IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/jlaare/31015.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Meat-Packer Conduct In Fed Cattle Pricing: Multiple-Market Oligopsony Power

Author

Listed:
  • Koontz, Stephen R.
  • Garcia, Philip

Abstract

The exercise of market power across multiple geographic fed cattle markets is measured with an econometric model which links behavior of the margin between boxed beef and regional fed cattle prices to an oligopsony model of multiple-market conduct. The game theoretic economic model suggests that for market power to be exercised in a single market a discontinuous pricing strategy must be followed. Total market power is enhance if meat-packers coordinate this pricing strategy across geographic markets. Tests reject independence of pricing conduct across geographic markets which suggests multiple-market power is present. The extent of the market power also is consistent with the economic model. More market power is exercised across regions with the same meat-packing firms. However, the magnitude of the market power is small and decreased between the early and late 1980s.

Suggested Citation

  • Koontz, Stephen R. & Garcia, Philip, 1997. "Meat-Packer Conduct In Fed Cattle Pricing: Multiple-Market Oligopsony Power," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 22(01), pages 1-17, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:jlaare:31015
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.31015
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/31015/files/22010087.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.31015?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Johnson, D. Gale & Connor, John M. & Josling, Timothy E. & Schmitz, Andrew & Schuh, G. Edward, 1989. "Concentration Issues In The U.S. Beef Subsector," Working Papers 115907, Regional Research Project NE-165 Private Strategies, Public Policies, and Food System Performance.
    2. Stigler, George J & Sherwin, Robert A, 1985. "The Extent of the Market," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 28(3), pages 555-585, October.
      • Stigler, George J. & Sherwin, Robert A., 1983. "The Extent of the Market," Working Papers 31, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    3. Abreu, Dilip & Pearce, David & Stacchetti, Ennio, 1986. "Optimal cartel equilibria with imperfect monitoring," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 251-269, June.
    4. Bulow, Jeremy I & Geanakoplos, John D & Klemperer, Paul D, 1985. "Multimarket Oligopoly: Strategic Substitutes and Complements," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 93(3), pages 488-511, June.
    5. Hayenga, Marvin L. & Koontz, Stephen R. & Schroeder, Ted C., 1996. "Definition of Regional Cattle Procurement Markets," Staff General Research Papers Archive 10562, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    6. Uri, Noel D & Rifkin, Edward J, 1985. "Geographic Markets, Causality and Railroad Deregulation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 67(3), pages 422-428, August.
    7. Stephen R. Koontz & Philip Garcia & Michael A. Hudson, 1993. "Meatpacker Conduct in Fed Cattle Pricing: An Investigation of Oligopsony Power," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 75(3), pages 537-548.
    8. Azzam, Azzeddine M. & Schroeter, John R., 1991. "Implications Of Increased Regional Concentration And Oligopsonistic Coordination In The Beef Packing Industry," Western Journal of Agricultural Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 16(2), pages 1-8, December.
    9. Green, Edward J & Porter, Robert H, 1984. "Noncooperative Collusion under Imperfect Price Information," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(1), pages 87-100, January.
    10. Barry K. Goodwin & Ted C. Schroeder, 1990. "Testing Perfect Spatial Market Integration: An Application to Regional U.S. Cattle Markets," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 12(2), pages 173-186.
    11. Schroeter, John R. & Azzam, Azzeddine M., 1990. "Measuring Market Power in Multi-Product Oligopolies: The U.S. Meat Industry," Staff General Research Papers Archive 11112, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    12. Scheffman, David T & Spiller, Pablo T, 1987. "Geographic Market Definition under the U.S. Department of Justice Merger Guidelines," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 30(1), pages 123-147, April.
    13. Hayenga, Marvin L. & O'Brien, Daniel, 1992. "Packer Competition, Forward Contracting Price Impacts, and the Relevant Market for Fed Cattle," Staff General Research Papers Archive 11603, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    14. Gelfand, Matthew D. & Spiller, Pablo T., 1987. "Entry barriers and multiproduct oligopolies: Do they forebear or spoil?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 101-113, March.
    15. Slade, Margaret E, 1986. "Exogeneity Tests of Market Boundaries Applied to Petroleum Products," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 291-303, March.
    16. Lee, Lung-Fei & Porter, Robert H, 1984. "Switching Regression Models with Imperfect Sample Separation Information-With an Application on Cartel Stability," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(2), pages 391-418, March.
