University / Organisation : Université Grenoble Alpes

Paper or project ? paper

Title : Incentives for meso-institutional quality assessment of commercial seed mixtures

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Abstract : This study investigates the implementation of meso-institutions for quality assessment in the commercial seed mixtures market. Using a qualitative case study approach, we analyze the incentives that drive stakeholders to establish such institutions, focusing on three key factors: ineffective regulations, regulatory threats, and market incentives. Our findings show that while ineffective regulations and regulatory threats can push the creation of meso-institutions, their long-term sustainability depends on strong market incentives. In addition, we demonstrate that strong buyer power within the value chain can weaken these market incentives, creating a major barrier to the implementation of robust meso-institutions for quality assessment. Retailers, controlling product selection and varietal advisory, may try to maintain this role and thus have incentives to limit cooperation among other stakeholders. This study contributes to the literature on institutional economics by emphasizing the role of power dynamics in shaping meso-institutional development.