A stochastic frontier estimator of the aggregate degree of market power exerted by the U.S. beef and pork packing industries

The objective of this study is to measure the amount of market power exercised by the U.S. red meatpacking industry using the recently developed stochastic frontier estimator of market power. The aggregate degree of market power in both the input market (cattle and hogs) and the output market (beef and pork) is estimated using annual time series data for the period 1970- 2009. The empirical results reveal that the farm-to-wholesale price spread is 4.91% and 4.16% above the marginal processing costs, in the beef and pork packing industries, respectively. These findings indicate that rather a small percentage of the farm-to-wholesale price spread can be attributed to market power in both U.S. meat packing sectors

A stochastic production frontier estimator of the degree of oligopsony power in the U.S. cattle industry

The objective of this study is to estimate the degree of oligopsony power in the U.S. cattle industry with the use of the recently developed stochastic frontier estimator of market power. Unlike the seminal paper where estimation of the mark-up in an output market at firm level was the main objective, this work proposes a stochastic production frontier estimator in order to estimate the mark-down in an input market at aggregate level. Furthermore, with the help of the new estimator we derive and estimate the Lerner index of oligospony power for the U.S. cattle market. For the empirical part of the study we employed annual time series data from the U.S. cattle/beef industry for the time period 1970-2009. Our results suggest that beef packers exert market power when purchasing live cattle for slaughter

A stochastic frontier analysis approach for estimating market power in the major U.S. meat export markets

The present study estimates the degree of market power in the major U.S. beef and pork export destinations. The recently developed stochastic frontier (SF) estimator is used. Estimations of market and time specific Lerner indices are provided. Balanced panel data between 1980-2011 were employed. The average Lerner index is 39% for the U.S. beef exports and is the highest in the markets of ASEAN, Hong Kong/China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. For the U.S. pork exports, the average Lerner index is 16% and is the highest in the markets of Mexico and Taiwan

Price Dependence between Different Beef Cuts and Quality Grades: A Copula Approach at the Retail Level for the U.S. Beef Industry

The objective of this study is to assess the degree and the structure of price dependence between different cuts of the beef industry in the USA. This is pursued using the statistical tool of copulas. To this end, it utilizes retail monthly data of beef cuts, within and between the quality grades of Choice and Select, over the period 2000--2014. For the Choice quality grade, there was evidence of asymmetric price co-movements between all six pairs of beef cuts under consideration. No evidence of asymmetric price co-movements was found between the three pairs of beef cuts for the Select quality grade. For the pairs of beef cuts formed between the Choice and Select quality grades, the empirical results point to the existence of price asymmetry only for the case of the chuck roast cut

Price asymmetry between different pork cuts in the USA: a copula approach

The objective of this study is to assess the degree and the structure of price dependence between different cuts in the US pork industry at the retail level. To this end, it utilizes monthly retail data of pork cuts and the statistical tool of copulas. The empirical results suggest that for all pairs, retail prices are not likely neither to boom nor to crash together, even though overall dependence is quite considerable for two of the three pairs considered in this study. No evidence of asymmetric price co-movements was found

Price dependence between coffee qualities: a copula model to evaluate asymmetric responses

The objective of this paper is to assess the degree and the structure of price dependence between different coffee qualities of the Arabica and Robusta varieties. This is pursued using the statistical tool of copulas and monthly price data for the period 1990:1{2014:12. Our results reveal evidence of asymmetric price dependence between the pairs Brazilian-Robusta, Brazilian-Others and Robusta-Others, since price booms and price crashes are transmitted with different probabilities between these pairs of coffee qualities. For the pairs Brazilian-Colombian, Colombian-Robusta and Colombian-Others there is no evidence of asymmetric price dependence. The empirical findings of this article indicate that the probability that fairtrade coffee producers will see a price crash in the Robusta variety being transmitted to the coffee qualities of the Arabica variety is either zero or much lower than the probability of the transmission of a price boom

A stochastic frontier estimator of the aggregate degree of market power exerted by the U.S. beef and pork packing industries

The objective of this study is to measure the amount of market power exercised by the U.S. red meatpacking industry using the recently developed stochastic frontier estimator of market power. The aggregate degree of market power in both the input market (cattle and hogs) and the output market (beef and pork) is estimated using annual time series data for the period 1970- 2009. The empirical results reveal that the farm-to-wholesale price spread is 4.91% and 4.16% above the marginal processing costs, in the beef and pork packing industries, respectively. These findings indicate that rather a small percentage of the farm-to-wholesale price spread can be attributed to market power in both U.S. meat packing sectors

A stochastic frontier estimator of the aggregate degree of market power exerted by the U.S. beef and pork packing industries

The objective of this study is to measure the amount of market power exercised by the U.S. red meatpacking industry using the recently developed stochastic frontier estimator of market power. The aggregate degree of market power in both the input market (cattle and hogs) and the output market (beef and pork) is estimated using annual time series data for the period 1970- 2009. The empirical results reveal that the farm-to-wholesale price spread is 4.91% and 4.16% above the marginal processing costs, in the beef and pork packing industries, respectively. These findings indicate that rather a small percentage of the farm-to-wholesale price spread can be attributed to market power in both U.S. meat packing sectors

Free-on-board and uniform delivered pricing strategies in pure and mixed spatial duopolies: the strategic role of cooperatives

The present work analyzes free-on-board against uniform delivered strategic prices in pure and mixed duopolistic spatial markets with reference to the food sector. Along with investor owned firms (IOFs) that maximize profits, we introduce member welfare maximizing cooperatives (COOPs) and examine their impact on the strategic pricing choices. Demand is price responsive. We use a two stage game between two IOFs, between an IOF and a COOP, and between two COOPs. The findings indicate that the introduction of COOPs acts as a disciplinary factor regarding the pricing behavior of the IOFs. As competition in the spatial market escalates, we move from the quasi--collusive (FOB,FOB) Nash equilibrium, where there are only IOFs in the market, to the more aggressive (UD,UD) strategic pricing configuration where COOPs replace one or both IOFs in the market