Abstract
We examine a food retailer's incentive to use a minimum quality standard as part of a quality-based price-discrimination strategy and show how price discrimination can result in a substantial level of retail food waste. Using data from a major US food retailer, we estimate a structural model of retail price discrimination and conduct a series of counter-factual experiments to demonstrate that observed retail prices are consistent with quality-based price discrimination in the retail market. Our findings indicate that quality standards on fresh produce can explain a substantial proportion ($7.5\%$) of food waste by retailers in the US.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1861-1896 |
Number of pages | 36 |
Journal | European Review of Agricultural Economics |
Volume | 47 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 1 2020 |
Keywords
- food retailing
- food waste
- price discrimination
- retail prices
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous)
- Economics and Econometrics