Horizontal Consolidation in the U.S. Food Processing Industry: Boon or Bane?

This study measured the effect of increased concentration on industry market power and cost efficiency, using a bilateral oligopoly model. Cost efficiency gains dominate market power effects from increase in industry concentration. This result is consistent with previous finding that consolidation in the U.S. beef industry is efficiency driven.Agribusiness,

Staple food prices in Mozambique

Prepared for the Comesa policy seminar on “Variation in staple food prices: Causes, consequence, and policy options”, Maputo, Mozambique, 25-26 January 2010 under the Comesa-MSU-IFPRI African Agricultural Marketing Project (AAMP)Mozambique, food security, food prices, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, International Relations/Trade, q11, q13, q18,

On the Role of Government in Food Staples Markets: Perspectives from Recent Research and Implications for Mozambique

This brief reviews results of applied research regarding the role of government in staple food markets in East and Southern Africa. The purpose of the brief is to draw lessons for Mozambique as it decides how to use the grain storage silos it has been building since 2009. The authors suggest that: Mozambique is in an unusually strong position to take advantage of private sector activity to stabilize prices over time and space; Additional investment in road and rail infrastructure, incentives, and institutions, would help bring down transaction costs and allow private action to further stabilize prices; Additional stabilization, for those times when Mozambique has to rely on imports from the world market beyond what they normally make, could be obtained in a cost efficient manner using a financial reserve; and If the government chooses also to maintain a public physical reserve, then several conditions (listed in the brief) are necessary for operating this in a manner that improves market performance.Africa, Mozambique, food security, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Community/Rural/Urban Development, International Development, Marketing, q18, q13, q12,

Integrating the Structural Auction Approach and Traditional Measures of Market Power

This study asks the question, what is the relationship between traditional models of market power and structural auction models? An encompassing model is derived that considers both price markdowns due to bid shading during an auction and price markdowns at the industry-level due to imperfect competition. Data from a cattle procurement experimental market is used to compare the appropriateness of the two alternative theories. Regression results show that while the number of firms is more important than the number of bidders on lot of cattle in explaining pricing behavior in the game, the number of bidders does contain some unique information and should be included in the model. Both the traditional NEIO and structural auction approaches overestimated the true markdowns possibly due to failure to account for the winner's curse.Marketing,

WILL THE VOLUNTARY CHECKOFF PROGRAM BE THE ANSWER? AN ANALYSIS OF OPTIMAL ADVERTISING AND FREE-RIDER PROBLEM IN THE U.S. BEEF INDUSTRY

Replaced with revised version of paper 04/21/04.Marketing,

Staple food prices in Mozambique

Mozambique is located along the Indian Ocean coastline of southern Africa and covers over 799,380 Km2 hectares, including over 36 million hectares of arable land. The recent population census indicates that over 70% of Mozambique’s population lives in rural areas, and that population is growing. The remaining 30% live in urban areas, including the capital Maputo with 1.1 million people. With about 80 percent of its population of 20 million dependent on agriculture for their livelihood, the agricultural sector remains the key sector in the economy for achieving economic growth. While there has been significant economic growth in recent years, with GDP growth averaging 8.6 percent annually, there is still a high proportion of the population living below $1/day. Food accessibility is clearly a major issue for many households, both rural and urban, in spite of increasing food production levels and incomes. As will be seen in greater detail, due to geographical and historical factors, there are large differences in food staple consumption and production between regions of Mozambique. Analysis of price dynamics helps us to understand these relationships, especially as prices respond to external drivers as well as domestic ones. The rise in world food and fuel prices created difficulties in Mozambique, including a day of street protests in early 2008 over an increase in transport costs and bread. As a response to the rising prices, the government developed their Action Plan for Food Production (Plano de Acção da Produção Agrícola, known as PAPA) (Mozambique 2008), designed to increase domestic food availability through various measures to enhance crop production and productivity, thereby lowering domestic food prices and relying less on imports from the world markets. To put this plan into context, it is important to look at the role of different staples, price fluctuations for them, and key regional differences within the countr

On the Role of Government in Food Staples Markets: Perspectives from Recent Research and Implications for Mozambique

This brief reviews results of applied research regarding the role of government in staple food markets in East and Southern Africa. The purpose of the brief is to draw lessons for Mozambique as it decides how to use the grain storage silos it has been building since 2009. The authors suggest that: Mozambique is in an unusually strong position to take advantage of private sector activity to stabilize prices over time and space; Additional investment in road and rail infrastructure, incentives, and institutions, would help bring down transaction costs and allow private action to further stabilize prices; Additional stabilization, for those times when Mozambique has to rely on imports from the world market beyond what they normally make, could be obtained in a cost efficient manner using a financial reserve; and If the government chooses also to maintain a public physical reserve, then several conditions (listed in the brief) are necessary for operating this in a manner that improves market performance

Horizontal Consolidation in the U.S. Food Processing Industry: Boon or Bane?

This study measured the effect of increased concentration on industry market power and cost efficiency, using a bilateral oligopoly model. Cost efficiency gains dominate market power effects from increase in industry concentration. This result is consistent with previous finding that consolidation in the U.S. beef industry is efficiency driven

Fertilizer use on individually and jointly managed crop plots in Mozambique

Using plot level data, this study examines the differential fertilizer application rates on plots managed individually by men, women, or jointly in dual adult households in three districts in south-central Mozambique. The results suggest that—controlling for the demographics of the manager and plot characteristics—joint management of agricultural plots is associated with higher fertilizer application rates on maize plots but with lower fertilizer application on non-food cash plots. Absent equitable sharing of proceeds from jointly managed plots, efforts to increase access to inputs by women may need to be targeted at plots already managed by women themselves. In land-scarce environments where women are less likely to have parcels to cultivate autonomously, these results suggest that improving women’s bargaining power under joint management of agricultural activities may be one way to improve gender equality in agriculture