A Systems Approach to Institutional Diffusion in Taiwan’s Food Traceability System

Abstract

A food traceability system is an institution that aims to reduce information asymmetry among producers, retailers, and consumers through public disclosure of information about the origin, production, and sales of agriproducts. System effectiveness depends on the changes that result from diffusion. In this study, we use Taiwan’s traceable agricultural products system to integrate mental models of multiple stakeholders to simulate interactions among institutional quality, adopter profitability, profit distribution, and institutional diffusion from a system dynamics perspective. It thus provides a framework for institutional diffusion and change and elucidates the process of institutional diffusion for the causal relations among many critical factors.