Market concentration and vertical coordination in the pork industry: Implications for public policy analysis

Concentration in the pork industry has increased and spawned concerns over market power. Agricultural policy instruments operate differently under imperfect competition. This article analyzes the impacts of policy instruments when the pork industry is assumed to be imperfectly competitive. The arguments are made that policy instruments can be categorized into those with impacts independent of market conduct and those with impacts dependent on market conduct. If the policy objective is to raise swine grower welfare, markets need to remain open to trade, the use of quantitative policy instruments should be avoided, and domestic subsidies to packers must be effective. [Econ Lit citation: L130, L660, Q118] © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.