WTP. Combining health and environmental messages produced an additive effect on WTP which was independent of the sequential order in which the two messages were given. Results contrasted the view that health messages are the main drivers of WTP, and open a broader range of communication in terms of marketing strategies and sustainable policy objectives., Il existe un intérêt croissant pour les caractéristiques de santé et durabilité des produits. Cependant, on sait peu de choses sur les relations entre les informations sur la santé et l'environnement et leur influence sur les choix des consommateurs, en particulier en ce qui concerne les aliments « fonctionnels ». Cette étude a évalué l'influence des informations sur la santé et à l'environnement, sur le consentement à payer pour les aliments fonctionnels. Cette expérience se focalise sur une compote de fruit enrichie en Aloe Vera. Les participants ont reçu différents messages concernant les avantages pour la santé et l'environnement des produits à base d'Aloe Vera et ont également été invités à les goûter. Les résultats ont indiqué que la révélation de nouvelles informations augmentait considérablement le consentement à payer (CAP) de la compote enrichie. Cette augmentation est significative tant avec les informations sur la santé qu’avec les informations sur l'environnement, avec le message sur la santé conduisant à un CAP plus élevé. La combinaison des messages relatifs à la santé et à l’environnement a produit un effet additif sur le CAP, indépendant de l’ordre séquentiel dans lequel les deux messages ont été révélés.

This article compares a socially-optimal tax coming from a model integrating consumers&rsquo, preferences for various milks, with a tax directly computed from carbon emissions of milks with carbon prices given by the International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC). Regarding consumers&rsquo, preferences, we conducted an experiment in France for finding consumers&rsquo, willingness-to-pay (WTP) for different bottles coming from either cow&rsquo, s milk or soy milk, under a regular or an organic process of production. This experiment shows higher WTPs for organic bottles than for regular bottles, and higher WTPs for soy milk than for cow&rsquo, s milk. These WTPs were introduced into a model estimating the effects of regulatory instruments. From this model using WTPs, it was shown that, for milk coming from cows and soy, a tax on regular bottles and a subsidy on organic bottles maximized the consumers&rsquo, welfare. This tax on regular bottles was stronger than the tax that was alternatively estimated with the emissions and IPCC carbon prices. Indeed, a tax based on the IPCC carbon prices seemed too weak for efficiently changing the consumption towards sustainable products.

This paper investigates how the residents of a French wine-producing region value the attributes of wine. We elicit the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for organic/non-organic and local/non-local wines with increasing levels of information on the impact of agricultural practices at both global and local scales. The analysis shows that there is a significant organic premium associated with both local and non-local wines. This organic premium significantly increases with information and significantly decreases with the distance between the consumer’s home and the vineyard. Based on the econometric predictions of the WTP, we show that a per-unit tax on non-organic wines or a standard imposing organic practices increases welfare through the internalization of the attributes revealed by the experiment.

International audience; Scientific literature has shown that a partial replacement of meat-based foods with plant-based foods would be beneficial for public health and the environment. However, both lack of sensory attractiveness and lack of consumer awareness regarding benefits of rebalancing diets in favor of plant protein partially explain the low market shares for meat alternatives. In the context of a possible substitution of a meat product (pork-based sausage) by a visually very close counterpart based on vegetable proteins, the objective of this work was to study the possibility of changing consumer preferences towards the plant-based product by gradually providing information concerning the health or environmental consequences of producing and consuming both types of products. We studied consumers’ preferences after a blind tasting, after a tasting in the presence of the packaging, and after the dissemination of two stages of information. The assessment of consumer preferences was carried out using purchase preferences (PP) and willingness to pay (WTP). After the blind tasting, PP were clearly oriented towards the meat product. After the tasting with packaging information, the gap between the two products narrowed, but PP were still turned towards the meat product. The dissemination of a first informative message about either health or the environment was not enough to modify consumers' WTP. Adding a second message concerning health led to an equivalence of the two products studied in terms of WTP and PP. The combination of the two environmentally informative messages also made it possible to obtain an equivalence of the WTP for both products, but the PP were still turned towards the pork product. This suggests that the impact of additional information depends on the information disseminated. Overall, these results militate in favor of the dissemination of information presenting the consequences of the consumption of meat-based or vegetable protein-based products.

