Traceability and transaction governance: a transaction cost analysis in seafood supply chain

ABSTRACTAlmost all Vietnamese seafood companies use paper-based traceability systems. Small-scale characteristics of the fisheries industry have affected the way in which seafood firms manage transactions in their supply chains. The implementation of traceability systems leads to an increase in asset specificity (71%), a decrease in transaction uncertainty (60%) and low variation in the frequency of transactions (7%). The introduction of traceability has also increased transaction costs (information costs, negotiating costs, system management costs and control supplier activity costs). Price incentives, purchasing and production rule enforcement and liability serve as proxies for the vertical relationship, which has shown an increase in variation.