@article{Grassnick:310535,
      recid = {310535},
      author = {Grassnick, Nina and Brümmer, Bernhard},
      title = {Do voluntary sustainability standards increase countries'  access to cocoa export markets? },
      address = {2021-04},
      number = {858-2021-1191},
      series = {150},
      pages = {34},
      year = {2021},
      abstract = {Large chocolate manufacturers have committed themselves to  only using certified cocoa beans and some governments want  to increase the share of certified cocoa products consumed  in their countries. Thus, Voluntary Sustainability  Standards (VSSs) become quasi-mandatory for cocoa producers  and grinders to ensure access to these markets. Yet, their  trade effects are unclear. We study the effect of a VSS on  raw and processed cocoa exports. We use a unique dataset  that contains the UTZ Certified cocoa production quantity of  cocoa-producing countries from 2010 to 2016. This allows us  to estimate a gravity model of trade and analyse the effect  of the share of UTZ Certified cocoa production quantity in a  country on the trade value of raw cocoa beans, cocoa  powder, cocoa paste and cocoa butter. Our results show that  UTZ certification only enhances bilateral exports of cocoa  beans and paste, while it reduces exports of cocoa butter  and has mixed effects on cocoa powder exports.},
      url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/310535},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.310535},
}