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Estimation of Cost Pass Through to Michigan Consumers in the ADM Price Fixing Case

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  • Ronald W. Cotterill

Abstract

This report analyzes the economic impact of price fixing in the wet corn milling industry on consumers in the State of Michigan. Two of the companies who produce citric acid have pleaded guilty to fixing its price. In this report we assume that price fixing also occurred among HFCS producers. Given the structure of the corn wet milling industry and the direct purchaser industries, the overcharge is essentially uniform across buyers and selling arrangements. We develop an actual economic model of price transmission based upon the three facts: 1) The overcharge as a percent of the processed product value at wholesale and at retail is small, 2) Fixed proportion technology, and 3) consumers have imperfect information about prices so a small price change has no effect on their purchase behavior. These facts establish that 100 percent or more of the common overcharge will be passed through to consumers. In a more general economic model, we analyze pass through when consumer demand is not perfectly inelastic. For different strategies (profit maximization, sales maximization subject to a target level of profit, and loss leader strategies) and for different market structures (competitive, monopoly, oligopoly), the rate of pass through is 100 percent or greater given certain documented characteristics of the industries in this case. Given the prior points consumer damages are the common overcharges for each commodity times the amount of the commodity sold during the damage period. This is a lower bound estimate of consumer damages because pass through may well be greater than 100%.

Suggested Citation

  • Ronald W. Cotterill, 1998. "Estimation of Cost Pass Through to Michigan Consumers in the ADM Price Fixing Case," Food Marketing Policy Center Research Reports 039, University of Connecticut, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Charles J. Zwick Center for Food and Resource Policy.
    • Handle: RePEc:zwi:fpcrep:039
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    File URL: http://fmpc.uconn.edu/publications/rr/rr39.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Ronald Cotterill & Leonard Egan & William Buckhold, 2001. "Beyond Illinois Brick: The Law and Economics of Cost Pass-Through in the ADM Price Fixing Case," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 18(1), pages 45-52, February.
    2. Ronald W. Cotterill, 2009. "Antitrust Economic Analysis in Food Marketing Channels," Issue Papers 57, University of Connecticut, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Charles J. Zwick Center for Food and Resource Policy.
    3. Cotterill, Ronald W., 2006. "Antitrust analysis of supermarkets: global concerns playing out in local markets," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 50(1), pages 1-16, March.
    4. William P. Putsis, 1999. "Empirical analysis of competitive interaction in food product categories," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(3), pages 295-311.
    5. Ronald W. Cotterill, 2005. "Antitrust Analysis of Supermarket Retailing: Common Global Concerns that Play Out in Local Markets," Food Marketing Policy Center Research Reports 088, University of Connecticut, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Charles J. Zwick Center for Food and Resource Policy.
    6. Unknown, 2005. "Antitrust Analysis of Supermarket Retailing: Common Global Concerns that Play Out in Local Markets," 2005 Conference (49th), February 9-11, 2005, Coff's Harbour, Australia 137831, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    7. Cotterill, Ronald, 2009. "Antitrust Economic Analysis in Food Marketing Channels," Issue Papers 169564, University of Connecticut, Food Marketing Policy Center.
    8. Ronald W. Cotterill, 2010. "Antitrust economic analysis in food marketing channels: a global perspective," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 41(s1), pages 83-91, November.
    9. Putsis, William P., Jr., 1998. "Empirical Analysis of Competitive Interaction in Food Product Categories," Research Reports 25221, University of Connecticut, Food Marketing Policy Center.
    10. Böcker, A. & Herrmann, R., 2001. "Internationale Kartelle in der Ernährungswirtschaft und die Möglichkeit der neuen Industrieökonomie zur Festlegung von Kollusion," Proceedings “Schriften der Gesellschaft für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften des Landbaues e.V.”, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA), vol. 37.
    11. Bolotova, Yuliya, 2020. "The Price Effects of Milk Supply Control in the U.S. Dairy Industry," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304209, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    12. Bolotova Yuliya V., 2024. "Private Supply Management and Market Power in the U.S. Dairy Industry," Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, De Gruyter, vol. 22(1), pages 1-17.
    13. Bolotova, Yuliya, 2022. "Fluid Milk Pricing and Market Power in the U.S. Dairy Industry," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322069, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    14. Ronald W. Cotterill, 2001. "Neoclassical explanations of vertical organization and performance of food Industries," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(1), pages 33-57.

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