You get what you pay for: the link between price and food safety in Kenya

• DOI: 10.1111/agec.12346
• Publication Date: 2017-01-20T08:15:28Z
• Authors: Vivian Hoffmann; Christine Moser
• Keywords: SAFER; Unobservable; Equity

Abstract The lack of a reliably safe food supply in developing countries imposes both health and economic costs. Food safety is one several dimensions quality that are typically unobservable at the time purchase. Branding can overcome this information problem by allowing firms to build reputations based on their products. If reputation for valued directly consumers, or if correlated with other attributes, producing safer should be able use brand equity charge higher prices. In addition, stronger have incentives meet standards order maintain equity. Using data from more than 900 maize flour samples representing 23 distinct brands eastern central Kenya, we explore relationship between price contamination aflatoxin. Aflatoxin fungal toxin common maize, groundnuts, crops around world. We find strong negative correlation level, consistent hypothesized positive quality.