First online; International audience; Fish sustainability raises many questions regarding the impact of both generic information and ecolabels on citizens’ consumption. An experiment was conducted in France to evaluate the impact of different types of information on participants’ WTP for canned fish. For starting the experiment, participants bid for canned tuna and sardines, sold without any quality labels. Explanatory messages on health and sustainability were delivered by balancing positive and negative information, and varying the order of information across subgroups. It is shown that only negative descriptions, including the ones on sustainability, lead to significant reductions in WTP for both tuna and sardines. In the second part of the experiment, participants received a new set of canned tuna, with or without quality labels. We observe a significantly higher WTP for canned tuna sold with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) label compared to the WTP for canned tuna sold without any label. This positive premium for such a label indicating the fish sustainability differs from results in the first part of the experiment, in which, for sardines, the only significant message leads to a reduction in WTP, even if sardines are relatively healthy and sustainable.; La durabilité des poissons soulève de nombreuses questions concernant l’impact des informations et des écolabels sur la consommation des citoyens. Une expérience a été menée en France pour évaluer l’impact de différents types d’informations sur les dispositions à payer (DAP) des participants pour des poissons vendus en conserve. Pour commencer l'expérience, les participants ont donné leur DAP pour du thon et des sardines vendues en conserve sans label de qualité. Les messages explicatifs sur la santé et la durabilité ont été révélés en équilibrant les informations positives et négatives, et en faisant varier l'ordre des informations entre les sous-groupes. On montre que seules les descriptions négatives, y compris celles sur la durabilité, entraînent des réductions significatives des DAP pour le thon et les sardines. Dans la deuxième partie de l'expérience, les participants ont reçu un nouvel ensemble de conserves de thon, avec ou sans label de qualité. Nous observons une DAP nettement plus élevée pour le thon en conserve vendu avec l’étiquette du Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) par rapport à la DAP pour le thon vendu sans label de qualité. Cette prime positive pour ce label indiquant la durabilité du poisson diffère des résultats de la première partie de l'expérience, dans laquelle, pour les sardines, le seul message avec un impact significatif conduit à une réduction des DAP, même si les sardines sont relativement saines et durables.

International audience; The aim of this study was to assess the impact of a nutritional traffic-light label, the Nutri-Score, on snack choices in mother-child dyads and to assess a potential hedonic cost associated with a change in favour of healthier choices. French mothers and children (n=95; children's age: 7-11 years) who participated were asked to choose, for themselves and for the other dyad member, a snack composed of one beverage and two food items selected among several products with different nutritional quality. In the first step, the products were presented without any information. In the second step, the products were labelled with the Nutri-Score. Mothers and children were asked to rate their liking for all proposed products before being informed of their nutritional quality. The nutritional quality, the hedonic score, and the estimated budget of the selected snacks were compared before and after labelling. As hypothesized, the Nutri-Score label led to a significant increase in the nutritional quality of the chosen snacks. The budget for the chosen snacks was unchanged or decreased after the nutritional labelling was applied. Children and mothers had significantly lower liking for the snacks after nutritional labelling than before nutritional labelling, suggesting a hedonic cost associated with a change in favour of healthier snack choices. This raises the question of the sustainability of the behavioural change induced by the Nutri-Score label.

In Press Codes Jel : C9; D8; I1; International audience; We evaluate the impact of different types of information on participants' willingness-to-pay (WTP) and quantity choices for both beef and soy burger meat. To this end, we conducted a lab experiment to elicit WTP with multiple-price lists and chosen quantities of two products in a basket. Participants were provided with explanatory messages regarding the impact of beef and soy on health and environment before successive rounds of WTP determinations and quantity choices. Results show a weak impact of successive rounds of messages on WTP for both beef and soy, while leading to higher relative variations for chosen quantities. These relative changes in both WTP and quantities are then combined for computing the value of information. Results show a relatively low value of information compared to the expenditure for beef. In the last section of the paper we evaluate the effect of the introduction of a beef burger labeled “Fed without GMO” on WTP and quantity choices. Results underline a weak impact of “Fed without GMO” label on changing participants' preferences.

