食品サプライチェーンのトレーサビリティシステムのリスク管理に関する考察--中国における乳幼児向け栄養補助食品産業

Tohoku University課

SURE 2021 Undergraduate Science Conference Booklet

The SURE 2021 Conference was the fourth series of Science Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Conferences and second online conference, following earlier face to face series in 2018 (with three conferences in Dublin, Athlone and Waterford) and in 2019 (with three conferences in Dublin, Sligo and Carlow). The 2021 virtual online conference was hosted by Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT), TUS:MM (Athlone Institute of Technology) and Dundalk Institute of Technology (Dundalk IT) and featured 23 oral presentations and 48 poster presentations across three thematic streams/break out rooms on zoom. An interactive virtual poster session took place using the online gamified poster sharing platform Gathertown. The 2021 poster archive is still accessible in Gathertown here. SURE Virtual 2021 was attended by approx 400 students, academic staff, professional body and industry representatives. Last year’s SURE Virtual 2020 conference, hosted by GMIT, Cork IT and TU Dublin (city campus) was the first SURE Network conference to go online, featuring 24 oral presentations, 35 poster presentations and a 450 plus audience. The aims of the SURE conference are to: Provide current students with an opportunity to gain an understanding of the work which has been undertaken by recent graduates, and the career opportunities that exist for graduates in Scientific disciplines. Provide recent graduates with an opportunity to gain a reviewed publication based on the scientific research undertaken by them during their undergraduate studies. Celebrate the academic achievements of recent graduates in the scientific disciplines. Provide a multi-disciplinary scientific forum through which undergraduate research outputs can be disseminated to students, researchers, academic professionals and industry

Strategies for sustainable socio-economic development and mechanisms their implementation in the global dimension

The authors of the book have come to the conclusion that it is necessary to effectively use modern approaches to developing and implementation strategies of sustainable socio-economic development in order to increase efficiency and competitiveness of economic entities. Basic research focuses on economic diagnostics of socio-economic potential and financial results of economic entities, transition period in the economy of individual countries and ensuring their competitiveness, assessment of educational processes and knowledge management. The research results have been implemented in the different models and strategies of supply and logistics management, development of non-profit organizations, competitiveness of tourism and transport, financing strategies for small and medium-sized enterprises, cross-border cooperation. The results of the study can be used in decision-making at the level the economic entities in different areas of activity and organizational-legal forms of ownership, ministries and departments that promote of development the economic entities on the basis of models and strategies for sustainable socio-economic development. The results can also be used by students and young scientists in modern concepts and mechanisms for management of sustainable socio-economic development of economic entities in the condition of global economic transformations and challenges

How Effective is the Invisible Hand? Agricultural and Food Markets in Central and Eastern Europe

