Sandra Sequeira

Consumer demand for fair trade: Evidence from a multistore field experiment

We provide new evidence on consumer demand for ethical products from experiments conducted in a U.S. grocery store chain. We find that sales of the two most popular coffees rose by almost 10% when they carried a Fair Trade label as compared to a generic placebo label. Demand for the higher-priced coffee remained steady when its price was raised by 8%, but demand for the lower-priced coffee was elastic: a 9% price increase led to a 30% decline in sales. While consumers attach value to ethical sourcing, there is significant heterogeneity in willingness to pay for it.

Corruption and Firm Behavior: Evidence from African Ports

This paper investigates how corruption affects firm behavior. Using an original and unusually rich dataset on bribe payments at ports matched to firm-level data, we observe how firms adapt to different types of corruption by adjusting their transport strategies. Our results suggest that firms respond to the price effects of corruption, organizing production in a way that increases or decreases demand for the public service.

Consumer Demand for the Fair Trade Label: Evidence from a Multi-Store Field Experiment

We provide new evidence on consumer demand for ethical products from experiments conducted in a U.S. grocery store chain. We find that sales of the two most popular coffees rose by almost 10% when they carried a Fair Trade label as compared to a generic placebo label. Demand for the higher priced coffee remained steady when its price was raised by 8%, but demand for the lower priced coffee was elastic: a 9% price increase led to a 30% decline in sales. While consumers attach value to ethical sourcing, there is significant heterogeneity in willingness to pay for it.

Corruption and trade costs

How corruption affects firm-level trade costs remains an important though relatively unexplored line of inquiry in the trade literature. Corruption can increase trade costs if it represents an additional tax firms have to pay to clear goods across borders, or it can decrease trade costs if it allows firms to circumvent cumbersome bureaucratic procedures or reduce clearing times. This chapter discusses novel evidence from corruption patterns in two ports in Southern Africa, to shed light on the determinants and on the implications for international trade of corruption in transport networks.