This paper analyzes whether or not a standard reducing risks and influencing firms' entry is protectionist and can be interpreted as an illegitimate non-tariff measure (NTM). Domestic and foreign firms compete in selling products in the domestic market, in the presence of possible damages and endogenous sunk costs for reducing the risks of having these damages. A policymaker chooses a standard that is imposed on all firms, but may also impede their ability to enter the domestic market. Welfare can be improved with a legitimate NTM, particularly under relatively high levels of sunk costs and damages, justifying a reduction in the number of firms allowing a higher effort for curbing the expected damage. Protectionism related to an illegitimate NTM occurs when the standard maximizing domestic or foreign welfare is higher than the international standard, maximizing the world (or global) welfare inclusive of all profits and surpluses across countries. The characterization of protectionism is influenced by the domestic or foreign origin of firms, and by the nature of the expected damage incurred at either the production level or the consumption level. Configurations with expected damages related to consumption tend to exhibit more cases of protectionism compared to configurations with expected damages related to production.

Experiments conducted in the US and France were used to study how individuals make trade-offs between health and taste for themselves and others. When someone receives a choice made for them that differs from their preference, they experience a welfare loss; at least in the short-term. We measure the empirical magnitude of this loss, and suggest it play a role in assessing the desirability of paternalistic policies motivated by behavioural economics. We show that the welfare loss changes with the provision of new information and the impact of this information differs for the two countries.

Ce texte présente le projet européen SUSFANS., This paper defines the research agenda of the SUSFANS project, describes its history and its potential societal impacts. It contributes to balanced and encompassing views on how to strengthen food and nutrition security outcomes in the EU and how to improve the performance of the food system in the EU from the perspective of social, environmental and economic sustainability. The research is led by the notion that improvements in the diets of the European consumer must come from, and be supportive of, sustainable food systems. Its holistic, integrative approach builds a set of metrics, models and foresight tools, useable for navigation on sustainable food and nutrition security. This results in a coherent and supported vision on sustainable food and nutrition security in the EU and globally, and underpins a perspective on how EU policies on farming, fishing, food and nutrition could contribute to that vision with greater efficacy than today.

This study analyzes the strategy of one firm offering a new product with willingness to pay (WTP) for the usual and new products elicited in the lab. By using WTP from an experiment, surpluses for consumers choosing between the usual and new products are inferred and lead to an estimated demand for the new product. From this demand, the author shows how to estimate the ex ante price of the new product along with the ex ante level of advertising selected by one firm for informing consumers. The socially optimal level of advertising maximizing the welfare is also determined. The previous methodology is applied to two experiments with food. For a same-advertising formula regarding information diffusion to consumers, the estimated levels of advertising highly differ between these two experiments because of different WTP variations linked to the new product.

JEL : C92; H41; H42; International audience; By combining two different types of experiments in one experimental session, this paper aims at understanding how different contexts may influence participants' choices. This paper focuses on one hybrid experimental session that mixed one voluntary contributions mechanism (VCM), influencing the indemnity received by participants, and one mechanism eliciting willingness to pay (WTP) for milk bottles with public and private attributes. The VCM shows relatively high levels of contributions that are mainly influenced by the positive expectations of participants about the average group contribution, rather than by the variations in the design of this mechanism and the period of experiments. The WTP for milk bottles are particularly sensitive to the order of mechanisms and to the period of experiments. Conversely, the WTP differences between milk bottles for a given round of information are invariant across the order of mechanisms and the period of experiments. For each bottle, the variations of WTP coming from the messages about private and public attributes are also stable over the order of mechanisms and the period of experiments. This confers validity to experiments for measuring WTP for public and private attributes related to food. In other words, these variations of WTP contribute to welfare estimates and are useful to evaluate market regulations focusing on public and/or private attributes.

