Fredoun Z. Ahmadi-Esfahani

Market Power Analysis in the Retail Food Industry: A Survey of Methods

The present paper surveys various methods used to analyse market power in the retail food industry. The strengths and weaknesses of these approaches are explored and a review of the issues in using New Empirical Industrial Organization (NEIO) and time-series models is provided. The absence of a theory underlying time-series models is highlighted and a review of some theoretical models in retailing is presented. The impact of imperfect competition in the food processing sector on retailing is also examined. It is argued that a combination of the approaches that minimises the weaknesses and builds on the strengths of single approaches may prove more promising for examining non-competitive behaviour.

Constant market shares analysis: uses, limitations and prospects

In this paper, we generalise the constant market shares (CMS) framework, with particular attention to the underlying theoretical conditions required for diagnostic interpretation. The approach is applied to the analysis of the export performance of the Australian processed food sector in South-East Asia over the period 1980-2003. We conclude that the usefulness of CMS analysis for evaluating a countrys international trade performance depends upon the empirical validity of the aggregation assumptions implicit in the diagnostic interpretation.

Demand for vegetables in a Chinese wholesale market

Reforms in Chinese food markets have given consumers greater freedom and choices in their consumption decisions. An LA|AIDS model is applied to wholesale market data for vegetables to measure price sensitivity in an open market. The data set from 1988 to 1994 is divided into two periods to analyze how vegetable consumption is responding to the reforms. Chinese consumers are found to be more price responsive in the latter period, implying that they are taking advantage of the increased competition in the market.

Wheat market shares in the presence of Japanese import quotas

Abstract Both exporters and importers may pursue distortionary trade policies to increase welfare. Market shares should potentially capture the net impact of these policies on international trade flows. This article seeks to apply recent developments of the Constant Market Shares (CMS) model to the Japanese wheat import data over the period 1960 to 1990 in the presence of import restrictions. The results indicate that each exporters share of the Japanese market has been relatively stable over the period studied. The United States, however, seems to have outperformed both Australia and Canada in wheat trade with Japan.

Values of Australian wheat and flour quality characteristics

There is currently a lack of information regarding the values of Australias wheat and flour characteristics. A hedonic price function is applied to Australias wheat exports over the period 1976-1977 to 1990-1991 to estimate the implicit prices of wheat and flour characteristics. The results suggest that protein is the most important wheat characteristic with a premium of

Exchange Rates and Foreign Direct Investment: Theoretical Models and Empirical Evidence

8.80|T|percentage point. Other wheat characteristics such as thousand-kernel weight and ash content are also found to have significant premiums and discounts. For flour, protein with a premium of

Impact of the US-EC price war on major wheat exporters' shares of the Chinese market

5.34|T|percent-age point and color grade are the most important characteristics. The implications of the results for policy formulation in relation to the grading system, breeding programs, and marketing are discussed. ©1994 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Updating an input–output table for use in policy analysis

Over the past decades, growth in foreign direct investment (FDI) has stimulated significant attempts at developing theories that explain this trend. One line of this research explores the relationship between exchange rates and FDI. There is no consensus about the nature of this relationship in either the theoretical or empirical work. In this article, we critically appraise this body of work, and find the theoretical studies to be making ground in exploring the complexities of FDI, but the empirical evidence to be constrained by data problems.

Wholesale Food Markets with Chinese Characteristics

China is both the worlds largest producer and consumer of wheat. In an attempt to gain a larger slice of the important Chinese market, both the European Community and the United States have offered China subsidised wheat. In addition, other exporters have offered attractive credit arrangements to China. The objective of this paper is to measure the overall impact of these policies on each exporters share of the Chinese market. To that end, an improved version of the constant market shares model is applied to data on Chinese wheat imports in the 1980s. The results indicate that the United States has been outperforming the other exporters since subsidised US wheat sales were authorised for China in 1987. The implications of the analysis for the smaller exporters and international wheat trade are discussed.

Export demand for attributes of Australian wheat in Asia and the Middle East

The long lag in the publication of input–output tables is one of the central constraints in applied general equilibrium analysis. Model builders often use out‐dated databases leading to analyses that are inappropriate for the policy questions being addressed. This occurs particularly when there exists a significant structural change in the economy. We discuss the updating of an input–output table of the Philippines by simulation technique. A detailed computable general equilibrium model of the Philippine economy with comparative static and forecasting capabilities is utilised. The data are drawn from known percentage changes of macroeconomic variables such as those in the national accounts and structural variables such as employment and output by industry.