@TechReport{iza:izadps:dp18328,
            	author={Brown, Caitlin and Tommasi, Denni},
            	title={Quality Upgrading in the Street Food Market: Is Better Equipment and Training Sufficient?},
            	year={2025},
	month={Dec},
            	institution={Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)},
            	address={Bonn},
            	type={IZA Discussion Paper},
            	number={18328},
            	url={https://www.iza.org/publications/dp18328},
	abstract={We study quality upgrading in informal markets through two experiments with street-food vendors and consumers in India. First, we define quality in terms of food safety and develop a context-specific measurement framework. Second, we show that consumers are willing to pay substantial premiums for cleanliness. Third, we implement a vendor-level intervention that lowers upgrading costs and enhances the ability to signal quality through sanitation-related equipment. The intervention improves food-safety practices and profits, but effects are modest and fade over time. Fixed pricing norms and local environmental constraints appear central, consistent with a moral hazard model where cleanliness is not profitable.},
	keywords={hygiene practices;consumer preferences;randomized experiment;food safety;informal markets;street food;quality upgrading;moral hazard;subsidy effectiveness;signaling;developing countries},
            }