Welfare Gains from Quality Certification of Infant Foods: Results from a Market Experiment in Mali

Abstract In low‐income countries, malnutrition is often most severe among infants of six to twenty‐four months. They need higher‐density foods than the family diet, but density is a credence attribute. We hypothesize that the premium now paid for heavily advertised brands reflects demand for quality assurance, which could be provided at lower cost to competing firms through third‐party certification. We use a new market experiment to find that mothers' average willingness‐to‐pay for certification is about $‐1.75/kg, or four times its cost, so that total economic‐surplus gains from introducing certification to Mali would be on the order of $‐1 million annually.