Influence of Trade Policies on Price Integration in the World Beef Market

The article develops three hypotheses about how policy interventions in major trading nations influence price integration in the world beef market. Simple correlation coefficients, tests for significant differences between coefficients, and Granger causality tests are used to test the hypotheses. First, segmentation between prices in Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD)-free and FMD-endemic countries is found, but it is much less than previously assumed. Second, European Community policies that closed the E.C. import market have isolated prices in the E.C. from other markets. These policies also led to greater integration among prices in FMD-free and FMD-endemic market segments by forcing exporters from both segments to compete directly in new import markets. Third, the U.S.A. is found to be the price leader in world beef markets, due not only to market size, but also to U.S. policies that allow transmission of price information from the U.S. market to the world market but not vice versa.     

Asymmetry in beef,lamb and pork farm-retail price transmission in Australia

The hypothesis of asymmetry in price transmission within the Australian meat market is tested using monthly data for beef, lamb and pork prices at different market levels over the period 1971–1988. The results indicate that asymmetrical price response is a strategy used by beef and lamb retailers and wholesalers to adjust to changing input prices, but not by pork retailers and wholesalers. This difference is perhaps unexpected given the similarity in behaviours relating to price levelling in this market, the high cross-price elasticities of demand between these meats, and the relatively greater degree of concentration in the pork market.     

A time series analysis of Danish markets for pork, chicken, and beef

We offer a first-time empirical depiction of Danish dynamic meat price/quantity transmissions by formulating, estimating, and testing a VAR model of market-clearing quantities and prices of the Danish pork, chicken, and beef markets. The analysis illuminates how these markets dynamically handle shocks, and it is demonstrated that: (i) the three meats are close substitutes; (ii) chicken and pork market shocks have own-market and cross-market effects that occur rapidly and swiftly, while beef market shocks have more enduring impacts on pork and chicken markets; (iii) prices are in general more endogenous than quantities; and (iv) the price of chicken is much more endogenous than the prices of pork and beef.     

International market integration and demand: An analysis of the Norwegian and Danish herring market

This article provides a method where pre-tests for international market integration are used to identify market structures before estimating demand systems. The method is applied to the analysis of the European herring market. A Vector Auto Regressive model in Error Correction form is used to identify co-integration vectors between price series and, based on this, to test for the Law of One Price. The Law of One Price is in force between the landing markets for herring in the two largest global supplier countries, Norway and Denmark. Therefore, an inverse demand function is estimated for the combined Norwegian and Danish market. The results are used in the interpretation of the significant increase in the prices of herring on the Danish ex-vessel market in 2001, given the stability of the Danish market. The implication is that even though Denmark did not export to the main Norwegian export markets in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, the Danish landing price is influenced by the situation there.     

The Canadian Beef and Pork Sectors: New Found Relevance of Live Market Information

The structure of price transmission both vertically (between links in the market channel) and horizontally (between market areas) for beef and pork in Canada is examined. The analysis of vertical price transmission indicates that farmgate prices lead retail prices. The hypothesized relationship between retail and farmgate prices is that the farmgate demand curve is shifted by wholesaler anticipation of the retail price changes. Such a situation would place greater importance on the live markets since prices determined in these markets would eventually be reflected in the retail market. The results have further implications for the determination of price margins and related policy issues.     

运输成本、交易成本与空间市场整合——来自中国猪肉市场的证据

[目的]考虑交易成本的影响,分析农业市场整合度,以期为促进区域协调发展,防范猪肉价格大起大落提供指导。[方法]文章基于全国生猪产业发展规划中重点发展区、约束发展区、潜力增长区和适度发展区的区域划分,采用价格日度高频数据,引入三机制阈值误差修正模型从交易成本的视角对猪肉市场整合进行实证研究,并通过样本识别测度运输成本对交易成本的实际解释力。[结果]就市场内部整合来看,潜力增长区的市场整合程度最高,约束发展区的市场整合最低;就跨区域整合来看,重点发展区—潜力发展区之间的市场整合度最高,重点发展区—约束发展区之间的市场整合度最低;进一步通过样本识别,测算出猪肉市场中运输成本对交易成本的真实解释度是33.5%左右,市场整合程度还有进一步提升的巨大空间。[结论]提出降低市场交易中的可控"流通"成本、提升市场整合度、促进猪肉价格长期稳定的建议。     

Price volatility and rational expectations in a sectoral framework commodity model: a multivariate GARCH approach

This article explores supply response models in a rational expectations framework with endogenous risk by using a multivariate generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity model with Cholesky decomposition. This approach allows the incorporation of price volatility as a risk factor into the supply response of a primary commodity sector that is composed of several markets of homogenous products. The model is applied to the Greek meat sector, which is composed of four major meat categories, that is, beef, lamb, pork, and broiler, and thus the model for the entire market includes supply and demand equations for all the four meat markets, which are estimated simultaneously. The empirical results confirm that price volatility is a significant risk factor in Greek meat production and also provide useful implications about the cost factors of production. Furthermore, the empirical findings show that the last reform of the Common Agricultural Policy seems to have had a negative effect on beef and lamb production in Greece.     

