Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T02:02:00.975Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Market Structure and the Dynamics of Retail Food Prices

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2017

Robert D. Weaver
Affiliation:
The Pennsylvania State University
Peter Chattin
Affiliation:
The Pennsylvania State University
Aniruddha Banerjee
Affiliation:
The Pennsylvania State University
Get access

Abstract

The effect of retail grocery market structure on the speed of adjustment of retail food prices to changes in producer prices, real wages, and the cost of energy was examined for SMSAs. Evidence failed to support the implication of the Mason-Bain paradigm that increased concentration reduces market efficiency as reflected in speed of retail price adjustment. Evidence of strong intertemporal relationships between change in producer prices and retail prices found for the categories meat, poultry, fish, eggs and cereal and baker products provide support to the hypothesis of cost-push inflation.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © 1989 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Applebaum, E.Testing Price Taking Behavior.” Journal of Econometrics, 9 (1979):283294.Google Scholar
Applebaum, E.The Estimation of the Degree of Oligopoly Power.” Journal of Econometrics, 10 (1982):313331.Google Scholar
Bain, Joe S.Relation of Profit Rate to Industrial Concentration: American Manufacturing, 1936–40.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 65 (1951):293324.Google Scholar
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. Consumer Price Index, Detailed Report, various years.Google Scholar
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. Employment and Earnings, various years.Google Scholar
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. Estimated Retail Food Prices by City, various years.Google Scholar
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. Producer Prices and Price Indexes, various years.Google Scholar
Bureau of the Census, Retail Trade Division, U.S. Department of Commerce, Grocery Retailing Concentration in Metropolitan Areas, Economic Census Years, 1954–1972.Google Scholar
Chamberlin, Edward. The Theory of Monopolistic Competition, sixth edition (London: Oxford University Press), 1949.Google Scholar
Cotterill, Ronald W.Market Power in the Retail Food Industry: Evidence from Vermont.” Review of Economics and Statistics, 68(3), (1986):379386.Google Scholar
Cournot, Augustin. Researches into the Mathematical Principles of the Theory of Wealth, translated by Bacan, Nathanial, Macmillan, New York, 1897.Google Scholar
Domberger, S.Price Adjustment and Market Structure.” The Economic Journal, 89 (1979):96108.Google Scholar
Duncan, Gregory M.A Simplified Approach to M-Estimation with Application to Two-Stage Estimators.” Journal of Econometrics, 34 (1987):373389.Google Scholar
Fomby, T. B., Hill, R. C., and Johnson, S. R. Advanced Econometric Methods, Springer-Verlag, NY, 1984.Google Scholar
Gaskins, D. W.Dynamic Limit Pricing: Optimal Pricing Under Threat of Entry.” Journal of Economic Theory, 3 (1971):306322.Google Scholar
Geithman, F. and Marion, Bruce. “A Critique of the Use of BLS Data for Market Structure Analysis.” AmericanGoogle Scholar
Journal of Agricultural Economics, 60 (1978):701705.Google Scholar
German, G. and Hawkes, G. Operating Results of Food Chains, Cornell University, 1980.Google Scholar
Goldberger, A. S. Econometric Theory, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., NY, 1964.Google Scholar
Griliches, Z.Distributed Lags: A Survey.” Econometrica, 35 (1967):1649.Google Scholar
Hall, L., Schmitz, A., and Cothern, J.Beef Wholesale Retail Marketing Margins and Concentration.” Economica, 46 (1979):295300.Google Scholar
Kwoka, John. “The Effect of Market Share Distribution on Industry Performance.” Review of Economics and Statistics, 61 (1981):101109.Google Scholar
Kwoka, John. “Does the Choice of Concentration Measure Really Matter?Journal of Industrial Economics, 29 (1981):445453.Google Scholar
Lamm, R. M.Dynamics of Food Price Inflation.” Western Journal of Agricultural Economics 4 (1979):119132.Google Scholar
Lamm, R. M.Prices and Concentration in the Food Retailing Industry.” Journal of Industrial Economics, 30 (1981):6778.Google Scholar
Lamm, R. M. and Westcott, P. C.The Effects of Changing Input Costs on Food Prices.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 63 (1981):187196.Google Scholar
Marion, B. W., Mueller, W. F., Cotterill, R. W., Geithman, F. E., and Schmelzer, J. R.The Price and Profit Performance of Leading Food Chains.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 61 (1979):420433.Google Scholar
Mason, E. S.Price Production Policies of Large Scale Enterprises.” American Economic Review, 29 (1939):6174.Google Scholar
Means, G. C. Industrial Prices and Their Relative Inflexibility. United States Senate Document 13, 74th Congress, 1st Session, Washington, D.C., 1935.Google Scholar
Parker, R., and Connor, J.Estimates of Consumer Loss Due to Monopoly in the U.S. Food Manufacturing Industries.” Committee on Small Business, U.S. House of Representatives, 1980.Google Scholar
Ravenscraft, David. “Price-Raising and Cost-Reducing Effects in Profit-Concentration Studies: A Monte Carlo Simulation Analysis.” , Northwestern University, 1980.Google Scholar
Rothwell, Doris P.Calculation of Average Retail Food Prices.” Monthly Labor Review, (1965):6165.Google Scholar
Salop, Steven, and Stiglitz, Joseph. “Bargains and Ripoffs: A Model of Monopolistically Competitive Price Dispersion.” Review of Economic Studies, 44 (1977):493510.Google Scholar
Scherer, F. M. Industrial Market Structure and Economic Performance, 2nd edition (Rand McNally, Chicago), 1980.Google Scholar
Schmalensee, R.Inter-Industry Studies of Structure and Performance.” To appear in Schmalensee, R. and Willig, R. (eds.), Handbook of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1987.Google Scholar
Schroeter, J. R.Estimating the Degree of Market Power in the Beef Packing Industry.” Review of Economics and Statistics, 70(1), (1988):158162.Google Scholar
Shephard, William. “The Elements of Market Structure.” Review of Economics and Statistics, 54 (Feb. 1972):100107.Google Scholar
Stigler, George. “A Theory of Oligopoly.” Journal of Political Economy, 92 (1964):4461.Google Scholar
Stigler, George. The Organization of Industry, Homewood, Illinois: Irwin, 1968.Google Scholar
Stiglitz, Joseph. “Equilibrium in Product Markets with Imperfect Information.” American Economic Review, 69(Part 1; May, 1979):339345.Google Scholar
Swamy, P. A. V. B. Statistical Inference in Random Coefficient Regression Models, Springer-Verlag, 1971.Google Scholar
White, Lawrence J.Searching for the Critical Concentration Ratio: An Application of the ‘Switching of Regimes’ Technique.” In Goldfield, S. and Quandt, R. (eds.) Studies in Non-Linear Estimation, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1976.Google Scholar