An experiment with different information treatments was conducted in France and Germany to evaluate consumers willingness to pay (WTP) for food nanotechnology focusing on two applications: nano-fortification with vitamins and nano-packaging. Results show that many consumers in both countries are reluctant to accept nanotechnology in food. Being confronted with general information on nanotechnology, econometric estimations of WTP reveal that French consumers are more reluctant to accept nano-packaging, whereas German consumers are less inclined to accept nano-fortification compared with the respective other application. More detailed information on nanotechnology has a negative impact when voluntary access to relevant information is assured.; Une expérience a été menée en France et en Allemagne afin d'évaluer le consentement à payer des consommateurs pour les nanotechnologies alimentaires en se concentrant sur deux applications: un nano-enrichissement en vitamines et des nano-emballages. Les résultats montrent que de nombreux consommateurs dans les deux pays sont réticents à accepter les nanotechnologies dans les aliments. Des estimations économétriques révèlent que les consommateurs français sont plus réticents à accepter des nano-emballages, alors que les consommateurs allemands sont moins enclins à accepter un nano-enrichissement en vitamines.

Human vaccines against several common foodborne pathogens are being developed and could substantially alter consumer and producer behaviour in the markets for foods commonly afflicted by these pathogens. To understand the possible impacts of such an innovation, we derive and calibrate a partial-equilibrium model using parameters for consumer vaccine uptake from stated-preference work under an array of assumptions concerning industry moral hazard, consumer awareness and alternative preventive effort exercised by consumers. We simulate three scenarios in the U.S. beef sector: the introduction of a vaccine, the tightening of pathogen standards for beef production and the simultaneous introduction of both vaccinations and tighter standards. Our simulation shows that all policies can increase aggregate surplus given most calibrations; though, the largest effects are attributed to vaccine introductions, which reduce expected damages from foodborne illness among vaccinated consumers without shifting firm costs. However, unaware consumers and aware consumers who choose not to vaccinate experience no change in expected damages when a vaccine is introduced but face a higher price of food because of the stronger demand of food from vaccinated consumers.

In recent years, a significant amount of research has focussed on the analysis of consumers' aversion to new technologies in food production and processing. At the same time, research has shown that environmental attitudes may be related to purchasing behaviour of consumers. This paper presents the result of an investigation into Canadian attitudes towards nanotechnology, in general, and in applications in the food industry. The relationship between the food technology neophobia scale, environmental attitudes and nanotechnology is examined. The results suggest that food technology neophobia is significant in explaining attitudes towards nanotechnology, in general, and for food packaging and foods. Environmental attitudes are important in explaining respondents' attitudes towards nanotechnology in general but not in explaining attitudes towards nanotechnology in food packaging or food applications. Survey respondents' views of the role of science and technology in society (makes society worse or better off) are a more important determinant of attitudes towards nanotechnology than whether they had heard of nanotechnology prior to the survey.

A lab experiment was conducted in France to evaluate the impact of health information on consumers’ choices for functional food. Successive messages revealing benefits and uncertainties of consuming yoghurts with added plant sterols for reducing cholesterol were delivered. Results show a significant and positive influence of the message linked to the cholesterol reduction on willingness to pay, even for participants without cholesterol. However participants expressed little interest in information about potential risks and scientific uncertainties, since their impacts on willingness to pay are not always statistically significant. An econometric estimation shows a significant link between the change in willingness to pay and the perception by participants regarding the scientific validity linked to the sterols.; Une expérience en laboratoire a été conduite en France pour évaluer l’impact de l’information concernant l’ajout de stérols dans les yaourts afin de réduire le cholestérol. Les résultats montrent une influence positive de l’information liée à la réduction du cholestérol sur les dispositions à payer des participants, y compris pour les participants sans problèmes de cholestérols. En revanche, les participants montrent peu d’intérêt concernant les informations sur les risques potentiels et sur les incertitudes scientifiques liées aux stérols.

This paper integrates several areas of the literature by more fully developing the linkage between demand estimates and the welfare effects of food labels and bans for three common survey/experimental approaches used to elicit consumer preferences. We present empirical applications related to beef cloning and methylmercury in fish where, for the same data sets, we compare each value elicitation approach in terms of the consumer surplus changes that result from two regulations. Welfare measures vary significantly across the three methodologies, but the sign of the welfare change is invariant across method.; Cet article explore les liens entre des méthodes d’estimation de la demande et les effets d’un label ou d’une interdiction d’un produit sur le bien-être, en tenant compte de trois approches alternatives concernant les dispositions à payer des consommateurs. Des applications relatives au clonage du bœuf et au méthyle-mercure dans le poisson sont présentées, en comparant les variations de surplus liées aux deux instruments réglementaires pour les trois approches. Les mesures de variation du surplus varient significativement avec les trois approches, mais le signe des variations du surplus ne varie pas entre les trois approches.

