Food Safety, Hybrid Structures and Preferences for Contractual Rules: Theory and Evidence from the Italian Poultry Sector

Contractual arrangements are of great importance in Agri-Food sector, while qualitative and safety characteristics of the final products are crucially influenced by accurate technological prescriptions. As a consequence, the specification of tasks in the Agri-Food productive processes depends also on the choices of the contractual rules. The study considers the relationship between food safety strategies, technology and organizational choices in Agri-Food chains. The first objective is to elaborate on the relationship between safety-oriented technology and organization in hybrid forms, in terms of contractual rules. In this context potential maladapation costs may arise which influence the effectiveness of the coordinating devices chosen to achieve the safety degree expected. The second objective of the study is to provide empirical evidence of the relationship between technology and organizational choices. A Choice Experiments has been carried out carried out on a sample of growers and focused on contractual terms in the Italian poultry sector. The empirical findings provide, to some extent, estimates of the maladaptation costs and, therefore, information about the adaptation and the possibilities of implementing technology by drawing up contracts.