Stochastic Frontier Estimation of Market Power in the Food Industries

We use a modified version of the stochastic frontier model to estimate oligopoly markups above the perfectly competitive frontier, separating out deterministic markups from purely stochastic markups. Using data from 42 US food processing industries between 1990 and 2010, empirical results indicate a widespread incidence of oligopoly power, with Lerner indexes averaging approximately 21%. Further, the estimated markups increase with industrial concentration but decrease with price elasticities and imports. Finally, the estimated Lerner indexes are in the range of previous food industry estimates using New Empirical Industrial Organization (NEIO) models.     

Price and Volatility Transmission and Market Power in the German Fresh Pork Supply Chain

We investigate the relationship between the transmission of price volatility and market power in the German fresh pork supply chain. We use a theoretical model underpinning this relationship followed by an empirical application that uses monthly farm, slaughterhouse and retail pork price data for the period 2000–2011. We examine both the relationships of market power with price level transmission and price volatility transmission in the chain. We use a vector error correction model and least squares regressions to analyse price transmission and price volatility transmissions, respectively. Results show that retail market power limited both types of transmissions. Competition inducing policy measures coupled with measures that support price risk management initiatives of chain actors are suggested.     

Food scares, market power and price transmission: the UK BSE crisis

This paper is concerned with the impact of food scares, principallythe BSE crisis in the UK, and focuses on price transmissionin vertically related markets. We show that if market powerhas an effect on the farm–retail margin, this determinesthe specification of the cointegrating relationship and thusprovides a test of market power. The results for the UK beefchain suggest that we cannot reject the importance of marketpower. The impact of the BSE crisis on farm prices is foundto be more than double that on retail prices, thus corroboratingpublic concerns regarding a differential impact of food scareson retailers and producers.     

Distinguishing the Source of Market Power

Structural models used to measure market power, though widely employed, continue to be criticized. We compare alternative market power tests, including nonparametric and Solow residual-based (SRB) tests. We develop SRB methods that permit nested testing for both monopolistic and monopsonistic market power by the same firm. These tests and a set of nonparametric tests are implemented to examine market power exertion by U.S. cigarette manufacturers from 1977 to 1993. All tests indicate that cigarette manufacturers exerted monopsonistic power in the upstream tobacco market. They are mixed on whether monopolistic power exertion was exerted in the downstream market.     

Produce Retail Price Volatility and Perceptions in the Canadian Market: Nutrition Security Variances

Nutrition security has been studied but rarely in the context of a developed economy. Furthermore, few studies have looked at how fluctuating produce process may influence nutrition security and how consumers cope with abrupt macro-economic changes. Between 2014 and 2015, Canadian consumers saw produce prices jump by more than 25% in a year in some cases. This exploratory survey looks at socioeconomic factors and evaluates how price increases influence produce consumption and substitution. A total of 1007 respondents participated in a cross national survey over a two-week period. Results show that lower income households are more vulnerable than higher income respondents. Results also explore a few more behavioral factors such as where produce shopping occurs and how market data is gathered before purchases. Respondents who consult flyers and use apps are more likely to behave rationally and cope with changing prices. Some limitations are presented. And finally, future research thrusts related to produce price fluctuations and nutrition security are suggested.     

市场结构对城乡结合部征地与出让市场运行效率的影响

市场结构与市场行为决策及经济绩效之间存在着内在的相互关系,市场结构通过诱导市场上各个行为主体的决策,继而影响市场运行效率和资源配置效率。文中探讨了现行土地制度下市场结构对城乡结合部土地市场形成与运行机制的影响,特别是对集体土地市场形成与发展的影响。     

Spatial Integration in the Broiler Market in Peninsular Malaysia

The broiler sector in Peninsular Malaysia is marked by many structural elements of imperfect competition, particularly increasing vertical integration. This study adopts the Enders and Granger (1998 Enders , W. , & Granger , C. W. J. ( 1998 ). Unit root tests and asymmetric adjustment with an example using the term structure of interest rates . Journal of Business and Economic Statistics , 16 ( 3 ), 304 – 311 .[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) threshold autoregressive model to analyze market integration and pricing efficiency in the broiler sector. Results indicate that market integration exists in the broiler sector in spite of the structural rigidities that are present. However, asymmetries in price transmission are evident between the central market and regional wholesale markets.     

