COVID Policy and Urban Food Markets in Peru: Governance and Compliance
研究秘鲁政府通过预算激励促使地方政府在食品市场实施防疫措施，发现市属市场合规性优于私营或摊主自营市场，并分析了治理机制差异。
Urban food markets are essential channels of food distribution and spaces of social interaction where COVID-19 could be easily transmitted. The Peruvian government used budget incentives to motivate local governments to implement social distancing and food safety measures in these markets. Two surveys, in May and November 2020, show that municipality-owned markets had better compliance than privately or vendor-owned markets, especially with vendor protection measures and common space adaptations. Qualitative interviews helped to identify plausible causal mechanisms that explain this finding. Local governments perceived legal restrictions to investing public funds in privately owned markets, while vendor-owned markets faced agency dilemmas and opportunistic behaviour in decision-making about the required collective investments. We argue that a small-grants or loan facility specifically targeted at vendor-owned markets could have reduced these governance challenges and improved compliance. Peru’s budget incentive policy to support food market governance could inspire other countries to design appropriate policy instruments for food safety and public health.