Trading Down? The Impact of Recession on Meat Consumption

Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Marketing, Q1,

MONOPSONY POWER IN MULTIPLE INPUT MARKETS: A Nonparametric Approach

Cigarette manufacturers' monopsony power exertion in procuring domestic and imported tobacco is investigated using nonparametric methods. While it is often assumed that tobacco program rents are captured by growers, results indicate the opposite actually occurs. Cigarette manufacturers appear to exert significant monopsony power in the domestic leaf tobacco market and capture a large portion of program rents. Cigarette manufacturers appear to exert monopsony power of much smaller magnitude in the international leaf tobacco market, but with increasing magnitude in more recent years.market power, tobacco, nonparametric, monopsony, imports., International Relations/Trade, L1,

PARAMETRIC AND NONPARAMETRIC MARKET POWER TESTS: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION

Parametric and nonparametric market power tests most commonly used to assess imperfectly competitive behavior are identified. Monte Carlo experiments are used to assess the accuracy of eight nonparametric tests. The results are compared to Raper, Love, and Shumway's (1997) findings concerning three parametric market power tests in the Bresnahan-Lau tradition. Both monopolistic and monopsonistic market power tests are implemented using data from 10 known market structures. Only two of the nonparametric market power tests distinguish between market structures adequately. The parametric tests perform well, although functional form bias is not investigated in this study.Industrial Organization, Marketing,

DETERMINISTIC NONPARAMETRIC MARKET POWER TESTS: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION

A review of recent literature reflects the development of several deterministic nonparametric market power tests. We use Monte Carlo experiments to evaluate the veracity of four monopolistic and four monopsonistic market power tests that use the deterministic nonparametric approach. The experiments are implemented using data from ten known market structures. When results are compared to Raper, Love, and Shumway's (1999) findings concerning parametric market power tests in the Bresnahan-Lau tradition, we find that the parametric tests perform well while only two of the nonparametric tests appear able to identify market power.Marketing,

Regional Wholesale Price Relationships: The Case of Peaches

An important characteristic of agricultural commodity markets is the extent to which those markets respond to price changes in related markets. Given a competitive market structure, the Law of One Price (LOP) postulates that spatial price relationships are determined by transfer cost1 among regions and that spatial arbitrage restores market equilibrium (Tomek and Robinson, 2003). Spatial price relationships are of particular relevance to farmers in designing market strategies. Measurements of spatial price relationships provide insights about the dynamics of price movements, thus increasing understanding of likely behavior of supply or demand areas in the market (Jordan and Van Sickle, 1998). For example, knowledge of which regions lead prices, the degree to which market shocks are transmitted via prices among regions, and the regional market reaction time can all be useful in designing market strategy. This study analyzes spatial wholesale price relationships for fresh U.S. peaches using vector autoregressive analysis (VAR) on weekly prices from the primary wholesale markets of four U.S. regions. Primary objectives of the study are: (1) to determine the degree of market segmentation as well as the direction and magnitude of market integration among regions, and (2) to evaluate the sensitivity of U.S. fresh peach wholesale markets to individual shocks in the five regions. The study is organized as follows. We first present an overview of the U.S. fresh peach sector. Next, the relevant methodology and data is described. Results and conclusions follow.Demand and Price Analysis,

Regional Wholesale Price Relationships in the Presence of Counter-Seasonal Imports

Counter-seasonal imports of fresh produce facilitate year-round availability in the U.S. and may impact the seasonal structure of market price relationships. Vector autoregression analysis is used to determine the nature and extent of spatial price relationships among four geographically distinct regions in the U.S. fresh peach wholesale market. We evaluate differences in regional spatial price relationships and find statistical evidence that price relationships among regions are different in periods dominated by regional domestic supplies imports compared with periods when counter-seasonal imports dominate the market.counter-seasonal imports, price analysis, regional prices, spatial prices, VAR, Agribusiness, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, International Relations/Trade, Risk and Uncertainty, Q1, Q11, Q13,

AN ERA OF CONFUSION: THE LAND GRANT RESEARCH AGENDA AND BIOTECHNOLOGY

The Land Grant College and University (LGCU) research system is in a state of confusion. Public research privatization, industry concentration, and balancing money and the Land Grant mission are issues LGCUs currently face. The ag-biotechnology revolution complicates these issues. This paper provides four mission related policy recommendations for the LGCU system. Keywords: Biotechnology, Land Grant Mission, ResearchBiotechnology, Land Grant Mission, Research, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

DISTINGUISHING THE SOURCE OF MARKET POWER: AN APPLICATION TO CIGARETTE MANUFACTURING

We compare nonparametric and nonstructural market power tests using data from the cigarette manufacturing industry. Tests are implemented to examine both monopoly and monopsony power exertion by cigarette manufacturers. Results indicate that market power in the tobacco industry, previously attributed to monopoly power exertion, should at least in part be attributed to monopsony market power in the upstream tobacco market.market power, nonparametric, nonstructural, monopsony, monopoly, cigarette manufacturing, Agribusiness,

IDENTITY CRISIS: LAND GRANT RESEARCH IN THE BIOTECHNOLOGY ERA

"It is further the policy of the Congress to promote the efficient production, marketing, distribution, and utilization of products of the farm as essential to the health and welfare of our peoples and to promote a sound and prosperous agriculture and rural life...It shall be the object and duty of the State agricultural experiment stations...to conduct original and other researches, investigations, and experiments...including researches basic to the problems of agriculture in its broadest aspects, and such investigations as have for their purpose and development and improvement of the rural home and rural life and the maximum contribution by agriculture to the welfare of the consumer..." (The Hatch Act) Land Grant Colleges and Universities (LGCUs) are experiencing an identity crisis. This identity crisis is most evident in agricultural research, where privatization is raising questions about the public-good nature of agricultural research, where the delivery of product to the consumer as originally stated in the Hatch Act of 1887 is hampered by increasing protection of intellectual property, and where is there is no clear vision as to how 21st century agriculture is supposed to look. How can LGCUs maximize the contribution of agriculture to the improvement of rural life or consumer welfare if there is no clear vision?Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Cow-Calf Standardized Performance Analysis (SPA)

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