A Study Of Efficiency Of Supervision Of Food Safety Based On The Property Rights Theory

Since the 1990s, China’s food industry gets into fully rapid development period. During the development period, the food safety accidents continuously happened such as "lean meat essence", "contaminated milk powder", "poisonous mushroom", "Poisonous bean sprouts" and so on. These accidents expose the Chinese government in food safety regulatory slack, and reduce the government credibility in food safety supervision areas.The government supervision conducts the China’s food safety regulatory system. Under this regulatory system which the government becomes the single provider, and this regulatory system causes some problems happened such as the government cannot effectively implementing supervision. The government supervision has three problems:the firstly, many departments belong to the current regulatory system which this lead the waste of regulatory resources and decrease regulatory quality. The secondly, the local government base on its own benefit will reduce the effect of the supervision of food safety. The thirdly, asymmetric information will lead to failure of government supervision.The Chinese food safety regulatory system cannot effectively solve the problems, because there is a binary system i.e. the market and the government to solve the problems under the current regulatory system. The food safety supervision becomes the social problems in China, and then more and more relevant party participate this regulatory system such as the food companies, consumers, and social organizations and so on. These participations will influence the result of the food safety supervision.The thesis is from the equity theory method to consider the food safety problems. The internal problems are caused by information asymmetry. Basing on the equity theory method, the essential of the food safety supervision is that it helps the food consumers to protect their right on the food safety. And the arrangement of equity system has an important impact on economic performance. Therefore, the effective food safety supervision will need appropriate equity system arrangement.Based on the analysis of the food safety internal and external problems, and analysis of the function of the food safety regulatory participations, to build up the Chinese food safety regulatory system. The effective food safety regulatory system also needs to consider the institutional arrangement of the food safety supervision, such as how to implement the largest effectiveness of the government supervision, how to restrain the failure of government supervision, and how to reduce the transaction costs of the consumers in the ex ante and ex post and so on. The institutional arrangement of the food safety supervision will lead to clear define the food safety trade both parties’equity boundaries.The thesis’s theoretical analysis framework is "equity system arrangement-supervision parties behavior-and supervision performance", which combined the analysis model of SCP in the new institutional economics theory and the equity system arrangement theory. And using the analysis framework to analyse the government supervision, the enterprise self-discipline, the consumer reaction, and the relationship between the role of social intermediary and the efficiency in the food safety supervision. The analysis framework based on the four assumptions:1. The positive relationship between the efficiency of the government supervision and the effect of the food safety regulatory system.2. The positive relationship between the degree of the food providers’ self-discipline and the effect of the food safety regulatory system.3. The positive relationship between the degree of consumers’ reaction and the effect of the food safety regulatory system.4. The positive relationship between the size of action on the social intermediary and the effect of the food safety regulatory system.Through the analysis of the assumptions, the article further discusses the innovation in the food safety regulatory system. Based on the Chinese situation, the innovation system normally use the top-down method which means from the government to the local departments, and this way causes lots of problems. Therefore, this paper combine the top-down and the bottom-up method that build up the innovation system, and then the innovation system’s main propose should be protect consumers’ benefits.Finally, the article from the perspective of the innovation system give several specific aspects of policy suggestions, such as the innovation of the government supervision, encouraged the local government, encouraged consumers to participation, enterprise self-discipline and so on.Theoretically, the article extends the food safety research theory perspective; helps enrich the research of social regulation of the food safety. It would be benefit Chinese construction of the food safety regulatory system. The article is divided into eight chapters:Chapter one is an introduction which illustrates the background on why to choose this topic and significance of the research. In this part, the food safety problems have been reviewed and the food safety supervision on the basis of literature review, and clearly the research of the innovation system in the food safety supervision.Chapter two is the related theory and research. In this part mainly discusses the definition of the food and its special properties. And comparing the three similar definitions of the food safety, the food hygiene and the food quality. After that introduces the equity theory and the main government’s food regulation theory.Chapter three is the equity analysis framework of the food safety supervision. In this part of analysis the food safety problems from the equity theory method, and discussed the formation of the food safety’s negative internal and external problems. The article points out the key in the food safety supervision which is the efficiency food safety equity system arrangement. And the article puts forward the theoretical analysis framework is "equity system arrangement-supervision parties behavior-and supervision performance" which based on the four assumptions.Chapter four is mainly compare the national food safety regulatory system. In this part introduce the different food safety regulatory systems of representative countries, such as the U.S., Japan, Canada, Australia, England and other countries, and the article introduce the relatively mature experience of these countries. Finally, based on these experiences, some improvement suggestions are given to China’s food safety regulatory system.Chapter five introduce China’s food safety regulatory evolution, present situation and problems. In this part divide five stages to introduce China’s food safety regulatory evolution. And through the analysis the present situation, the article pointes out the problems of China’s food safety.Chapter six analyse the efficiency of China’s government food safety supervision. In this part from the analysis modes to analyse the three main reasons that lead the failures of government supervision.Chapter seven analyse the non-governmental supervision factors and the efficiency food safety regulatory system. In this part discusses that the factors could influence the efficiency of the food safety supervision, such as the enterprise self-discipline, consumers behavior and the efficiency between the social intermediary and the food safety supervision.Chapter eight introduce the innovational regulatory system and policy of the food safety. In this part gives suggestions of the innovation system of the food safety supervision in China, and puts forward several specific policy recommendations.