Forty Years of Price Transmission Research in the Food Industry: Insights,Challenges and Prospects: Comment

Lloyd's review of the literature on food price transmission in the Journal of Agricultural Economics (2017) is incomplete in that it omits discussion of technical change and international trade. The purpose of this Comment is to explain why these topics are essential for a proper understanding of price transmission. As a by‐product of the discussion, I show that the pass‐through and pass‐back equations that serve as the basis for Lloyd's theoretical insights are more general than one might think based on Gardner's (American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 1975) discussion of these equations.     

Estimating Market Power by Retailers in a Dynamic Framework: the Italian PDO Cheese Market

In this article, we evaluate the role of market power by retailers within the supply chain of Parmigiano Reggiano (PR) and Grana Padano (GP), the two most famous Italian quality cheeses. Market power is analysed in the context of a dynamic imperfect competition model of the supply chain, in which retailers are allowed to exert market power both downstream and upstream. We jointly estimate market‐power parameters together with supply and demand elasticities, by means of a structural system of demand, supply and price‐transmission equations, estimated using the generalised method of moments. We find evidence of downstream market power by retailers (toward final consumers) for PR and GP, but no evidence of upstream market power (toward processors/ripeners). These results may be explained by the structure of the supply chain and by the peculiar characteristics of the two cheeses.     

Labour Market Adjustment and Intra‐Industry Trade: The Effects of Association on the Hungarian Food Industry

The structure of Hungary’s food trade expansion over the period 1995–2003 and its implications for labour market adjustment are examined. The contributions of the paper are threefold. First, we test the sensitivity of results to the choice of measurement and their implications for the results. Second, we introduce more industry‐specific control variables. Third, we distinguish the short‐ and long‐run adjustment effects. Our results provide some support for the smooth‐adjustment hypothesis of intra‐industry trade. Estimations confirm that industry‐specific variables may have a significant effect on adjustment costs.     

中国农地租赁市场交易双方议价能力及影响因素研究 ——来自中国家庭追踪调查数据

研究目的：探讨农地租赁双方在信息不对称条件下的讨价还价能力,并揭示其异质性问题及背后原因。研究方法：利用信息博弈的双边随机前沿模型（SFA2tier）对不同阶段和不同地区下中国农地租赁市场交易双方议价能力及影响因素进行分析。研究结果：（1）从总体样本看,承租户比出租户具有更强的议价能力,出租户利用自身议价能力将租金抬高28.64%,承租户利用自身议价能力将租金降低34.25%,使得实际租金低于基准租金5.61%。（2）中国农地租赁双方的议价能力差距随时间呈现出不断扩大的趋势,但这种议价能力差距并不是由地区经济水平的差异性引起的,而是由地理区位条件和粮食主产区差异所决定,即承租户与出租户议价能力的差距在东、中、西部地区均为5.50%左右,而在南方地区和北方地区各为7.94%和3.67%,在非粮食主产区和粮食主产区却分别为7.20%和3.64%。（3）城乡因素、受教育程度、户口类型、性别、健康状况、年龄、经营规模等因素均是导致议价能力差距的根本原因,而居住在农村、受过高等教育、农业户口、男性、身体不健康、中老年、小经营规模农户都能够有效降低这种差距。研究结论：应当从实行农地租赁价格补贴、制定差别化的基准租金、完善农地租赁信息服务中心等方面来促进农地流转效率。     

World Commodity Prices and Domestic Retail Food Price Inflation: Some Insights from the UK

