Etica e impresa agroalimentare: la certificazione della responsabilità sociale

The present article copes with the recent debate about business ethics. Specifically, since the production of foods results very sensitive to ethical matters, the paper aims to study the relationships and the resulting implications between ethics and economics for agro-food firms. From a theoretical standpoint, it is shown that two approaches, the transaction costs and the management of firms’ value, are useful to explain why ethical and economics behaviors can be compatible. Furthermore, we show that the adoption of ethical codes is supported by public institutions through the promotion of voluntary international standards that guarantee and improve either the state of the environment or workers rights. Among these, the Social Accountability 8000 is receiving an increasing attention, especially by food firms. The case study conducted on Granarolo S.p.a. offers a clear evidence of the features of the SA 8000 emphasizing, also, the positive effects on the supply chain, since certified firms require from suppliers the same code of behavior.