The trade distorting effects of export refunds: The case of beef exports to Africa

The usual sale of European agricultural products to Africa using export refunds has been heavily discussed in recent decades. At the centre of the discussion are the consequences on the agricultural producers in Western and Southern Africa. There are two different points of view: On the one hand, the European Union's (EU) export policy reduces the prices on these markets and relieves high burdens on local producers; on the other hand are claims that refunds do not influence local prices significantly. Hence, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has no effect on markets of third countries, besides depressing world market prices. This paper focuses on the effects of EU's export subsidies for beef exports on its market share in several developing countries. Twenty-seven African countries were analysed using a fixed-effects model between 1988 and 2000. The results clearly show a highly significant positive impact of the export refund rate on the market and the import share. With its export policy, the EU raises its market position and edges out other competitors.     

Evolving Marketing Channels for Beef and Lamb in the United Kingdom-

This paper investigates the effects of: (1) recent changes to food safety legislation; (2) increasing consumer concerns over animal welfare; and (3) further market integration in the European Union on British agribusiness firms involved in marketing beef and lamb. It is hypothesized that these changes will alter the transaction costs associated with marketing these products. As a result, there is likely to be a reduction in the number of animals sold for slaughter through traditional auction markets and an increase in direct contracting or strategic alliances between supermarkets and farmers' marketing cooperatives.     

A TEST FOR PRICE INTEGRATION IN THE EC LAMB MARKET

The purpose of this paper is to test for price integration in the British-French markets for lamb in the period after the introduction of the EC sheepmeat regime in 1980. A Holmes-Hutton rank order procedure is used to determine if price changes in one market cause price changes in the other market and thus define an integrated market. Using weekly price data for the period 1983-86, the results indicate that the British-French lamb markets are integrated in that a price change in one market is fully reflected in price changes in the other. However, there is considerable lag time in response to price changes. This may be attributed to less than perfect substitution between the British and French product, to the ex post nature of the clawback provision that existed in the British price support system during the period of analysis, and to informal trade barriers.     

Testing for the LOP under nonlinearity: an application to four major EU pork markets

This article develops an econometric procedure to test the validity of the Law of One Price (LOP) under nonlinearity and to distinguish between its strong and its weak version. The procedure is applied to four major EU pork markets using weekly prices from 1991 to 2008. The empirical results suggest that the markets are well integrated, with deviations from the steady‐state price differentials corrected nonlinearly. The LOP is valid for all market pairs and for the pair Germany–Spain it holds in its strong version.     

Spatial Integration of Wheat Markets in India: Evidence from Cointegration Tests

Using the maximum likelihood method of cointegration, this paper empirically evaluates intra-state and inter-state spatial integration of wheat markets in India. The cointegration tests provide strong evidence in favour of spatial integration of the regional wheat markets. Even though the regional markets are geographically dispersed, the prices across different market centres within and across the selected states have exhibited long-run spatial linkages, suggesting that all the exchange locations are integrated and the prices provide relevant market signals. There are several implications of these results for agricultural price policy and food market liberalization programmes.     

Do farmers benefit from participating in specialty markets and cooperatives? The case of coffee marketing in Costa Rica1

Historically low prices in the conventional coffee market have caused financial and social hardship among coffee farmers. In the face of this crisis, specialty markets have attracted the attention of the international donor community. These market segments have shown consistent growth over the last decade and exhibit price premiums in international markets. Therefore, if higher prices are passed on to farmers, access to specialty markets could help to alleviate the crisis brought on by low prices in the conventional sector. The present study attempts to identify the factors that determine farmers' participation in specialized markets and whether participation in these markets leads to higher prices for farmers. A two-stage model is used to analyze farmers' marketing decisions and their effect on the prices received. This procedure allows us to control for the endogeneity bias introduced by the marketing choice. Our results indicate that farmers participating in the specialty coffee segment do in fact receive higher prices than those participating in conventional channels. Additionally, we find that participation in cooperatives has a positive impact on the probability that a farmer chooses to grow specialty coffee and analogously on the prices that they receive. Based on these results, it seems that efforts to increase participation in the specialty coffee segment and in cooperatives would help to lessen some of the hardships brought on by low prices in the conventional coffee sector.     