Since the seminal work of Adam Smith, markets have been considered an efficient tool for co-ordinating the behaviour of economic agents. The basic characteristic of a market economy is that the complex system of interaction among individuals is not centrally coordinated. Under the assumption of profit and utility maximisation (and a whole set of assumptions about the institutional framework), relative prices and their change over time provide the signals that guide, like an invisible hand, the allocation of resources, i.e., the structure of production and the intensity of input use in the various production processes. They do this by co-ordinating the activities of economic agents, i.e., of resource owners, producers, intermediaries, traders, and consumers. After system change in the former Soviet Union and in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) central economic planning had to be replaced by other forms of co-ordination. The general direction in all transition countries was towards a market economy, but the speed and depth of reforms towards an environment in which markets can evolve differed largely between countries, sectors and between different phases during the past 15 years. IAMO Forum 2005 focuses on this development and discusses the functioning of markets, the requirements for this, and the advantages and disadvantages of other co-ordination mechanisms under different environments in the agricultural and food sectors in Central and Eastern Europe. CEE agri-food markets deserve researchers' and policy makers' attention for several reasons. Two of them regard the high demand for support to policy decisions that aim to stimulate economic and social development in the region. In most CEE countries, the significance of the agricultural and food sector is relatively high with respect to income and employment. In particular, rural areas can benefit from the development of this branch of the economy. Also, there is marked indication that agri-food markets in CEE are not ensuring exchange as frictionless as possible. This means that large benefits can be expected if potential improvements of the economic environment are implemented and if individual agents adapt optimally to that environment. Another motivation for economic research on transition countries is that we are looking at a huge region that started almost as a vacuum with regard to institutional settings. This means that a wide range of substantially different settings were introduced in the respective countries, and were only weakly confined by political rigidities or path dependencies. From a distant perspective, the repeated fundamental shifts in recent economic policies almost evoke the impression of a trial and error approach. The consequences of distinctively different options (across countries and periods) can be observed in a way almost similar to a laboratory situation. Such unique opportunity has attracted economists, particularly those interested in institutional economics, to conduct research on CEE. However, this also means that the experiences made in CEEC can enhance the general understanding of what markets can do and what the limitations of market coordination are. This volume contains selected contributions presented at IAMO Forum 2005 and gives an overview of the major topics discussed there. Partial analyses of specific economic problems usually abstract from the general economic framework which is assumed to be more or less constant as expressed in ceteris paribus clauses. Oftentimes, the set of institutional conditions is even assumed to be sufficiently well-described by the framework used in neoclassical models. Particularly for transition countries, this has frequently led to spurious results because crucial aspects of the framework actually in place were not considered, and sometimes were not even thought of. An extreme and very obvious example is the neglect of the effects of the replacement of monetary by nonmonetary exchange in phases of a barter economy. There is no generic approach to avoid unintended omission of crucial framework conditions, but it must generally be emphasised that a broad look at the various interdependent markets and at the entire socioeconomic context of a country is needed before going into detail. Descriptive analyses of the situation in various markets form part of such a broad look. The contributions of POPP, FERTÃ et al., WILKIN et al., and HEIN in the chapter Selected analyses from CEEC provide excellent examples, and focus on market developments in new EU member countries. On the one hand, the papers show the heterogeneity of problems e.g. due to largely differing farm structures. On the other hand, several common patterns can be observed: The market shares and power of large processors and retailers (hypermarkets, etc.) are increasing. Also, international (especially intra-EU) trade in commodities has increased in response to CAP-induced price harmonisation. Both tendencies weaken the market position of farmers, particularly small entities which cannot supply in volumes sufficient for large processing and trade firms. Within the food industry concentration increased as many smaller firms could not comply with EU processing standards and had to quit the market. The increased size and specialization of large producers, as well as of large processors, made many of those firms co-ordinate business with each other through long-term contractual agreements rather than by relying on spot markets. This tendency is very distinct in the fruit and vegetable sector, as WILKINâs contribution describes. Two contributions draw attention to the institutional framework itself, mainly by looking at circumstances which prevent market allocation from leading to an optimal outcome. HOBBS describes factors that impede investment and growth by drawing on transaction cost economics. Situations typical for transition countries are highlighted where e.g. transparency is not sufficient or the existence and reliable enforcement of contract or corporate law are