We designed the CORAI (COnsumer Risk Advisory Inquiry) study to observe consumer reactions' after an advisory revealing risk of methylmercury contamination together with benefits of Long-Chain Poly Unsaturated Fatty Acids of the n-3 variety (LC n-3 PUFA). The message was very close to the ones commonly delivered by national food agencies and included recommendations for women of childbearing age and children below 15 years old. Two groups of subjects including consumers at risk were selected. Participants recorded the frequency of their fish consumption detailed by species for them and their family over a one-month period one month before, a month immediately after and 3 month after the advisory. Results were compared between consumers receiving the advisory and controls. Results show that the message revelation led to a significant decrease in total fish consumption which is greater for children below 6 years old than for the children between 6 and 15 years old and women. The consumption of the most contaminated fish quoted in the advisory, rarely consumed and poorly known by French consumers did not decrease in any group despite the advice to avoid their consumption. The consumption of other fish products quoted in the advisory but frequently consumed and better known, as canned tuna, did decrease and was a major contributor to the overall reduction of exposure for the advised group. Before the information, about 3% of women of childbearing age are exceeding the PTWI for MeHg and both the average and the high percentiles of the exposure to MeHg are decreasing significantly in the advised group. Regarding the number of subjects of the advised group exceeding the PTWI, they were 6, 3 and 2, respectively, in May, June and September. Accompanying questionnaires show that consumers imperfectly memorize most of the fish species quoted in the recommendation. This paper concludes that consumer advisory, which is a major tool for risk management, has a minimal effect under our experimental conditions to reduce the exposure of groups at risk. Messages to be carried to consumers should be carefully tested for long term memorization in order to become more effective.

This paper examines the incentive of atomistic agricultural producers within a specific geographical region to differentiate and collectively market products. We develop a model that allows us to analyze the market and welfare effects of the main types of real-world producer organizations, using it to derive economic insights regarding the circumstances under which these organizations will evolve, and describing implications of the results obtained in the context of an ongoing debate between the European Union and United States. As the anticipated fixed costs of development and marketing increase and the anticipated size of the market falls, it becomes essential to increase the ability of the producer organization to control supply in order to ensure the coverage of fixed costs. Whenever a collective organization allows a market (with a new product) to exist that otherwise would not have existed there is an increase in societal welfare. Counterintuitively, stronger property right protection for producer organizations may be welfare enhancing even after a differentiated product has been developed. The reason for this somewhat paradoxical result is that legislation aimed at curtailing the market power of producer organizations may induce large technological distortions.

International audience; We extend the trade restrictiveness index approach to the case of market imperfections and domestic regulations addressing them. We focus on standard-like non-tariff measures (NTMs) affecting cost of production and potentially enhancing demand by reducing negative externalities. We apply the framework to the database of Kee et al. (2009) and derive ad valorem equivalents (AVEs) for technical measures. About 39% of the product lines affected by NTMs exhibit negative AVEs, indicating a net trade-facilitating effect of these measures. Accounting for these effects significantly reduces previous measures of countries’ trade policy restrictiveness obtained while constraining these NTMs to be trade-reducing.

A également fait l'objet d'une présentation au 97. EAAE Seminar : The economics and policy of diet and health, les 21-23/04/2005 à Reading (GBR) Contrat ; A01944 ; Information environnementale donnée par les entreprises aux marchés; International audience; Dans le prolongement des procès du tabac, l'industrie alimentaire américaine fait face à des poursuites judiciaires, émanant de consommateurs obèses, pour n'avoir pas informé, voire dissimulé, les risques pour la santé liés à la consommation de produits gras. L'article étudie les liens entre différentes règles de responsabilité civile et l'incitation à révéler une information sur les risques. Dans un cadre de concurrence imparfaite, il montre que lorsque le dommage espéré est relativement faible, l'absence de réglementation publique est socialement optimale. Si le dommage espéré n'est pas trop élevé, un label (information nutritionnelle) obligatoire est la meilleure politique. Les différentes règles de responsabilité civiles n'augmentent le bien-être collectif que lorsque les risques sont très élevés et/ou que les consommateurs ont une mauvaise compréhension des informations nutritionnelles.

