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  • Essay / Asymmetric information throughout the food supply chain

    The term asymmetric information occurs when the parties involved in an economic transaction are not equally informed. According to Laffont, classical economics did not focus on information asymmetry for many years, as value theory gained focus. However, it remains unclear how some entrepreneurs can maximize their profits by delegating their obligations to other members of the business. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essay Marschank and Radner developed a theory that identifies the asymmetric nature of information and focuses on appropriate information management for better coordination.In an old version of economics In this model, it was assumed that all parties involved had perfect information, which is not the case in the majority of cases. This approach according to which parties have perfect information was modified in 1961 by Stigler in his well-cited article entitled Economic of Information. Later, Akerlof, one of the pioneers in this field, considered all the consequences of information asymmetry in the automobile market. When comparing the classic economic model and the modern economic model, it is obvious that in the new version, interaction between actors is inevitable. Consequently, there has been a significant growth in the economic literature on contract design under asymmetric information over the past twenty years. In particular, according to Antle, the food market, by its nature, is driven by imperfect information as well as its supply chain which increases costs during economic times. transaction. Naturally, the food sector is subject to unknown characteristics. In many cases, indicators such as quality and safety are only recognized after consumption. Nelson has a classification for all goods, he expresses that the attributes that are identified directly after purchase as experience goods and credibility goods are those whose attributes cannot be noticed after purchase. There are two main actors identified in the economic transaction based on information allocation: agent and principle. The agent is the one who has the information and the principle is the one who tries to understand the actions of the agent and the good characteristics offered by the agent. Information asymmetry can constitute a moral hazard after the conclusion of a contract when the agent's action cannot be observed in principle, as well as adverse selection before the conclusion of a contract when the specification of good is discovered by principle. Usually in the food business, the agent tries to hide information, especially regarding food quality specifications. Therefore, the principle's efforts to disclose the information will not be successful, resulting in depreciation of goods in the market. There has been a remarkable increase in information asymmetry over the past twenty years, particularly in areas such as food quality and chain relationships, agri-environment. In the modern economy, interactions between actors are increasing and are increasingly linked to the quantity of information they exchange. Antle (2001) mentioned that the food market, by its nature, is driven by imperfect information and asymmetrical distribution throughout the supply chain which are responsible for increasing costs wheneconomic transactions. Recognition of the various social and economic conditions that influence the collaboration of actors along the supply chain is essential to increase the competitiveness of European agriculture. This article aims to report on the influence of asymmetric information issues on the Irish agri-food supply chain. The literature stream focuses on issues regarding asymmetric information related to food attributes. There are two main food attributes, food quality and food safety, which are often difficult to measure. As a result, information regarding product safety and quality is placed in a highly asymmetrical manner throughout the supply chain. An important point to consider is that quality and safety attributes throughout the supply chain are generally not easily identified and noticed throughout the agri-food supply chain. As was mentioned in the introductory chapter, in many cases the attributes are experience (food attributes that can be identified after purchase) or credibility (food attributes that cannot be determined after purchase). procurement). The two main food attributes, food quality and safety, have been a much-discussed topic over the past 20 years. In particular, food safety as it concerns public health. Food grade divided into two parts. These may be specifications that a good must meet, such as technical specifications, or a value such as the level of suitability for a specific purpose. However, today quality is more about customer focus than efficiency and quality control. Increasing the quality level of the product or adding value to the product depends on the customer's expectations. According to Grunert, the two concepts of safety and quality in the agri-food sector are driven by actors in the commercial food chain (Grunert, 2005). Therefore, supermarkets that reflect customer needs are identified as the main players in the food supply chain. On the other hand, the perception of value is personal (Swatz, 2006), which is why points related to the customer's beliefs are separated from the attributes and standards that foods must meet. Stevenson and Pirog defined the food supply chain as a network of food-related businesses. business. Therefore, the food supply chain is characterized by a high level of interactions whose information exchange influences the success of the supply chain. One of the most important factors that contribute to the development of a relationship is trust (Johnston et al. 2004). There are two main approaches taken on the concept of trust in the scientific literature, the economic and the social. In institutional economics, trust is granted in the form of opportunistic behavior that analyzes the interaction between agents using game theory modeling. The social developed by the sociologist focuses on the development of trust in relationships. The current study does not address the development of trust while it is more related to a socio-anthropological approach, but focuses more on opportunistic behaviors generated due to information asymmetry with an economic approach . There are some solutions available in the literature to obtain accurate asymmetric information in the power supply. supply chain. One is to acquire information, this.