*Quantitative Analysis*

The propositions provide novel insights into which governance mechanisms should be used at different stages of food supply chains to enhance sustainability. It is striking that certain governance mechanisms are used preferentially to achieve certain sustainability goals, while other mechanisms are hardly used to improve in certain sustainability dimensions. Quantitative analysis helps clarify the particularly strong and weak effects of governance mechanisms on the individual sustainability dimensions. In addition to the quantitative data (Table 3), the results of the qualitative analysis are also taken into account during the analysis to be able to consider, for example, supply chain stage specifics.

**Table 3.** Quantitative analysis of the impact of governance mechanisms on sustainability dimensions.


Quantitatively analyzing the collected data shows that *contracts*, *certificates* and *information and knowledge sharing* stand out due to their particularly strong influence on certain sustainability dimensions. Eight of the nine supply chain stages specifically use contracts to ensure economic sustainability in their business relations. Agreements on delivery quantities and prices can be made in contracts, which enables longer-term financial planning. The

financial planning security allows larger investments, for example, in new, more efficient equipment and facilities, which sustainably increases the economic performance.

The positive influences of certificates on sustainability are mainly on the ecological (eight stages) and the social dimension (seven stages). Through the use of certificates, partners are audited by independent certification bodies regarding their compliance with social and environmental sustainability standards. Without certificates, the actors could no longer be part of the business relationships, which motivates them to comply with the sustainability standards, promoting environmental and social sustainability (e.g., compliance with maximum working hours on farms, limitation of pesticides).

Information and knowledge sharing is used at eight out of nine stages to increase economic sustainability. In the first stages of the supply chain, for example, training on more efficient cultivation methods is given, enabling the farms to grow cocoa cost efficiently and in less time, making the farms more economical in the long term. At the later stages of the supply chain, data and information are exchanged to optimize operational exchanges. Through the exchange of operational data, the partners in transactions can be better coordinated (e.g., with regard to the expected delivery quantity), and thus processes can be designed more economically in the long term.

In addition to the governance mechanisms, which have a particularly positive influence on sustainability, the quantitative analysis also showed that *risk sharing* as well as a *trusting and close relationship* do not have a noteworthy influence on social sustainability. Further, the analysis showed that *shared values* have no significant impact on economic sustainability.