Cet article offre une revue critique du livre intitule Regulating Health Foods. Policy Challenges and Consumer Conundrums paru chez Edward Elgar, 288 p. (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

An analytical framework where consumers display preferences for various qualities of an agricultural commodity is used to investigate the producer welfare effects of generic advertising assessments. Depending upon the degree of differentiation present in the final goods, some producers are shown to benefit more than others from the use of a uniform, per-unit assessment on all producers. This article delineates those cases where producer assessments should be equal and where assessments should be different to insure an equitable benefit. [EconLit citations: Q130, L110]. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Agribusiness 19: 367–377, 2003.

An analytical framework where heterogeneous consumers are imperfectly informed about product content is used to investigate the welfare effects of a public labeling system. Although a mandatory label that reads “Does Contain” or one that reads “Does Not Contain” genetically modified organisms (GMOs) provides information for both the labeled and the unlabeled goods, there is no reason why these labels should cause the same welfare effects. This paper shows that the two labels imply different distortions due to the associated cost of labeling. It is shown that the label “Does Contain” should be used if the ratio of consumers with a strong reluctance for consuming GMO goods to indifferent consumers is high, while the label “Does Not Contain” should be used if this ratio is low. Given the findings, the authors argue that current labeling differences in various countries need not be the result of protectionist trade regulations.

Les auteurs analysent le rôle de la confiance dans l'évaluation d'une nouvelle technologie alimentaire, à savoir les nanotechnologies. Une revue de la littérature en sciences sociales et économiques révèle que de nombreux concepts de confiance sont disponibles. La littérature économique suggère que la confiance peut conduire à un moindre effort des personnes, quand il s’agit de leur propre protection. Il est possible de traduire ce concept de confiance dans le cadre de la disposition à payer pour des produits alimentaires. Ils montrent que la disposition à payer pour la nourriture utilisant des nanotechnologies augmente avec la confiance, y compris quand de nouvelles informations à propos de cette technologie sont révélées. Les résultats sont confirmés par des données de sondages en ligne réalisés au Canada et en Allemagne, et des données expérimentales provenant d’Allemagne.

This paper analyzes whether or not different non-tariff measures (NTM) like a standard or a mandatory label can be considered as protectionist in presence of market imperfections. From a welfare-based approach, protectionism occurs when the instrument maximizing domestic welfare is different from the alternative instrument maximizing international welfare inclusive of foreign profits. A framework taking into account different tools shows the complexity for characterizing protectionism related to different NTM. When the standard impacts variable costs, the mandatory label can be protectionist. When the standard impacts sunk costs, the standard can be protectionist. The framework is also useful for empirically characterizing the impact of NTM related to a specific product. An application to shrimp trade illustrates the feasibility of the welfare measure, for an ex ante evaluation of possible environmental regulations that could be implemented in the future. This application confirms that the tool maximizing domestic welfare does not systematically correspond to the tool maximizing international welfare.

This paper analyses the main antitrust decisions in the agribusiness sector in Europe. First, legislation and economic principles are recalled. Then for input suppliers, farmers, manufacturers, and retailers, we give a brief presentation of the market structure and discuss the main competition concerns according to the most recent antitrust decisions. Farmers are the weakest link of the entire chain, given the degree of concentration in the upstream and downstream industries in Europe. The use of the concept of buying power could be developed by competition authorities to balance power along the agro-food chain. Copyright 2002, Oxford University Press.

L'Organisation internationale du commerce de produits agricoles et alimentaires est-elle conforme à l'éthique, en particulier aux principes d'équité, de liberté, de loyauté et d'impartialité ? Les accords internationaux se réfèrent bien à des principes éthiques, comme le montrent diverses clauses du GATT. Mais au-delà des mots et des intentions, le système des accords donne la priorité à la croissance et aux échanges par rapport à la justice, et à l'éthique en général. Le risque de voir dériver des arguments éthiques vers des barrières non tarifaires existe, mais l'adhésion des citoyens nécessite plus d'éthique dans les fondements et plus d'impartialité dans les procédures internationales.