not guaranteed. NUPPENAU stresses the need for the appropriate and precise formulation of land property rights, which should evoke a balance between governance and exclusion. The importance of appropriate and reliable institutions to avoid flaws is emphasised. But even with suitable institutions, transaction costs cannot be reduced to zero. The main reason for this is that since agents may gain form a head start of information, incentives to reveal their knowledge are quite restricted. Furthermore, some of the information required to make correct decisions is not available. This especially concerns information regarding all future contingencies. An uncertain future and the asymmetric distribution of information impose special problems when decisions have long-term effects and agents are linked together through investment decisions. This offers possibilities for opportunistic behaviour, i.e., when an agent behaves in a way that allows him to extract rents from the partners' activities. The friction induced in such situations may result in a market outcome that is biased by transaction costs. Mitigating this bias should be a goal of public policy but it is also in the interest of (at least some of the) private agents involved. This issue is discussed in more detail in the papers dealing with alternative governance structures. A number of contributions to IAMO Forum highlight approaches for measuring the well-functioning of markets. While studies that aim to directly measure transaction costs are very rare and are necessarily limited to comparing only very specific portions of transaction costs, most studies focus on indirect indicators. These usually start from the idea that in a well-functioning, competitive market any supply or demand shocks are reflected in price changes, not only in the particular market where the shock occurs but also in other, related markets, i.e., in different locations or at different stages of the production and marketing chain. Consequently, an approach for assessing the functioning of markets is to compare price differentials with processing-, marketing- or transfer-costs, or â since these costs are usually difficult to quantify â to observe price differentials over time. Accepting the assumption that the costs reflected by price differentials are more or less constant (or stationary) over the observed time span, any additional price changes or a lack of price co-movement is interpreted as an indication for insufficiently connected or insufficiently functioning markets. Three contributions in the chapter Analytical approaches for measuring market efficiency describe analyses which mainly focus on the vertical dimension, i.e., between market stages. BOJNEC, in his descriptive price analysis for several agricultural products in Slovenia since 1991, finds a heterogeneous development of the farm gate/consumer price spread: The processing and marketing margins increased for wheat and beef while they declined for grapes (processed to wine), sugar and poultry. BRÃMMER and ZORYA, as well as BAKUCS and FERTÃ, use cointegration analysis to describe the degree and nature of vertical price integration in the Ukrainian wheat market and the Hungarian pork market, respectively. Both studies find that price changes are transmitted vertically, that there is a tendency to "correct" any deviations from some underlying equilibrium price-relationship. However, such error correction mechanisms are found not to be a constant, universal force. In the Hungarian paper, it could only be found for a sub-period of the observed time span, excluding the highly volatile early 1990s. Also, equilibrium was found to be achieved by adjustment of farm gate prices only while the retail prices were found to be exogenous, i.e., not responding to any disequilibrium. The paper on Ukraine shows that adjustment processes between wheat and wheat flour prices cannot be sufficiently described by a constant error correction mechanism for the period 2000 to 2004. In fact, four different regimes of adjustment processes were found to have been in force, reflecting particular phases of largely differing market situations and political interventions. The functioning of markets depends on several crucial conditions. One of these conditions concerns the availability of information. Only if agents have perfect and complete information will the exchange lead to an outcome in which no individual can be better off without reducing the welfare of others. However, in the real world this condition regarding information is not fulfilled. Information is not perfect, since the future cannot be predicted with certainty. Incomplete information results from, first, not all information being revealed, and second, individuals not possessing the mental capacity to collect and process all information. Moreover, because of its asymmetric distribution, information can be regarded as a resource that can be exploited by agents. This means that there are incentives to hamper the diffusion of information to the public domain. In general, the more uncertain the future is and the more information is tacit, the worse markets will function, and the more beneficial become alternative mechanisms of coordination. Three papers dealing with this issue of organisational choice. HANF focuses on governance structures within supply chain networks that are appropriate for allowing an optimal flow of information between the involved individuals while retaining the necessary hierarchy for efficient implementation of strategic decisions. MAACKâs analysis shows that there is strong mutual interest between producers and processors of berry fruits to reduce marketing and procurement risk, respectively. This can be achieved by switching from spot market exchange to contractual supply agreements. A prerequisite for such agreements is that a well-balanced distribution of risks and risk premiums between the farmer and processor is implemented. This means that processors, who â facing a multitude of small producers â are used to opportunities for