Book contents
- Global Food Value Chains and Competition Law
- Global Competition Law and Economics Policy
- Global Food Value Chains and Competition Law
- Copyright page
- Contents
- List of Authors
- 1 Global Food Value Chains
- 2 Rents, Power and Governance in Global Value Chains
- 3 The Financialization of Land and Agriculture
- 4 Agriculture, End to End
- 5 New Forms of Financing the Agricultural Sector in Brazil
- 6 Economic Concentration and the Food Value Chain
- 7 The State of American Competition Law with Respect to the Food Chain
- 8 The Brazilian Food Value Chain and Competition Policy
- 9 Competition Concerns in Fertilizer Import-Dependent Countries like India and China
- 10 Russian Competition Policy Over Value Chains in Agricultural and Food Sectors
- 11 The Pioneer/Pannar Merger, the Maize Seed Value Chain and Globalisation
- 12 Power in the Food Value Chain
- 13 Efficiency and Fairness
- 14 China’s Legal Regulation of the Abuse of Market Power by Large Retailers
- 15 Superior Bargaining Power in Russian Contract and Competition Law
- 16 Regulating Unfair Trading Practices in the EU Food Supply Chain
- 17 Food Chain Certification and the Social Pluralism of Competition Law
- 18 Hunger Games
- 19 Agribiotech Patents in the Food Supply Chain
- 20 Mergers and Product Innovation
- 21 The Global Grain Trade
- Index
6 - Economic Concentration and the Food Value Chain
Legal and Economic Perspectives
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 May 2022
- Global Food Value Chains and Competition Law
- Global Competition Law and Economics Policy
- Global Food Value Chains and Competition Law
- Copyright page
- Contents
- List of Authors
- 1 Global Food Value Chains
- 2 Rents, Power and Governance in Global Value Chains
- 3 The Financialization of Land and Agriculture
- 4 Agriculture, End to End
- 5 New Forms of Financing the Agricultural Sector in Brazil
- 6 Economic Concentration and the Food Value Chain
- 7 The State of American Competition Law with Respect to the Food Chain
- 8 The Brazilian Food Value Chain and Competition Policy
- 9 Competition Concerns in Fertilizer Import-Dependent Countries like India and China
- 10 Russian Competition Policy Over Value Chains in Agricultural and Food Sectors
- 11 The Pioneer/Pannar Merger, the Maize Seed Value Chain and Globalisation
- 12 Power in the Food Value Chain
- 13 Efficiency and Fairness
- 14 China’s Legal Regulation of the Abuse of Market Power by Large Retailers
- 15 Superior Bargaining Power in Russian Contract and Competition Law
- 16 Regulating Unfair Trading Practices in the EU Food Supply Chain
- 17 Food Chain Certification and the Social Pluralism of Competition Law
- 18 Hunger Games
- 19 Agribiotech Patents in the Food Supply Chain
- 20 Mergers and Product Innovation
- 21 The Global Grain Trade
- Index
Summary
Chapter 6 examines the rise of concentration in the food value chain, first as a side-effect of the technological transformation of agricultural production, and second as a result of the various merger waves that have occurred during the last three decades. It provides a concise analysis of the degree of concentration in various segments of the food value chain, noting that the trend has been an important increase of concentration. The authors nevertheless note that the causal link between the rise of concentration and price effects remains unclear, and that competition authorities have relied instead in more elaborate theories of harm, than simple structuralism. However, firms’ strategies in the food value chain change and as farmers get locked in larger agri-tech ecosystems, competition authorities become increasingly aware that focusing on price effects in specific product markets may not be the only dimension they should focus on. The food industry is also important from a social perspective, and public authorities increasingly take into account broader public policy concerns, such as the struggle against climate change, the protection of biodiversity and systemic crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. This complex context calls for a public policy response which breaks with the more traditional approaches of acting only within the boundaries of the different policy fields.
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- Global Food Value Chains and Competition Law , pp. 118 - 171Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022