Research on food safety social co-governance strategies from the perspective of collaborative rewards

Abstract

Drawing from the collaborative reward perspective within the framework of social co-governance, this paper develops a tripartite evolutionary game model involving food production enterprises, consumers and government regulatory departments, set against the backdrop of media-assisted supervision. This research elucidates how governments can enhance the efficacy of food safety social co-governance through collaborative reward mechanisms, based on an analysis of synergistic effects among entities under different governmental reward schemes. Key findings include: (1) The combination of effective government regulation and coordinated supervision of the market and society, as well as matching actual governance needs, are the cornerstone of food safety social co-governance, both are indispensable. (2) Consumer incentive exhibits a threshold effect; once below this threshold, the reward effect diminishes markedly. The powerful supervision from the media and the government regulatory departments will raise this threshold. (3) The effectiveness of collaborative reward mechanisms is determined by the intensity of governance structure rather than the magnitude of rewards. (4) Media coverage must target the core interests of relevant entities to effectively advance the development of food safety social co-governance.