PhDThe copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted,\ud
provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced\ud
without the prior written consent of the author.Fair-trade is investigated at three levels. Each level relates to a specific group of actors.\ud
The first group are the consumers of fair-trade. In this respect fair-trade overlaps with\ud
altruism. A model is developed which seeks out parameters by which to judge whether\ud
or not a person will engage into this gesture of altruism, and accordingly measures the\ud
fair-trade utility of the consumer. On the basis that it is voluntary, fair-trade is deemed\ud
to be virtuous in that it either uplifts consumer utility, or else the consumer withdraws\ud
their patronage. Information is hypothesised to play a key role in determining the depth\ud
of this relationship.\ud
The second group are neighbouring producers, that is the non fair-trade\ud
producers who compete in the same market. A situation is modelled in which fair-trade\ud
is viewed as a switch in demand preference rather than new demand. The model allows\ud
an evaluation based on the standard tenets of welfare economics: to inform upon which\ud
movements are value-creating, which are merely transfers, the symmetry of those\ud
transfers and where Pareto improvements can and cannot be realised. The policymaker\ud
is afforded a logical overview, but with the implication that many of the relevant\ud
variables may be lie beyond their direct influence.\ud
The third group are landless vineyard labours in South Africa who are\ud
empirically analysised. We observed the strongest performance of fair-trade with\ud
respect to subjective improvement in wellbeing and the sort of participation that could\ud
be categorised as empowerment