This paper assesses how cross-country differences in public mandatory food standards affect trade, prices and product quality upgrading in the agri-food sector. We estimate different gravity-type models that exploit the bilateral difference in maximum residue limits (MRLs) over the period from 2005 to 2014 for 145 products across 59 countries. Our findings show that cross-country differences in MRLs restrict trade. However, conditional on trading, they increase product prices—even when we adjust prices for quality—with null effects on estimated product quality. These effects are pronounced for South–North trade but not for exports to the South.

中文翻译：

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农产品标准的贸易、价格和质量升级效应

本文评估了公共强制性食品标准的跨国差异如何影响农业食品部门的贸易、价格和产品质量升级。我们估计了不同的重力模型，这些模型利用了 2005 年至 2014 年期间 59 个国家/地区的 145 种产品的最大残留限量 (MRL) 的双边差异。我们的研究结果表明，MRL 的跨国差异限制了贸易。然而，以交易为条件，它们会提高产品价格——即使我们调整质量价格——对估计的产品质量没有影响。这些影响对南北贸易很明显，但对向南方的出口则不明显。