IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/aaea02/19776.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Can Food Processors Use Contracts To Influence Farm Cash Prices? The Competitive Implications Of Top-Of-The-Market And Related Pricing Clauses

Author

Listed:
  • Xia, Tian
  • Sexton, Richard J.

Abstract

When contract production is marketed contemporaneously with production sold through a spot market, it is conveninet to specify the contract price in terms of the subsequent cash price. This paper examines the competitive implications of such pricing arrangements, focusing in particular upon so-called "top-of-the-market (TOMP) pricing in cattle procurement, wherein the contract guarantees the producer the highest cash price prevailing at the time of delivery. We show that these contracts have anticompetitive consequences when the same buyers who purchase cattle with the TOMP clause also compete to procure cattle in the subsequent spot market. By committing to purchase cattle at a price to be determined later, beef packers' incentives to compete aggressively in the spot market are attenuated. Although TOMP pricing is not in producers' collective interest, rational sellers may nonetheless sign these contracts, in some cases with little or no financial inducement.

Suggested Citation

  • Xia, Tian & Sexton, Richard J., 2002. "Can Food Processors Use Contracts To Influence Farm Cash Prices? The Competitive Implications Of Top-Of-The-Market And Related Pricing Clauses," 2002 Annual meeting, July 28-31, Long Beach, CA 19776, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaea02:19776
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.19776
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/19776/files/sp02xi01.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.19776?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. Michael D. Whinston & Ilya R. Segal, 2000. "Naked Exclusion: Comment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(1), pages 296-309, March.
    2. Clement Ward & Marvin Hayenga & Ted Schroeder & John Lawrence & Wayne Purcell, 2000. "Contracting in the U.S. Pork and Beef Industries: Extent, Motives, and Issues," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 48(4), pages 629-641, December.
    3. Monika Schnitzer, 1994. "Dynamic Duopoly with Best-Price Clauses," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 25(1), pages 186-196, Spring.
    4. 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.
    5. Rasmusen, Eric B & Ramseyer, J Mark & Wiley, John S, Jr, 1991. "Naked Exclusion," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(5), pages 1137-1145, December.
    6. Innes, Robert & Sexton, Richard J., 1993. "Customer coalitions, monopoly price discrimination and generic entry deterrence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 1569-1597, December.
    7. David E. Davis, 2000. "Does Top of the Market Pricing Facilitate Oligopsony Coordination?," SDSU Working Papers in Progress 12000, South Dakota State University, Department of Economics.
    8. Schroeter, John R. & Azzam, Azzeddine M., 1999. "Econometric Analysis of Fed Cattle Procurement in the Texas Panhandle," Staff General Research Papers Archive 11365, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    9. Ted C. Schroeder & Rodney Jones & James Mintert & Andrew P. Barkley, 1993. "The Impact of Forward Contracting on Fed Cattle Transaction Prices," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 15(2), pages 325-337.
    10. J. Mark Ramseyer & Eric B. Rasmusen & John Shepard Wiley, 2000. "Naked Exclusion: Reply," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(1), pages 310-311, March.
    11. Bernheim, B. Douglas & Peleg, Bezalel & Whinston, Michael D., 1987. "Coalition-Proof Nash Equilibria I. Concepts," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 1-12, June.
    12. Purcell, Wayne D., 1999. "White Paper on Status, Conflicts, Issues, Opportunities, and Needs in the U.S. Beef Industry," Staff Papers 232536, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    13. Azzeddine Azzam, 1998. "Captive Supplies, Market Conduct, and the Open-Market Price," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 80(1), pages 76-83.
    14. Ward, Clement E. & Koontz, Stephen R. & Schroeder, Ted C., 1998. "Impacts From Captive Supplies On Fed Cattle Transaction Prices," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 23(2), pages 1-21, December.
    15. Richard T. Rogers & Richard J. Sexton, 1994. "Assessing the Importance of Oligopsony Power in Agricultural Markets," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 76(5), pages 1143-1150.
    16. Elam, Emmett W., 1992. "Cash Forward Contracting Versus Hedging Of Fed Cattle, And The Impact Of Cash Contracting On Cash Prices," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 17(01), pages 1-13, July.
