Empirische Analysen der Preissetzung, des Konsumentenverhaltens und des Marktpotenzials von Fischprodukten in Deutschland

Der Kern der Dissertation besteht aus Nachfrageanalysen, in denen die Unterschiede im Verbraucherverhalten in Bezug auf Fisch aus Aquakulturproduktion gegenüber wildgefangenem Fisch sowie in Bezug auf nachhaltig versus nicht nachhaltig gefangenem Fisch analysiert werden. Dabei kommen Nachfragesysteme zur Anwendung, mit Hilfe derer Substitutionsbeziehungen ermittelt sowie Preis- und Ausgabenelastizitäten geschätzt werden. Zudem werden Preisanalysen durchgeführt, um zu untersuchen, ob gezüchteter Fisch und wildgefangener Fisch in Deutschland einen gemeinsamen Markt bilden und um Vermarktungsmöglichkeiten verschiedener Fischprodukte, mit Hauptaugenmerk auf Fisch aus Aquakulturproduktion, ableiten zu können

Certify or not? The effect of the MSC certification on the ex-vessel prices for Atlantic cod in Norway

There is strong evidence that ecolabeled seafood commands a price premium in the retail market in Northern European countries. At the same time, there is significant uncertainty as to whether these markups are passed on to the fishers. This is important because producer benefits are required for an ecolabel to provide incentives for sustainable fishery management and fishing practices. Therefore, we investigate whether fishers obtained price premiums for certified cod in Norway. A unique setting for this investigation was created when a part of the fishery, the one conducted within the Norwegian territorial waters, lost its certification by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), while it was maintained for the offshore part of the fishery. Using a difference-in-difference approach, analyzing a large and detailed dataset, we find that on average, there is no premium for certified cod, and that other factors are more important. When controlling for buyer types, the loss of the MSC certification resulted in a price reduction for cod sold to producers who make fillets for Northern European markets. However, we found no significant price effect for cod sold to the other buyer types. This highlights the difficulty of obtaining a price premium when there are alternative sources of the product

Consumer preferences for farmed organic salmon and eco-labelled wild salmon in Denmark1

Sustainably produced food products have rapidly grown in popularity within the last years. Eco-labeling systems to indicate the environmental sustainability of product have also been implemented in the seafood market, with the MSC label for wild fish as the leading one. However, it is not clear whether consumers really notice the values behind an eco-label and how important these attributes are in their purchasing decision. This study analyzes data from a large household scanner panel to investigate actual consumer purchasing behavior and preferences when faced with competing product attributes such as organic and MSC labeled for salmon in Denmark. To accomplish these objectives and explicitly account for consumer heterogeneity, a mixed logit as well as a latent class model is applied. The results indicate substantial consumer heterogeneity with respect to MSC-labeled wild salmon and organic labeled farmed salmon, with a negative preference on average. The latent class model reveals the picture. In total, we find 5 segments, where 3 segments have no preference for eco-labeled salmon at all. The study shows that there is approximately a combined 50% chance of a consumer belonging to one of the segments that have a preference for eco-labeled salmon

Is capture-based aquaculture viable? The case of Atlantic cod in Norway

Capture-based aquaculture (CBA) is an important branch of the aquaculture industry that differs from closed cycle farming in that the stocking material consists of captured wild fish or other aquatic organisms. By skipping the difficult early production stages of fish farming, producers can test whether assumed market advantages such as high quality and consistent supply result in higher prices – and whether these are high enough to incentivize further development of CBA and eventually close the production cycle. CBA-initiatives can also be supported by different policy measures to stimulate the activity. Since these measures involve costs, it is important to know at what level and for how long these measures should be implemented to promote economically sustainable CBA activities. We study CBA of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) in Norway and find an average price premium of 26% compared to wild harvested cod, but with large interannual variation. However, declining quantities of cod from CBA following reductions in a quota bonus scheme to stimulate activity, indicates that the price premium is not sufficiently large to incentivize further development of the CBA branch of the Norwegian cod industry

Measuring motivations for choosing ecolabeled seafood: Environmental concerns and warm glow

Ecolabels are supposed to reduce the information asymmetry between producers and consumers, but they may also produce a warm glow of “green” behavior. We design discrete choice experiments to measure the relative importance of these motivations for choosing ecolabeled seafood products. We find that choice probability increases if the product carries an ecolabel, but the magnitude of this effect depends on the information provided about the sustainability of the product. Overall, we attribute 63% of the ecolabel’s original effect on choice probability to consumer demand for sustainable products, and a further 24% to warm glow.publishedVersio

Price premiums for ecolabelled seafood: MSC certification in Germany

Whether ecolabelled seafood actually provides incentives to improve the management of fisheries remains a controversial issue. A number of stated preference studies indicate a substantial willingness to pay for ecolabelled seafood. Early evidence from actual market data supports the existence of a premium, while more recent papers provide a more nuanced picture. In this paper, a hedonic price model for whitefish species on the German market is estimated that includes information on Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) labelling, the leading seafood ecolabel in Germany. The model also allows the potential premium to vary by species. Results indicate that MSC premiums in Germany vary substantially between species, from a hefty 30.6 per cent for the high-end species cod, to a 4 per cent premium for Alaska pollock, and no premiums for saithe

Product differentiation and dynamics of cost pass-through in the German fish market: An error-correction-distance measure approach

Product differentiation is an important tool to target different consumer groups and to generate price premiums for different commodities. Product differentiation affects the level of competition, consumer costs and can alter the dynamics of cost pass-through. In this study, we focus on the natural differences in nutritional levels (omega-3, fats, proteins, vitamins) across fish species to differentiate fish products. We model and test the importance of nutritional differences as an explanatory factor in the dynamics of cost pass-through for different fish species in the German retail frozen fillet market. We combine a large consumer panel of fish purchases at the retail level with trade data on fish import prices covering the period January 2006 to December 2010. A distance measure is used to aggregate over product nutrients. Combining the distance measure within an error-correction equation shows that cost pass-through is (statistically) negatively correlated with the degree of product differentiation. Commodity differentiation matters in the dynamics of convergence to equilibrium.publishedVersio