Governance Structure, Perception, and Innovation in Credence Food Transactions: The Role of Food Community Networks

Abstract

Promoting transactions of more sustainable-oriented foods can be (socially and privately) complex and costly. New institutional economics (NIE) explains these dynamics by analyzing the choice of the "most cost-economizing" governance structure to carry out a transaction where credence attributes are involved. The way different governance structures can influence the change of consumers and producers perceptions and preferences for credence foods is completely neglected. On the other hand behavioral economics underlines the role of status quo bias and framing in this type of decision making process. We use new institutional and behavioural economics arguments to conceptualize the emerging of a new governance structure in the domain of credence food transactions which we defined as food community network (FCN).