exerting market power, have to agree to cover part of the production risk through appropriate contractual clauses. Finally, BALINT looks at the various marketing channels used by Romanian farmers and finds that a self-enforcing dualism exists. For commercially-oriented farmers who can supply large quantities, marketing directly to traders, wholesalers and processors is most favourable and involves relatively low transaction costs. Although this form of supply-relationship is usually not based on contractual agreements, it can still be characterised by a certain stability over time. In contrast, small farmers whose production does not considerably exceed the subsistence level incur relatively high (per unit) transaction costs in selling their produce on local markets and to other farmers. Another aspect of organisational choice is the question of whether ownership of production factors is transferred or only the right to use them temporarily. The uncertainty of future developments implies that the possession of resources cannot be only regarded from the point of view of income generation at a certain point in time. With perfect foresight, there is no difference whether a factor is rented or purchased, because the remuneration would be the same. This perfect substitutability is no longer given when the future is uncertain. Income generation, then, is only one feature of ownership. Additional aspects such as insurance, wealth, and speculation as motivations for possession affect the value of ownership and thus shift the demand and supply curves of the factor. HURRELMAN picks up this issue in her analysis of the Polish land market and shows the impact of additional grounds for valuing property on the decision to rent or to buy land. Uncertainty may also affect the specialization of factor use. Allocating a factor of production to different production activities reduces the risk of income instabilities, but at the cost of specialization gains through economics of scale. Moreover, the decision on income combination is â besides risk â affected by a complex interaction of other determinants. GLAUBEN et al., analyse these interactions for the case of part-time farming in China and show how the decision of income combination is affected by household characteristics, human capital and other variables. Incomplete and imperfect information not only causes individuals to choose optimal governance modes, often it is also understood as a call for government intervention. The selected papers in the chapter on policy intervention plead for careful selection and coherent implementation of policy instruments. BENNER, as well as KUHN, highlight the significance of information diffusion and argue in favour of government intervention in this area. However, both emphasise that these interferences should be used carefully and be adjusted to specific market failures. Both argue that setting up information systems would improve the functioning of markets. BENNER also discusses possible negative impacts if governments that engage in setting up and enforcing product and process standards try, at the same time, to foster a sector like agriculture through support in marketing. The latter activity affects the governmentâs (crucial) credibility in the first activity. KUHN points to negative welfare effects and budgetary requirements of an intervention system which is implemented to increase price stability. Moreover, when a government intervenes in market allocation or intends to provide rules that should facilitate the exchange on markets, it has to take into account that the new regulation has to be implemented in a coherent manner. This requires the various policy regulations and institutional settings to be complementary and not cause frictions which hamper the functioning of the system. LERMAN and SHAGAIDA highlight this aspect in their discussion of the Russian land market, where bureaucracy and high costs for the registration of property rights can be regarded as a major cause of the low number of land transactions. However, since economic activities take place in a dynamic environment, the comparative static point of view may lead to inappropriate policy formulation. WANDEL discusses this aspect in the context of competition policy. From a comparative static point of view, market power has to be assessed negatively because of the distortions of resource allocation. However, monopoly profits are an indicator of extra rents and thus provide incentives for market entry. On the one hand, this thread may lead to special pricing schemes and/or to the accelerated development of technological change so that a monopolist can consolidate its market position. But it is possible, on the other hand, that market entry may in fact happen. In this case, one would observe structural change, which would be accompanied by an improved use of resources. This in turn means that competition policy should not be oriented towards an optimal market structure but towards the facilitation of market entry so that competition can discover market opportunities and determine the optimal structure of the market. The present volume shows the wide range of interesting and controversial topics that are concerned when looking at co-ordination, particularly on markets in CEE agri-food sectors. It remains a hope that the heterogeneity and dynamics of the developments will decrease as successful constellations of framework conditions, organisational choices and individual behaviour become more and more obvious and widespread in the region. Conversion to sustainable, balanced patterns might take place, but this cannot be taken for granted. However, chances for such development are better the more stable and balanced political developments, as well as international co-operation, become. We hope that the academic community will contribute towards such goal.Agribusiness, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Industrial Organization, International Development, Labor and Human Capital, Land Economics/Use, Political Economy,

