Factors Affecting Prices of Pears

What makes the price of a particular crop of pears and why prices tend to change from year to year are questions of special concern to growers, processors, and others interested in the production, marketing, and pricing of pears. The market structure for pears, as for other fruits, is a complex one, and throughout the marketing season, various forces exert their influence upon the season average price received by growers. Statistical data representing all of the price making factors for any particular crop are not available but, for a large number of agricultural commodities, the size of production and stocks, the level of national income, and the production of closely competing commodities are usually of considerable importance. In this study, an attempt has been made to measure the inguence of these factors on prices of all West Coast pears, all Pacific Coast Bartlett pears sold for fresh use, Bartletts sold for canning, Pacific Coast pears other than Bartletts, and pears other than those grown on the Pacific Coast. Although these factors do not account for all price changes, they do explain a rather considerable amount of variation in the prices received. It is hoped that measurements of the price making influence of some of the excluded factors can eventually be made.