[6] A study published by the Journal of Economic Perspectives however suggests that Fair Trade does achieve many of its intended goals, although on a comparatively modest scale relative to the size of national economies.
[7] Consumers buy fair trade goods for a variety of reasons; some are willing to pay more for Fairtrade certified products in the belief that this helps the very poor.
Kilian, Jones, Pratt, and Villalobos[12] say U.S. Fairtrade coffee gets US$5 per pound extra at retail, of which the exporter receives only 2%.
Mendoza and Bastiaensen[13] calculated that in the UK only 1.6% to 18% of the extra charged for one product line reached the farmer.
Weber (2006) examined the additional marketing costs of some cooperatives and found, for example, that "after six years Oro Verde can cover only 70 percent of its [additional marketing] costs with its current income stream" and that the cooperative needs to double its current annual export volume in order to sustain its management team.
[20][12][21] Some critics argue that there have been few fair trade impact studies to confirm the benefits claimed and there have been calls for more evaluations as the movement has grown.
Other methodological problems arise in sampling, in comparing prices, and from the fact that the social projects of Fairtrade do not usually aim to produce economic benefits.
Due to the snapshot nature of research, few studies include how long producers have been involved with fair trade.
A further problem is that most studies ignore the agency and perspective of producer decision makers, especially those farmers excluded from the Fairtrade system.
[4]: 40–96 Case studies are valuable for, among other things, researching specific systems and sub-systems, constructing models, and identifying problems.
One reason for low prices[clarification needed] is that Fairtrade farmers are forced to sell through a monopsonist cooperative, which may be inefficient or corrupt.
Fairtrade claims that its farmers are paid higher prices and are given special advice on better techniques, both of which lead to increased output being sold on the global market.
[26][42][43][44] The Fairtrade criteria presuppose a set of political values as to what economic, environmental, and social problems exist and how they are to be solved.
These critics also state that the unorthodox marketing system imposed, which aims to replace capitalism, may not tie in with the objectives of producers, consumers, importers, or retailers.
Davies and Crane[51] report that Day Chocolate "made considerable use of unpaid volunteer workers for routine tasks, many of whom seemed to be under the (false) impression that they were helping out a charity.
Not only might one question the sometimes quite excessive use of unpaid labour in a for-profit organisation, but the management team at Day appeared to have no intention of correcting the obvious misapprehensions of the volunteers.
There have been complaints that Fairtrade standards are inappropriate and may harm producers, sometimes imposing months of additional work for little return.
[53] Labourers on Fairtrade farms in Peru are paid less than the minimum wage;[54] some non-Fairtrade coffee is sold as Fairtrade;[29] "the standards are not very strict in the case of seasonally hired labour in coffee production";[20] "some fair trade standards are not strictly enforced";[36] and supermarkets may avoid their responsibility.
French author Christian Jacquiau, in his book Les coulisses du commerce équitable, calls for stricter fair trade standards and criticizes the fair trade movement for working within the current system (i.e. partnerships with mass retailers, multinational corporations, etc.)
[56] It has been argued that the FairTrade system is too rooted in a Northern consumerist view of justice which Southern producers do not participate in.
"[57] Some free market criticisms of Fairtrade appear to be linked[weasel words] to right wing political approaches, but this does not mean that their analysis in this particular case is unacceptable to mainstream economists.
Fair trade, when practiced well, must provide full transparency in terms of pricing, weighing, and quality standards.