LORDS OF THE HARVEST: SYMBOLIC SIGNALING AND REGULATORY APPROVAL OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS.

We examine how social cues from stakeholders and from third-party bureaucratic actors can serve as symbolic signals that can affect the decision-making of regulatory agencies. We find that social cues from reputation stakeholders and bureaucratic agencies positively affect approval rates of GMO-products by threatening the regulatory agency's reputation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]