The Puzzling Lack of Cooperatives

Some of the most recognizable companies, including Land O\u27Lakes, REI, the Associated Press, Ace Hardware, and State Farm Insurance, are organized as cooperatives--firms owned by their suppliers, workers, or customers. Yet aside from isolated areas of the economy, cooperatives constitute only a small portion of American enterprise, which is otherwise dominated by investor-owned firms. Conventional wisdom assumes that firms either start as cooperatives or convert to cooperatives when cooperatives offer the highest ongoing benefits to owners, and it explains the lack of cooperatives by suggesting that cooperatives usually do not maximize ongoing benefits. This Article looks at entrepreneurs\u27 and brokers\u27 actions when starting or converting firms. It finds that the conventional assumption is often violated. Starting a cooperative is similar to supplying a public good, and just as unsubsidized public goods are underprovided, so too are unsubsidized cooperative starts. Additionally, a lack of viable brokering institutions prevents most existing firms from converting to cooperatives even when cooperatives promise the highest ongoing benefits. These findings explain cooperatives\u27 low market share and several empirical observations that are inconsistent with the conventional wisdom. The results suggest social welfare could be improved if cooperatives were subsidized, through favorable tax treatment, grants, or regulatory intervention like ABA rules requiring law firms to be owned by lawyers. They also question the shareholder primacy model of corporate governance. The Article closes by briefly considering the Affordable Care Act\u27s current $2 billion subsidization of health insurance cooperatives

The internationalisation of regulation: food safety regulation in China

The aim of the thesis is to examine the implications of the internationalisation of regulation in China as a developing country. To achieve this, variations in different Chinese food regulatory regimes are compared, ranging from those for domestic consumption to export. In particular, the three control components of a regulatory regime, namely standard-setting, information-gathering and behaviour-modification are analysed. This study finds a pattern of changes in the Chinese food regulatory regimes. At the initial stage, Chinese national food standards were less stringent than international standards, and the gap between established national standards and local enforcement was significantly high. In recent years, it is observed that Chinese national food standards have witnessed an upward movement to converge with international food standards. In the meantime, regulatory enforcement in the localities has undergone continual adjustment to strengthen enforcement force towards areas under public concern. This thesis aims to explain this trend of changes in terms of the internationalisation of regulation. It argues that while coercive international pressure is mainly exerted on the Chinese exported food regulatory regime, the domestic food regulatory regime in China has also been increasingly influenced by global forces over the past decade, in terms of policy transfer from developed countries and policy learning from the transnational professional networks. Regarding domestic food standard-setting, normative influence from the international community has induced a generally higher level of Chinese national food standards. With respect to regulatory enforcement, while enforcement work has been constrained by the incapacity of regulators and the inextricably linked interests in the localities, these domestic factors are becoming less influential under the context of internationalisation of regulation. In particular, food safety crises prompt the Chinese government to push forward regulatory changes in spite of strong resistance in the localities. This has been attributed to the aim of the Chinese government to safeguard the reputation of products ‘Made in China’ under the context of internationalisation of regulation, and build up an international image that China is a committed and responsible trading partner and world leader

The Accountability Function within a One-party Regime: The Case of China’s Local People’s Congress

