Government and the Food Industry: Economic and Political Effects of Conflict and Co-Operation

The purpose of this volume is to shed light on the linkages between incentives and restrictions of governmental actions which managers of food industry firms find in their search for profits. The food industry, broadly defined, includes farmers, their input suppliers, processors and the distribution sector. The authors believe no current single model of economic behavior as yet adequately encompasses or quantifies these complex considerations, in part because the perceptual processes by which managers respond to governments are influenced by culture, aptitudes, and individual and collective goals. This book explores how the private sector theoretically and actually reacts to the stimulus of public support measures, rules and regulations which are often motivated by entirely different ends from those desired by the private sector. It combines both a theoretical and an empirical approach to the subject, incorporating case study material to add examples to the macro analysis.