Structure, Conduct and Performance in the South African Potato Processing Industry

The South African Potato industry was deregulated in the early 1990’s, leading to changes in market structure. The adjustment in market structure leads to changes in production and marketing practices, including contracting and pricing strategies for processing firms within the industry. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the current status in the potato processing industry, based on market structure, conduct and performance. The objective is to qualitatively measure the driving forces within the industry, and how these factors influence performance of the industry as a whole. The research method was based on the structure-conduct-performance paradigm, giving a better understanding of the potato processing industry and the driving forces, relating to future growth. A short case study of the Australian potato processing industry, which finds itself in a similar position as South Africa, reveals that increasing global competition in the form of low cost importers, are hampering competitiveness and profitability, along with rising production costs. It was found that the South African potato processing industry has a relatively high concentration, which means efficiency is lacking as market shares is not distributed effectively. It was further evident that a lack of trust between processors and producers is a source of concern for processors.Crop Production/Industries,

Grocery Retailers' Dominant Role in Evolving World Food Markets

market consolidation, food retailers, food quality, vertical coordination, supermarket, market power, farmer welfare, Agribusiness, International Relations/Trade, Q13, L13,

Economics of Change in Market Structure, Conduct, and Performance The Baking Industry 1947-1958

Baking is one of the largest industries in the United States. Its sales, which exceed $4 billion annually, rank it third among the food processing industries, and thirteenth among all manufacturing industries. Bakery products account for nearly$1 out of every $10 spent by American consumers for food. Almost half of the domestic consumption of wheat flour is in the form of bread, rolls, cake, pie, doughnuts, sweet goods, and other perishable bakery products. While this study encompasses the perishable bakery products industry as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, it focuses primarily on wholesale markets for white bread. Since World War II, important changes have occurred in the bread baking industry. A decline in the per capita demand for bread products coupled with changes in technology and costs has affected the relationships between baking companies, their market behavior, and the resulting level of efficiency and price performance. In an industrial economy, the farming, milling, baking, retailing, and consuming functions are integrally related. Changes in the organization and practices in one may induce changes in others. The baking industry occupies a strategic position in this process, and as a result, consumers, farmers, millers, and retailers, as well as bakers themselves, have a vital interest in the way the baking industry performs. Changes in market structure and firm behavior in the baking industry have been the subject of study and concern by several interested individuals and groups. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has followed with increased concern the widening of the market margin and the declining farmer share of consumer bread prices. The Senate Agricultural Committee has completed a study of average cost and returns of bakery operations.The Federal Trade Commission has followed the pricing practices of many baking companies with frequent cease and desist orders. I\u3e The Justice Department, through periodic prosecutions, has kept baking firms aware of the limitation imposed by the antitrust laws. The Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust and Monopoly has studied the impact of discriminatory pricing by large baking companies on small independent bakers.7 The industry has encouraged economic study of the historic development of baking and changes in market organization and practices.s Most recently, the F.T.C. studied buyer concentration and the integration of retail grocery organizations into baking and other food processing industries

Balancing Margin and Mission: Nonprofit Competition in Charitable versus Fee-Based Programs

Competition in the nonprofit world has intensified in recent years, and nonprofit managers are challenged to devise strategies that will serve both organizational needs and public interest. We propose a framework for thinking about nonprofit competition based on the intersection of two dimensions: the domain of competition, which can be either fee-based or donative activities; and the competitive strategy, which can be either price- or differentiation-based. The experience of the American Red Cross, a prominent nonprofit organization facing competition in both fee-based and donative domains, provides data for the elaboration of the framework, and for tentative conclusions about the implications of nonprofit competition for both margin and mission.This publication is Hauser Center Working Paper No. 11. The Hauser Center Working Paper Series was launched during the summer of 2000. The Series enables the Hauser Center to share with a broad audience important works-in-progress written by Hauser Center scholars and researchers

New product pricing strategy and product performance assessment in fast moving consumer goods

Purpose: This article combines the two perspectives of management interests, namely marketing and finance regarding Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG). The aim is to uncover the marketing environment on pricing strategies in a competitive market environment, product and financial performance as well as assessing product success based on price strategies. Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative research methods are used by the design of a combination of grounded theory and phenomenology, as well as constructive approaches. Findings: The results identify that the marketing environment in terms of price is a consideration of buyer’ decisions and is related to the product marketing environment, and the environment of market competition, namely price activities, antecedents and price outcomes. The marketing environment of price is created based on the marketing environment of product and consumer market competition, while the product performance is determined by the environment of business and consumer market competition. These findings contribute to the conception of business buyer behavior and the marketing mix. Practical implications: The results implications refer to the practice of corporate management on financial management of working capital, and marketing management in general. Originality/value: The originality of this paper comes from the exploration of pricing strategies in an effort to determine the relevance between product performance and finance, and the success of new "FMCG" products.peer-reviewe

An Analysis of Bundle Pricing in Horizontal and Vertical Markets: The Case of the U.S. Cottonseed Market

In this paper, we investigate substitution/complementarity relationships among products sold with different bundled characteristics and under different vertical arrangements. Our conceptual model demonstrates the interactive price impacts emanating from product differentiation, market concentration and market size. The model is applied to the U.S. cottonseed market using transaction level data from 2002 to 2007. This market has been impacted structurally in numerous ways due to the advances and the rapid adoption of seeds with differing bundles of biotechnology traits and vertical penetration emanating from the biotechnology seed industry. Several interesting findings are reported. The econometric investigation finds evidence of sub-additive pricing in the bundling of patented biotech traits. Vertical organization is found to affect pricing and the exercise of market power. While higher market concentration is associated with higher prices, there is also evidence of cross-product complementarity effects that lead to lower prices. Simulation methods are developed to measure the net price effects. These simulations are applicable for use in pre-merger analysis of industries producing differentiated products and exhibiting similar market complexities.

Market Power in Non-Metro Banking

Banks in non-metropolitan areas compete in a spatially-differentiated environment. This paper estimates a structural model of the supply and demand of banking services in which pricing power depends on the distance between rival banks. A spatial econometric model finds that approximately 38.0% of economic surplus derives from spatial market power.Financial Economics,

International price discrimination in the European car market: An econometric model of oligopoly behavior with product differentiation

Car Industry;Oligopoly;Product Differentiation;Econometric Models;Price Discrimination

E-COMMERCE IN AGRICULTURE: DEVELOPMENT, STRATEGY, AND MARKET IMPLICATIONS

Marketing,