    17. Kiefer, Nicholas M, 1980. "A Note on Switching Regressions and Logistic Discrimination," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 1065-1069, May.
    18. Schroeder, Ted C. & Goodwin, Barry K., 1990. "Regional Fed Cattle Price Dynamics," Western Journal of Agricultural Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 15(01), pages 1-12, July.
    19. B. Douglas Bernheim & Michael D. Whinston, 1990. "Multimarket Contact and Collusive Behavior," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 21(1), pages 1-26, Spring.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xiaowei Cai & Kyle Stiegert & Stephen Koontz, 2011. "Regime switching and oligopsony power: the case of U.S. beef processing," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 42(1), pages 99-109, January.
    2. Cai, Xiaowei & Stiegert, Kyle W. & Koontz, Stephen R., 2009. "Oligopsony Power: Evidence from the U.S. Beef Packing Industry," 2009 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, 2009, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 49364, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. Dimitrios Panagiotou & Athanassios Stavrakoudis, 2017. "A Stochastic Production Frontier Estimator of the Degree of Oligopsony Power in the U.S. Cattle Industry," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 121-133, March.
    4. Zavelberg, Yvonne & Wieck, Christine & Heckelei, Thomas, 2015. "How can differences in German raw milk prices be explained? An empirical investigation of market power asymmetries," 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California 205489, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. Perekhozhuk Oleksandr & Hockmann Heinrich & Fertő Imre & Bakucs Lajos Zoltán, 2013. "Identification of Market Power in the Hungarian Dairy Industry: A Plant-Level Analysis," Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, De Gruyter, vol. 11(1), pages 1-13, January.
    6. Azzam, Azzeddine M., 1998. "Competition in the US meatpacking industry: is it history?," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 18(2), pages 107-126, March.
    7. Fausti, Scott W. & Qasmi, Bashir A. & Diersen, Matthew A & Adamson, Bill, 2014. "Grid Valuation of Beef Carcass Quality: Market Power and Market Trends," Economics Staff Papers 171423, South Dakota State University, Department of Economics.
    8. Marsh, John M., 2001. "U.S. Feeder Cattle Prices: Effects Of Finance And Risk, Cow-Calf And Feedlot Technologies, And Mexican Feeder Imports," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 26(2), pages 1-15, December.
    9. Rahman, Mohammad Chhiddikur, 2020. "Welfare Impact of Asymmetric Price Transmission on Bangladesh Rice Consumers," EconStor Theses, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, number 242248, March.
    10. Marsh, John M., 2000. "U.S. Feeder Cattle Prices: Effects of Finance and Risk, Cow-Calf and Feedlot Technology, and Mexican and Canadian Feeder Imports," Research Discussion Papers 256824, Montana State University, Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics, Trade Research Center.
    11. Love, H. Alan & Capps, Oral, Jr. & Williams, Gary W., 2010. "Concentration In Beef Packing and Slaughter Cattle Pricing," Journal of Food Distribution Research, Food Distribution Research Society, vol. 41(3), pages 1-17, November.
    12. Coatney, Kalyn T. & Shaffer, Sherrill L. & Menkhaus, Dale J., 2012. "Auction prices, market share, and a common agent," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 61-73.
    13. Jebaraj Asirvatham & Sanjib Bhuyan, 2018. "Incentives and Impacts of Vertical Coordination in a Food Production-Marketing Chain: A Non-cooperative Multi-Stage, Multi-Player Analysis," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 59-95, March.
    14. Tostao, Emilio & Chung, Chanjin & Brorsen, B. Wade, 2006. "Integrating the Structural Auction Approach and Traditional Measures of Market Power," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21244, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    15. Franz Sinabell, 2005. "Marktspannen und Erzeugeranteil an den Ausgaben für Nahrungsmittel," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 25398.
    16. Inbae Ji & Chanjin Chung & Jungmin Lee, 2017. "Measuring Oligopsony Power in the U.S. Cattle Procurement Market: Packer Concentration, Cattle Cycle, and Seasonality," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(1), pages 16-29, January.
    17. Trechter, David D. & McGregor, Murray J. & Murray-Prior, Roy B., 2003. "A Neo-Institutional Assessment of Cooperative Evolution: Comparing the Australian Wheat Board and the Fonterra Dairy Group," 2003 Annual Meeting, October 29 31801, NCERA-194 Research on Cooperatives.
    18. Love, H. Alan & Burton, Diana M., 1999. "A Strategic Rationale For Captive Supplies," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 24(01), pages 1-18, July.
    19. Trechter, D.D. & Murray-Prior, R.B., 2003. "Collaborative Groups: Themes for Success and the Role of Universities," Papers 234164, University of Melbourne, Melbourne School of Land and Environment.
    20. Rao Fu & Chenguang Li & Liming Wang, 2021. "Market Power in the Irish Beef Processing Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-18, June.
