Premium
An economic and legal assessment of the EU food industry's competitiveness
Author(s) -
Wijnands Jo H.M.,
Bremmers Harry J.,
van der Meulen Bernd M.J.,
Poppe Krijn J.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
agribusiness
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.57
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1520-6297
pISSN - 0742-4477
DOI - 10.1002/agr.20167
Subject(s) - econlit , scope (computer science) , exploit , food industry , business , industrial organization , scale (ratio) , international trade , economics , political science , physics , computer security , medline , quantum mechanics , computer science , law , programming language
The objective of this article is to assess the competitiveness of the European food industry from an economic and legal perspective. Knowledge of its present competitiveness and improvement opportunities are lacking. To close this knowledge gap, we measured the competitiveness of eight subsectors, benchmarked them with four leading world economies, assessed the effect of differences in legal requirements, and predicted future developments using scenario analysis. International economics indicators supplemented with data on legal issues from a survey conducted by leading experts were used to measure competitiveness. The results show that the EU food industry's competitiveness is weak. The legal system was positively evaluated compared to the U.S. system, but major improvements are possible. The recommendations are to improve economies of scale, economies of scope, ICT‐based supply chain management, and exploit cultural differences through innovation, within a more flexible and streamlined legal framework. [Econlit. Citations:F14, L66; Q13]. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.