ABSTRACT
Prosciutto di San Daniele del Friuli is a doubtlessly quality-oriented, sustainable agri-food. The section makes the use of the theoretical background provided in previous chapters to show (1) why the production is managed and organized in a consortium, seen as an efficient transaction costs minimizing governance structure and (2) how economic efficiency of the organization, food quality, and environmental sustainability can self-enforce and cause no trade-off in the case of Prosciutto di San Daniele. Those questions are addressed with the theoretical framework of TCE. Main results show that transaction costs mostly derive from uncertainty (markets with asymmetric information about the product quality, wheels aging); complexity (certification, monitoring of reputation and respect of quality standards); and asset specificity (brand name capital and high site asset specificity). These variables increase TC benefitting from the “unicity” of the product and the requirement to keep the quality standards. This affects the TC and the related organization of the transactions within the Consortium. In addition, by regulating quality the Consortium also preserves the environmental and economic sustainability pillars. The Consortium is a TC-minimizing and environmentally sustainable governance structure.