PRICE ARBITRAGE BETWEEN QUEENSLAND CATTLE AUCTIONS

In a competitive market with free information flows, spatial arbitrage will ensure that average prices at geographically separate markets will move in unison. The speed of adjustment is related to information flows between markets; if adjustment lags exist, there may be opportunities for arbitragers to gain. The transmission of price information is modelled using Johansen's procedure and the existence of long-run arbitrage opportunities is investigated. An innovation analysis is used to examine the varying responses to changes in prices at spatially separate markets.     

Market integration between surplus and deficit rice markets during global food crisis period

Applying the maximum‐likelihood method of co‐integration, this study analysed spatial market integration between an adjacent rice surplus market (India) and deficit markets (Bangladesh and Nepal). The main focus is on the government policies of these three rice‐producing countries which have been imposed to reduce domestic price volatilities in rice markets during the recent ‘global food crisis’ in 2007–2008. The co‐integration tests find that domestic rice prices of India, Bangladesh and Nepal are integrated both in short‐run and long‐run periods despite the imposition of export restriction policies by India. The reason that prices are transmitted so effectively is most likely to be the widespread informal cross‐border trade through the porous borders among India, Bangladesh and Nepal.     

What drives stock market integration? An analysis using agribusiness stocks

This article explores the drivers of regional stock market integration with a focus on the agribusiness sector across relevant regional trade blocs around the world. We implement panel cointegration models to analyze the stock indices of agribusiness firms in the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), European Union (EU), Asia‐Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Based on the literature on market integration and stock return pricing, we identify nine possible determinants of stock market integration, which we separate into three categories: individual market performance, macroeconomic conditions, and agricultural trade. In our analysis, we account for agriculture‐specific factors to control for possible structural shifts in financial markets regimes by including the two main commodity price bubbles during last 20 years. Our results show that most of the variables included in our categories have been important factors in promoting regional stock market integration. Moreover, integration among regional stock markets was strengthened by the implementation of trade agreements. This effect is stronger in trade blocs with fewer members, such as NAFTA and MERCOSUR, compared with larger and more heterogeneous blocs, such as the EU and APEC.     

Market liberalization and integration of maize markets in Malawi

The paper studies the extent of market integration of maize markets in Malawi in order to understand how it has been affected by market liberalization. Several measures of integration are introduced to analyze both the comovement of prices and the price adjustment process over time. Monthly retail prices of maize at eight main locations over the period January 1984 to December 1991 are considered. The main conclusion is that liberalization has increased market integration.     

Local polynomial fitting and spatial price relationships: price transmission in EU pork markets

We study price transmission processes within EU pork marketsafter the implementation of the EU single market in 1993. Wecompare results derived from non-parametric regressions withthose obtained using alternative non-linear threshold models.Both techniques support the hypothesis that prices are transmittedacross spatially separate EU pig markets and provide evidencefor asymmetric price adjustments. They also suggest the existenceof a range of price differentials where equilibrating priceadjustments are less intense. Non-parametric techniques oftensuggest a higher degree of price transmission than that impliedby threshold models.     

Modeling regime‐dependent agricultural commodity price volatilities

In stark contrast to financial markets, relatively little attention has been given to modeling agricultural commodity price volatility. In recent years, numerous methodologies with various strengths have been proposed for modeling price volatility in financial markets. We propose using a mixture of normals with unique GARCH processes in each component for modeling agricultural commodity prices. While a normal mixture model is quite flexible and allows for time varying skewness and kurtosis, its biggest strength is that each component can be viewed as a different market regime and thus estimated parameters are more readily interpreted. We apply the proposed model to ten different agricultural commodity weekly cash prices. Both in‐sample fit and out‐of‐sample forecasting tests confirm that the two‐state NM‐GARCH approach performs better than the traditional normal GARCH model. A significant and state‐dependent inverse leverage effect is detected only for pork in the regime where the price is expected to drop, indicating the volatility in this regime tends to increase more following a realized price rise than a realized price drop.     

Competition between farmed and wild salmon: the Japanese salmon market

This article examines the Japanese market for salmon. This market is of interest, since it is the largest and most diversified salmon market in the world with wild and farmed species, from Europe and South and North America, competing in the same market. In contrast to the European Union (EU)‐ and U.S.‐markets, there have been neither trade conflicts nor trade restrictions. The Japanese market can hence provide information about the impact of bringing substantial quantities of a new product into a market, and the effect of large‐scale aquaculture on traditional fisheries. In this article, market integration between wild and farmed salmon on the Japanese market is examined, using both bivariate and multivariate cointegration analysis. Tests for the Law of One Price are also conducted. The results indicate that the species are close substitutes on the market, and that the expansion of farmed salmon has resulted in price decreases for all salmon species.