We focus on two aspects of the links between world commodity prices and retail food price inflation: first, the effects of exchange rates and other input costs, and second; the effects of the duration of shocks on world commodity markets, not just the magnitude of price spikes (the latter often commanding most attention). The UK offers a natural and rather unexplored setting for the analysis. Applying time series methods to a sample of 259 monthly observations over the 1990(9)–2012(3) period we find substantial and significant long‐term partial elasticities for domestic food price inflation with respect to world food commodity prices, the exchange rate and oil prices (the latter indirectly via a relationship with world food commodity prices). Domestic demand pressures and food chain costs are found to be less substantial and significant over our data period. Interactions between the main driving variables in the system tend to moderate rather than exacerbate these partial effects. Furthermore, the persistence of shocks to these variables markedly affects their effects on domestic food prices.     

Market Power and World Price: The Role of Asian Rice Exporters

An attempt has been made in this study to assess the market power of major Asian exporters in world rice market using standard oligopoly models. Quantity has been used as the strategic variable based on previous literature. Structural and reduced form approaches have been used. Results indicate that the major Asian rice exporters like Thailand, China, and India face a downward sloping demand curve whereas the United States does not appear to possess market power. However, the results are inconclusive about the precise market structure. The results, in the backdrop of the history of world rice markets, indicate a need for Asian exporters to rely more on trade than on domestic stocks in order to reduce the thinness of world rice market.     

Inserting GM Products into the Food Chain: The Market and Welfare Effects of Different Labeling and Regulatory Regimes

The purpose of this article is to examine the system-wide effects of the introduction of genetically modified (GM) products with and without labeling and to compare these two regimes to a third regime where GM products are not present either because they have not yet been developed or because they have been banned. For each regime, the decisions and welfare of consumers, producers, and life science companies are examined. The article explicitly incorporates the consumer response to the introduction of GM technology and considers different market structures of the life science sector.     

Shopping Behavior and Evaluation of Store Features: Perspectives from a Food Market in the Arabian Peninsula

ABSTRACT

Globally, the food retailing industry is seen as most dynamic and rapidly changing. In this paper we investigate the shopping behavior of shoppers in Saudi Arabia, the largest retail market in Arabian Peninsula. Using empirical research, this paper examines factors influencing shopping decisions and the attitude toward shopping of shoppers in Saudi Arabia. Comparisons based on demographic factors are also discussed. The article discusses the findings and makes recommendations to retail store management. Future research directions are also suggested.     

Market and Cost Structure in the U.S. Beef Packing Industry: A Plant-Level Analysis

A resurgence of consolidation in the U.S. meat packing industry in the past few decades has stimulated academic and policy debate. Issues raised include the role of cost economies in driving these patterns, and the effects on the agricultural sector (cattle producers) from market power. Here, plant level cost and revenue data for U.S. beef packing plants are used to estimate a cost-based model incorporating cattle- and output-market pricing behavior. The robust results indicate little market power exploitation in either the cattle input or beef output markets, and that any apparent evidence is counteracted by cost efficiencies such as utilization and scope economies.     

土地利用规划中的宏观调控与市场调节

文章在分析市场经济发育程度和政府宏观调能力对土地利用规划影响的基础上,结合国际有关土地利用规划中运用市场经济机制的研究动态,论述了价格信号是协调土地利用规划中的政府宏观调控与市场调节的结合点,以期为我国新一轮土地利用总体规划的修编,正确处理宏观调控与市场自我调节的关系提供借鉴。     

近代太原地区的粮价动向与粮食市场--以《退想斋日记》为中心

本文通过利用《退想斋日记》中所记录的近代山西太原地区粮食价格数据，分析了近代太原粮价的长期变动趋势，并在此基础上考察了该地区的粮食流通市场状况。本文认为：清代太原地区的粮食流通体系已经形成，并有一定程度的发展，它所具有的两级粮食流通体系——外部省际与内部县际流通渠道，使太原地区的粮价能够保持一种长期相对稳定的局面。