This is a study of Chinese local legislatures, the Local People’s Congresses (LPCs), and their accountability function within the one-party regime. The focus is to what extent, how, and why LPCs can promote political accountability in the face of the dominant Communist Party Committee as well as powerful government institutions in the reform era.Studies of accountability relationships usually are concerned with (1) vertical relations between voters and elected representatives and (2) horizontal relations between legislatures and governments. However, we should also distinguish between relationships in different policy areas; for instance, accountability in budgetary matters compared to other policy areas. This study views the accountability function of LPCs from a holistic perspective, based on an in-depth fieldwork of four LPCs in East and middle China.Starting with a “zero-based-monopoly model,” where LPCs exert minimal influence, this study finds that LPCs in recent years have strengthened all of the different aspects of accountability that were scrutinized. Compared to the previous monopoly model of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), controllability, transparency, and answerability have increased over time, although electoral accountability has been relatively limited due to its political sensitivity in the eyes of the CCP and governments. Significant progress has been made in other accountability aspects, however. The main strategies adopted by LPCs and congress deputies to increase influence have been to persuade the CCP to provide support, to strategically communicate with governments, to motivate the involvement of multiple forces such as the public, social organizations, and media, and to assert influential power instruments. At the same time, the analysis indicates great variation among the LPCs, something that might be attributed to factors such as distinctive power structures among the CCP, governments, and LPCs, personality traits of the elites, political promotion from social organizations and the public, and the subsequent institutional innovations at a micro level.One important finding of this study is that LPCs have succeeded in pioneering new mechanisms, such as the creation of a series of co-governance oriented institutional reforms in the budgetary arena, to enhance influence and to ensure accountability. Given the dominant technical attributes and implicit political attributes of the public budget, it seems a promising route to assert accountability, compared with the sensitive electoral issue under China’s current political circumstances. However, electoral accountability serves the function of potentially affecting the chain the accountability in other aspects; thus, the long-term performance of the LPC accountability still relies on the holistic development of multiple aspects. This is one crucially important accountability aspect that has been neglected in previous research.With that said, this study also finds that the CCP still plays a key role in defining and influencing accountability functions. Stronger LPCs do not necessarily weaken the legitimacy of the CCP—quite the contrary. Concessions may actually strengthen its legitimacy by providing a more flexible system. Indeed, the CCP has supported and inspired the changes in the accountability function of the LPCs. At the same time, the CCP does not shy away from imposing constraints when reforms are seen to challenge its dominance.To conclude, then, the obvious deviation from zero-base monopoly model that has happened in the Chinese local scene, where current authoritarian institutions have not dislodged CCP dominance. That is to say, the accountability function of LPCs is moving forward for real, but not at an overwhelming pace. In this sense, we can say that neither conservative nor fundamental changes are happening, but rather, the changes are necessary for responding to increasing governance problems as well as a way of enhancing the legitimacy of the established political system in conjunction within intensified public political consciousness

Infant formula in China: assessing consumer impact from a country of origin perspective

Aim: This thesis comprehensively analyses the phenomenon of infant formula multi-brand crisis in China from the perspective of the Chinese consumers.  Context: The thesis elaborates on a chronological sequence of descriptive market data from 2008 to 2018 on the consumer confidence in the dairy industry following the multi-brand crisis and show that despite the awareness of the crises, the effect on the local dairy industry was not as catastrophic as expected. In fact, in recent years the rate of decline in the market share of Chinese dairy formulae has not only slowed, but that many local manufacturers have regained their lost market share from foreign competitors. The objective of this thesis is to examine this phenomenon from the lens of consumer ethnocentrism, nationalism and forgiveness.  Research gap: The studies on industry confidence in multi-brand crisis are still few. Although Grayson et al. (2008) have claimed that industry confidence is a result of trust not only in the company but also for the industrial environment (imported and domestic environment), there is still no comprehensive study on the influences of multi-brand crisis on industry confidence recovery. Methodology: The first phase uses qualitative methodology to understand the drivers of infant formulae purchase decision process amongst Chinese consumers. The insights from this study is used to develop a conceptual model for further investigation. The second phase is quantitative in nature, where a questionnaire is administered to actual users of infant formulae at the point of purchase. Key findings: 1) The influence of forgiveness on consumer trust among Chinese consumers who purchase domestically produced infant formula is significantly higher than that among Chinese consumers who purchase imported infant formula. 2) Consumers who buy domestically produced infant formula pay more attention to perceived quality than those who buy imported infant formula. 3) The influence of ethnocentrism on consumer trust among Chinese consumers who purchase domestically produced infant formula is not significant. 4) The country of origin has a significant impact on the purchasing behavior of Chinese consumers. Implications: 1) The two major contributions of this research are its qualitative approach to studying, testing and modifying a model of consumer trust and its use of the modified model to explain and analyse differences in consumer trust and brand loyalty based on consumers¿ actual purchase behaviour. The results of this study represent a stepping stone for understanding the features of the consumer trust mechanism. 2) The current study also have major practical implications, particularly for enterprises and government public policy