COMPETITIVE BEHAVIOR IN THE FOOD RETAILING INDUSTRY

Abstract

We develop a flexible model to examine competitive conditions in the food retailing industry based on the Box-Cox transformation of the demand and industry equilibrium conditions. The impact of key technological and market developments on shifts in the competitive index is examined. Adoption of optical scanning technology was positively related to the market power index but the index was stable and consistent with competitive conditions over the 1982-1992 period.market power, food retailing, Box-Cox model, technological innovations, Agribusiness, Industrial Organization,