机构性质、社会共治与食品安全认证的有效性

Institutional Characteristic, Social Co-governance and the Effectiveness of Food Safety Certification

第三方认证制度被普遍作为一种保障食品安全的重要政策工具。怎么解决消费者与认证机构之间的信息不对称是这一制度能否奏效的关键。本文认为,当且仅当优质优价机制恢复,认证有效性才能从根本上得到提升;在讨论了社会共治有助于提升认证有效性的基础上,本文讨论了认证机构的性质对社会共治作用的影响。研究发现,认证机构的官方性质不利于认证的有效性:官方认证机构的垄断性质不利于“声誉锦标赛”的开展,同时,官方认证机构由于存在严重的委托代理问题,易被生产企业所俘获,而媒体约束过多,社会监督作用发挥受限。由于媒体有效监督这一关键环节的缺失,食品安全问题难以从根本上得到有效治理。最后,提出官方认证机构进行市场化改革的政策建议。

The third-party certification is commonly used as an important policy tool to ensure food safety. But how to solve the information asymmetry between consumers and certification bodies is the key to the effectiveness of this policy tool. This article argues that the effectiveness of certification can be improved only if the high-quality and high-price mechanism is restored. Further research found that the official characteristic of certification bodies isn’t conducive to the effectiveness of certification because of the monopoly characteristic and serious agency problems. what’s more, the media is too restrictive to supervise the official bodies. Based on discussion, this paper puts forward recommendations for official certification bodies to carry out market reform.