Files
Abstract
This study examines the effects of increasing provision of hygiene quality information
on consumer assessment of restaurant quality. In July 2010 New York City
introduced mandatory hygiene grade cards to be displayed in restaurants. I show
that both an A grade and better inspection scores are correlated with higher ratings
in food, decor, service and price, with the former having a larger impact. These results
suggest that consumers give much credence to the information provided by hygiene
grade cards but the underlying scores might not reflect the true hygiene quality
of restaurants.