    17. Thomas E. Cooper, 1986. "Most-Favored-Customer Pricing and Tacit Collusion," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 17(3), pages 377-388, Autumn.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Stephen R. Koontz & John D. Lawrence, 2010. "Impacts of alternative marketing agreement cattle procurement on packer costs, gross margins, and profits: evidence from plant-level profit and loss data," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(1), pages 1-24.
    2. Koontz, Stephen R. & Muth, Mary K. & Lawrence, John D., 2007. "Impacts of Alternative Marketing Agreement Cattle Procurement Volumes on Packer Costs: Evidence from Plant-Level P&L Data," 2007 Conference, April 16-17, 2007, Chicago, Illinois 37559, NCCC-134 Conference on Applied Commodity Price Analysis, Forecasting, and Market Risk Management.
    3. Zhang, Mingxia & Sexton, Richard J., 2000. "Captive Supplies And The Cash Market Price: A Spatial Markets Approach," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 25(01), pages 1-21, July.
    4. Yanyan Liu & Mary K. Muth & Stephen R. Koontz & John D. Lawrence, 2009. "Evidence of the role of marketing arrangements and valuation methods in improving beef quality," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(2), pages 147-163.
    5. Chin, Ming-Chin & Weaver, Robert D., 2002. "Contracting, Captive Supplies, And Price Behavior," 2002 Conference, April 22-23, 2002, St. Louis, Missouri 19052, NCR-134 Conference on Applied Commodity Price Analysis, Forecasting, and Market Risk Management.
    6. Motta, Massimo & Karlinger, Liliane, 2007. "Exclusionary Pricing and Rebates When Scale Matters," CEPR Discussion Papers 6258, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Yanguo Wang & Edward C. Jaenicke, 2006. "Simulating the Impacts of Contract Supplies in a Spot Market-Contract Market Equilibrium Setting," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 88(4), pages 1062-1077.
    8. Muth, Mary K. & Liu, Yanyan & Koontz, Stephen R. & Lawrence, John D., 2008. "Differences in Prices and Price Risk Across Alternative Marketing Arrangements Used in the Fed Cattle Industry," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 33(01), pages 1-18, April.
    9. Lee, Andrew C. & Kim, Man-Keun, 2011. "Captive Supply Impact On The U.S. Fed Cattle Price: An Application Of Nonparametric Analysis," Journal of Rural Development/Nongchon-Gyeongje, Korea Rural Economic Institute, vol. 34(4), pages 1-13, October.
    10. Jay Pil Choi & Christodoulos Stefanadis, 2018. "Sequential innovation, naked exclusion, and upfront lump-sum payments," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 65(4), pages 891-915, June.
    11. Elhauge, Einer & Wickelgren, Abraham L., 2015. "Robust exclusion and market division through loyalty discounts," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 111-121.
    12. David Spector, 2011. "Exclusive contracts and demand foreclosure," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 42(4), pages 619-638, December.
    13. Claudia M. Landeo & Kathryn E. Spier, 2009. "Naked Exclusion: An Experimental Study of Contracts with Externalities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(5), pages 1850-1877, December.
    14. Ward, Clement E., 2002. "A Review of Causes for and Consequences of Economic Concentration in the U.S. Meatpacking Industry," CAFRI: Current Agriculture, Food and Resource Issues, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society, issue 3, pages 1-28, January.
    15. Felipe Avilés-Lucero & Andre Boik, 2018. "Wholesale most-favored-nation clauses and price discrimination with negative consumption externalities: equivalence results," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 54(3), pages 266-291, December.
    16. Zavelberg, Yvonne & Heckelei, Thomas & Wieck, Christine, 2016. "Entry deterring effects of contractual relations in the dairy processing sector," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 5(01), pages 1-16, April.
    17. Smith, Angela M., 2011. "An experimental study of exclusive contracts," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 4-13, January.
    18. Kim, Jong-Jin & Zheng, Xiaoyong, 2015. "Effects of Alternative Marketing Arrangements on the Spot Market Price Distribution in the U.S. Hog Market," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 40(2), pages 1-24, May.
    19. Chiara Fumagalli & Massimo Motta, 2008. "Buyers' Miscoordination, Entry and Downstream Competition," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(531), pages 1196-1222, August.
    20. Rosenkranz, Stephanie & Schmitz, Patrick W., 2001. "Vertikale Unternehmenskooperationen," MPRA Paper 6930, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    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:aaea02:19776. 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/aaeaaea.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.