Empirical Analysis of Potential Oligopsony Power and Production Technology in the Ukrainian Milk Processing Industry under Conditions of Economic Transition

The objective of this study is to provide an empirical analysis of potential market power of the Ukrainian milk processing industry in the market for raw milk. The article is based on the New Empirical Industrial Organization (NEIO) approach and pays special attention to the production technology of the sector. In NEIO studies of market power in the food processing industry the production technology is typically assumed to be of a neoclassical type with simple properties like, e.g., constant returns to scale. Properties of this kind, however, are likely not to prevail in most transition countries of Eastern Europe because of serious distortions in factor usage mainly due to institutional deficiencies. Therefore, the analysis of this study is based on the more general representation of the production technology by a translog production function. The econometric model used to measure the degree of oligopsony power of the Ukrainian milk processing industry is estimated on the basis of monthly data. The model did not produce any evidence suggesting the exercise of market power by the milk processing industry in the estimation period from January 1996 to December 2003. This empirical result is consistent with the low operating rate of the Ukrainian milk processing industry and relatively small concentration ratio at the national level. However, it may be appropriate to conduct similar analyses on a regional level, since the concentration of milk processing plants and the structure of agricultural farms in the regions of Ukraine are quite different.milk processing industry, new empirical industrial organization (NEIO), oligopsony power, production technology, transition economy, Ukraine, Industrial Organization, Livestock Production/Industries,

Oligopsony Power in the Ukrainian Milk Processing Industry: Evidence from the Regional Markets for Raw Milk

Most of the studies based on the New Empirical Industrial Organization (NEIO) approach use the industry data to estimate the degree of market power at the national level. Yet, only a few empirical studies presented the results that measure the degree of market power at the regional level and found the existence of market power in the regional markets. While the fact is that there is an extensive evidence for the existence of potential oligopsony market power in the Ukrainian milk processing industry (price cartels and geographic market sharing among milk processing enterprises, interference of the state authorities, higher concentration on regional markets), the estimation results of the market structure model at the national level did not produce any evidence suggesting the exercise of oligopsony power (the estimated parameter of oligopsony power is close to zero and statistically insignificant). The objective of this study is to estimate the degree of oligopsony power in the regional market for raw milk. The estimation results of the market structure model at the regional level indicate the existence of oligopsony power in nine out of the twenty three regions of Ukraine.New Empirical Industrial Organization (NEIO); Oligopsony Power; Ukraine;

Ernst Engels Entdeckung vor 150 Jahren

Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis,

Sistema de produção de suínos em ciclo completo confinado em pequena escala.

bitstream/CNPSA/16441/1/publicacao_h2k38z7g.pd

Sources and utilization of foodstuffs in Belarusian households: results of the Grodno households survey

The paper is a documentation of a (non-representative) survey on the food situation of households in the Grodno region, Belarus. It covers the year between September 2000 and August 2001. The focus of the survey was on the sources of food in the households (purchase, own production, and receipt in non-monetary transactions between households) and on the utilization (consumption, feed use, sale, unpaid transfers to other households, and spoilage). The paper describes the survey design and the scope and quality of the compiled data set and it presents results of descriptive analyses. The survey households consume a well balanced diet based on potatoes and vegetables as the main staple food. 75 percent of the households use small land plots for food production and a third of the households keep livestock. Household food production provides an important contribution to food available in the households and the value of the produce represents a considerable part of average household income. Most of the self-produced food is consumed or given away in non-monetary transactions. Prices of foodstuffs differ in part significantly between different points of sale and between rural and urban areas. -- G E R M A N V E R S I O N: Dieses Diskussionspapier dokumentiert eine (nicht-repräsentative) Befragung über die Ernährungssituation von Haushalten in der Region Grodno in Weißrussland. Die Befragung wurde zwischen September 2000 und August 2001 durchgeführt. Der Fragebogen behandelt vorwiegend das Aufkommen von Nahrungsmitteln aus verschiedenen Quellen (Kauf, Eigenproduktion und den Erhalt von Nahrungsmitteln durch nicht-monetären Transfer zwischen Haushalten) und die Verwendung (Verzehr, Verfütterung, Verkauf, nicht-monetäre Vergabe und Verderb). Das Papier beschreibt das Studiendesign sowie den Umfang und die Qualität der erhobenen Daten. Weiterhin werden die Ergebnisse deskriptiver Analysen präsentiert. Die Ernährung der befragten Haushalte basiert auf Kartoffeln und Gemüse, wobei Kartoffeln das wichtigste Grundnahrungsmittel darstellen. 75 % der Haushalte nutzen kleine Landflächen zur Nahrungsmittelproduktion und ein Drittel hält Nutztiere. Die Eigenproduktion in den Haushalten leistet einen wichtigen Beitrag zum Nahrungsmittelaufkommen und der Produktionswert repräsentiert einen bedeutsamen Teil des durchschnittlichen Haushaltseinkommens. Der größte Teil der produzierten Nahrungsmittel wird verzehrt, gefolgt von der Vergabe in nichtmonetären Transaktionen. Die Nahrungsmittelpreise unterscheiden sich teilweise signifikant zwischen verschiedenen Einkaufsquellen und zwischen städtischen und ländlichen Gebieten.Belarus,Grodno,foodstuffs,food,nutrition,diet,household survey,Weißrussland,Belarus,Grodno,Ernährung,Nahrungsmittel,Haushaltsbefragung

ECONOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF MARKET POWER ON THE UKRAINIAN MARKET FOR RAW MILK

The main emphasis of the present study is the empirical analysis of buyer market power of the Ukrainian milk processing industry on the market for raw milk. For an econometric analysis of pricing behaviour on the Ukrainian market for raw milk a sectoral, comparative-static structural model, based on the New Empirical Industrial Organization (NEIO) framework has been constructed. The model consists of a short-term supply function for raw milk and a first order condition for profit maximizing raw milk demand of the milk processing enterprises. The results of the econometric estimation of the model do not show any evidence for the existence of market power in the Ukrainian milk processing industry on the national level for the estimation period January 1996 to December 2003. However, these results do not exclude existence of market power on the regional level.Marketing,

Ocorrência de Prockia crucis P. Browne ex L. (Salicaceae) no Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil

We report here the first record of the tree species Prockia crucis P. Browne ex L. in Rio Grande do Sul state, southern Brazil, and the first record of genus Prockia in that state. We found a population with four adult individuals in a hillside forest and in a riverside forest at Taquara municipality, near the border with Igrejinha municipality. Species description and images of individuals at fruiting stage are presented.O presente trabalho relata o primeiro registro de ocorrência da espécie arbórea Prockia crucis no Rio Grande do Sul. Foi encontrada uma população com quatro indivíduos adultos da espécie em floresta de encosta e em floresta ribeirinha no município de Taquara, próximo ao limite com o município de Igrejinha. É apresentada uma descrição da espécie e uma figura com imagens obtidas de indivíduos em frutificação