E-Commerce mit ökologischen Produkten. [E-commerce with products from organic agriculture]

Nach wie vor stehen Landwirte und der nachfolgende Handel vor Entscheidungen, die darüber bestimmen, auf welche Art und Weise das Internet in die Unternehmenskonzeption integriert bzw. der Einsatz weiterentwickelt wird. Die vorliegende empirisch gestützte Studie stellt drei Schwerpunkte in den Mittelpunkt der Betrachtungen: Die Eignung landwirtschaftlicher Produkte zum Online-Handel, den Erfolg unterschiedlicher elektronischer Handelsformen in der Landwirtschaft und Einflussfaktoren auf den E-Commerce mit ökologischen Produkten. Am Ende stehen Kriterien und Empfehlungen, nach denen man sich bei einer Integration und Weiterentwicklung der Online-Handelsaktivitäten richten kann. Marktchancen sollen damit erkannt und genutzt werden und Marketingstrategien darauf aufbauen können

The Reliability of Organic Certification: An Approach to Investigate the Audit Quality

Increasing complexity and first scandals indicate that the current control structures for organic food is insufficient. The main challenges are different methods of implementation on the national level and the collaborative responsibility between the public and the private sector. Both often cause lacking clarity and disagreements. The following contribution focuses on instruments to enhance the quality of certification of organic food. Only a few of the suggested instruments have been included as necessary requirements yet. Given the risk of deficient quality assurance and at the same time increasing control costs, it seems urgent to trigger discussions on risk-oriented auditing and to improve the current certification system

Institutional Change and Acceptance of Quality Assurance: The Case of Organic Farming in Germany

The institutional framework of the certification scheme is a crucial factor for the future success of the organic market. Increasing complexity and a few scandals indicate that the current control structures might be insufficient. A better understanding of farmers’ attitudes is necessary to increase acceptance and to guarantee the longer-term success of the organic certification system. Against this background we designed a theoretical framework based on a cognitive perspective. The empirical basis of the study was a survey conducted with organic farmers in Germany. Results highlight that the majority of the farmers accept the present organic certification system, but are not convinced of its cost-benefit relationship.organic certification system, food quality, institutional change, guidelines and control, Farm Management, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Marketing,

The Quality of Audits - A Comparative Study of Auditing and Certification Schemes in the Food Sector

In spite of the increasing number of certification schemes in the food sector, there is only few research about the economics of certification. Given the rapid growth and the lack of experience the actors have to cope with different forms of opportunistic behaviour. The following paper describes the basic structure and information economics reasons why certification schemes are created. Subsequently, an institutionalistic model is presented which includes several starting points to increase quality of certification systems mainly based on analogies in financial auditing.Audit quality, New Institutional Economics, Certification schemes, Organic Certification, Industrial Organization,

Laubnutzung im Bioweinbau [Use of vine leaves in organic viticulture]

Es wird der Frage nachgegangen, ob ein ökologisches Produktionsverfahren für die Traubenerzeugung mit gleichzeitiger Weinlaubgewinnung praktikabel und rentabel ist

Audit risk factors in certification: How can risk-oriented audits improve the quality of certification standards?

Over the past few years, certification standards have become increasingly relevant for the agribusiness sector. Substantial parts of the value chain are already certified by standards such as QS, IFS or EurepGap. It is not known, however, whether these approaches can actually ensure a high quality control. This article is based on the analysis of the data base of the QSsystem with more than 72,000 companies involved. It tries to deduce some first empirically rich hypotheses about the connection between auditing quality and the institutional framing of the certification.certification, quality assurance, risk oriented auditing approach, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Ökoverbände in der Identitätskrise? Eine clubtheoretische Analyse

Compliance with the rules of organic production has been motivated intrinsically. Cooperative behaviour, thus, has been a key issue in assuring organic quality. However, the environment is continuously changing. An increasing number of farmers is producing organic food not only driven by altruism, but by economic factors and public support (i.e., subsidies). The following contribution aims to reveal determinants for an efficient quality assurance within an organic farming association. It focuses on changes related to the introduction of a public certification system and the “loss” of social cohesion among the organic farmers. Based on the theory of club goods, an application of the decision theory approach underlines the analysis

Psychiatric comorbidity and psychosocial impairment among patients with vertigo and dizziness

Background: Vertigo and dizziness are often not fully explained by an organic illness, but instead are related to psychiatric disorders. This study aimed to evaluate psychiatric comorbidity and assess psychosocial impairment in a large sample of patients with a wide range of unselected organic and non-organic (ie, medically unexplained) vertigo/dizziness syndromes. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved a sample of 547 patients recruited from a specialised interdisciplinary treatment centre for vertigo/dizziness. Diagnostic evaluation included standardised neurological examinations, structured clinical interview for major mental disorders (SCID-I) and self-report questionnaires regarding dizziness, depression, anxiety, somatisation and quality of life. Results: Neurological diagnostic workup revealed organic and non-organic vertigo/dizziness in 80.8% and 19.2% of patients, respectively. In 48.8% of patients, SCID-I led to the diagnosis of a current psychiatric disorder, most frequently anxiety/phobic, somatoform and affective disorders. In the organic vertigo/dizziness group, 42.5% of patients, particularly those with vestibular paroxysmia or vestibular migraine, had a current psychiatric comorbidity. Patients with psychiatric comorbidity reported more vertigo-related handicaps, more depressive, anxiety and somatisation symptoms, and lower psychological quality of life compared with patients without psychiatric comorbidity. Conclusions: Almost half of patients with vertigo/dizziness suffer from a psychiatric comorbidity. These patients show more severe psychosocial impairment compared with patients without psychiatric disorders. The worst combination, in terms of vertigo-related handicaps, is having non-organic vertigo/dizziness and psychiatric comorbidity. This phenomenon should be considered when diagnosing and treating vertigo/dizziness in the early stages of the disease