Title: Large retailers and vertical control of the supply chain: private labels and private certification standards

Authors: Corrado Giacomini, Maria Cecilia Mancini, Paola Modesti

Addresses: Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Economics, Parma University, Via Kennedy, 6, 43125 Parma, Italy. ' Faculty of Economics, Department of Economics, Parma University, Via Kennedy, 6, 43125 Parma, Italy. ' Faculty of Economics, Department of Economics, Parma University, Via Kennedy, 6, 43125 Parma, Italy

Abstract: In the last few decades, large retailers have become increasingly important and have radically altered the way value is created along the supply chain. Large retailers now control several phases of the production chain, through, among others, private labels and certification standards. The aim of the paper is to describe how recent strategies of large retailers are giving them dominance over producers in vertical control of the supply chain, thus, turning upside down the principal-agent relationship defined by theory and how, as a consequence, the retailer gross profits increase.

Keywords: private labels; private certification standards; vertical control; supply chain control; principal agent; large retailers; supply chain management; SCM; gross profits.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAMS.2010.036588

International Journal of Applied Management Science, 2010 Vol.2 No.4, pp.305 - 320

Published online: 04 Nov 2010 *

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