This article uses a discrete choice, random coefficients logit model for analyzing consumer behavior and retail price competition in the Boston fluid milk market. The problems of product dimensionality and consumer heterogeneity implied by imperfect substitution in markets with differentiated...

This article examines the impact of Wal-Mart Supercenters’ entry on incumbents’ pricing behavior and demand. Using a structural model and milk data from the Dallas/Fort Worth supermarket chains, empirical results show that an expansion of Supercenters caused incumbents to price milk...

This paper provides an overview of recent research on estimating competitive interaction in food product categories. In particular, the focus of this review is on research using scanner data conducted at the disaggregate (e.g., store, chain or local market) level, including empirical studies of...

Thank you for inviting me to speak to your conference. Given that the standard definition of an expert is someone who is more than a hundred miles from home I qualify as an expert on the western Canadian dairy industry. The conference organizing committee gave me as a working title, “Who...

Our recent meeting provided a factual basis for analysis of alternative milk policies. We analyzed the cost of production on farms, in processing, and in retailing. We collected and analyzed prices at the retail, wholesale, and farm level. This exercise gave us a rare glimpse into the...

When a competitor buys another competitor in a local food market, prices may increase because there is less competition. The antitrust laws are designed to prevent mergers that most likely will result in higher prices. Economists do three things to help legal authorities determine whether a...

Fluid milk market orders are routinely criticized by many because they force consumers to pay higher fluid milk prices. The Northeast Dairy Compact was also attacked as a cartel that if eliminated would result in lower prices to consumers. The fluid milk processors through their trade group, the...

I would like to thank you for inviting me to talk this evening. Turkey is a nation that has been at the center of the World for much of the past 2,000 years, and now it is again at the crossroads of world affairs. It is a dynamic and modern nation that is playing a leading role in the...

The prices that consumers pay for fluid milk, and the profit margin that retailers and processors capture, depend on the market structure and price conduct in local market areas. Fluid milk processing plants are located near the cities that they supply, and competition at the retail level for...

There is substantial concern in the state about the economic health of our two remaining independent milk processors, Guida-Seibert Milk Company, New Britain; and Marcus Dairy, Danbury, Connecticut. Some Connecticut farmers are also exploring the possibility of constructing a new cooperative...