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New Estimates of Welfare and Consumer Losses in U.S. Food Manufacturing

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  • Connor, John M.
  • Peterson, Everett B.

Abstract

In the past 15 years, industrial-organization economists have significantly expanded the range of algorithms for calculating welfare losses due to imperfect competition. We compare eleven empirical estimates of economic losses due to market power in 47 U.S. food manufacturing industries, almost all of them previously unpublished. Each of the studies incorporate different theoretical assumptions about demand conditions, supply conditions, or industry pricing behavior; or they utilize various data sources, time periods, and assumptions about the proper competitive benchmark. The estimates of average allocative losses due imperfect competition range from 0.2 percent to an impossibly high 289 percent of industry output; consumer losses range from 6.0 percent to 816 percent. However, there is a high degree of congruence in the rankings of economic losses due to market power. Hence, from the perspective of antitrust enforcement, the choice of industry targets has not been greatly altered by advances in estimation techniques.
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Suggested Citation

  • Connor, John M. & Peterson, Everett B., 1993. "New Estimates of Welfare and Consumer Losses in U.S. Food Manufacturing," Staff Papers 200402, Purdue University, Department of Agricultural Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:puaesp:200402
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.200402
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    1. Spencer Henson & Bruce Traill, 2000. "Measuring Perceived Performance of the Food System and Consumer Food‐Related Welfare," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 388-404, September.
    2. Bhuyan, Sanjib & Lopez, Rigoberto A., 1995. "Welfare Losses Under Alternative Oligopoly Regimes: The U.S. Food And Tobacco Manufacturing Industries," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 27(2), pages 1-11, December.
    3. Langan, Glenn E. & Cotterill, Ronald W., 1994. "Estimating Brand Level Demand Elasticities and Measuring Market Power for Regular Carbonated Soft Drinks," Working Papers 116168, Regional Research Project NE-165 Private Strategies, Public Policies, and Food System Performance.
    4. Sanjib Bhuyan & Rigoberto A. Lopez, 1998. "Oligopoly Power and Allocative Efficiency in US Food and Tobacco Industries," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(3), pages 434-442, September.
    5. Wen, Hong & Haller, Lawrence E., 1994. "Price Determination in the Bottled Water Industry: A Case Study of Poland Spring," Working Papers 116165, Regional Research Project NE-165 Private Strategies, Public Policies, and Food System Performance.

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