    21. Alan Barkema & Mark Drabenstott & Nancy Novack, 2001. "The new U.S. meat industry," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, vol. 86(Q II), pages 33-56.
    22. Perekhozhuk, Oleksandr & Grings, Michael & Glauben, Thomas, 2009. "Oligopsony Power in the Ukrainian Milk Processing Industry: Evidence from the Regional Markets for Raw Milk," MPRA Paper 16991, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    23. Pritchett, James G. & Liu, Donald J., 1998. "Estimating Backward Integration In A Primary Input Market: The Case Of U.S. Hog Industry," Conference Papers 14480, University of Minnesota, Center for International Food and Agricultural Policy.
    24. Jared G. Carlberg & Robert J. Hogan & Clement E. Ward, 2009. "Game theory application to Fed Cattle procurement in an experimental market," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(1), pages 56-69.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Richards, Timothy J. & Patterson, Paul M., 2004. "Causes of retail price fixity: an empirical analysis," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 117-136.
    2. Muth, Mary K. & Wohlgenant, Michael K., 1998. "A Model Of Imperfect Competition Using Marginal Input And Output Prices: Application To The Beef Packing Industry," 1998 Annual meeting, August 2-5, Salt Lake City, UT 20853, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    3. Jones, Rodney & Purcell, Wayne & Driscoll, Paul & Peterson, Everett, 1996. "Issues and Cautions in Employing Behavioral Modeling Approaches to Test for Market Power," Staff Papers 232517, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    4. Geroski, P. A., 1998. "Thinking creatively about markets," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 16(6), pages 677-695, November.
    5. Weninger, Quinn & Hunnicutt, Lynn, 1999. "Testing for Market Power in Beef Packing: Where Are We and What's Next?," Staff General Research Papers Archive 10575, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    6. Mario Forni, 2004. "Using Stationarity Tests in Antitrust Market Definition," American Law and Economics Review, American Law and Economics Association, vol. 6(2), pages 441-464.
    7. Javier Elizalde, 2012. "A theoretical approach to market definition analysis," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 34(3), pages 449-475, December.
    8. Bruce L. Benson & Merle D. Faminow & Milton H. Marquis & Douglas G. Sauer, 1995. "Delineating Spatial Markets Using Multivariate Time Series," The Review of Regional Studies, Southern Regional Science Association, vol. 25(3), pages 247-270, Winter.
    9. repec:ags:vtaesp:232464 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Kaplow, Louis & Shapiro, Carl, 2007. "Antitrust," Handbook of Law and Economics, in: A. Mitchell Polinsky & Steven Shavell (ed.), Handbook of Law and Economics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 15, pages 1073-1225, Elsevier.
    11. Lynn Hunnicutt & DeeVon Bailey & Michelle Crook, 2002. "Measuring Market Power with Variables Other than Price," Working Papers 2002-08, Utah State University, Department of Economics.
    12. Alexandre Gohin & Hervé Guyomard, 2000. "Measuring Market Power for Food Retail Activities: French Evidence," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 181-195, May.
    13. Zhang, Yahua & Round, David K., 2011. "Price wars and price collusion in China's airline markets," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 361-372, July.
    14. Hongbin Cai & Ichiro Obara, 2009. "Firm reputation and horizontal integration," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 40(2), pages 340-363, June.
    15. Hayenga, Marvin & O'Brien, Dan, 1991. "Packer Competition, Forward Contracting Price Impacts, and the Relevant Market for Fed Cattle," Staff Papers 232401, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    16. Thomas, Charles J. & Willig, Robert D., 2006. "The risk of contagion from multimarket contact," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 1157-1184, November.
    17. Azzam, Azzeddine M. & Schroeter, John R., 1991. "Implications Of Increased Regional Concentration And Oligopsonistic Coordination In The Beef Packing Industry," Western Journal of Agricultural Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 16(2), pages 1-8, December.
    18. Andreas Freitag & Catherine Roux & Christian Thöni, 2021. "Communication And Market Sharing: An Experiment On The Exchange Of Soft And Hard Information," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 62(1), pages 175-198, February.
    19. Canoy, M.F.M. & van Damme, E.E.C. & Rey, P., 2004. "Dominance and monopolization," Other publications TiSEM e2bd13c5-fe22-4200-8dd1-a, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    20. Belleflamme,Paul & Peitz,Martin, 2015. "Industrial Organization," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107069978, January.
    21. B. Douglas Bernheim & Erik Madsen, 2017. "Price Cutting and Business Stealing in Imperfect Cartels," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(2), pages 387-424, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Demand and Price Analysis;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:jlaare:31015. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/waeaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.