Consumers, mainly in Europe and North America, frequently express concerns about the environmental, social or health impacts of the products they purchase. When these products are produced abroad, consuming countries often resort to using trade policies and consumer actions targeting imported...

This paper presents a model of quality choice in the case of credence goods, i.e. when consumers cannot observe quality even after purchase. It shows that firms may voluntarily overcomply, i.e., produce high quality, even when doing so implies giving up short-run profits. This generalizes...

Why do some countries establish their own national eco-labeling programs and some do not? In this paper, we provide both theoretical arguments and empirical evidence suggesting that the answer to this question can shed new light on three questions that have taken center-stage in the trade and...