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Article
A Simple Test of Oligopsony Behavior with an Application to Rice Milling
Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization (2005)
  • John M. Crespi, Kansas State University
  • Zhifeng Gao, Kansas State University
  • Hikaru H. Peterson, Kansas State University
Abstract
While the development of empirical models of seller conduct abound, arguably less attention has been paid to the development of empirical models of buyer conduct. This is especially problematic in studies of food and agricultural industries where high buyer concentration along the supply chain is the norm. The purpose of this paper is to provide one more tool in the toolkit of econometric estimation of oligopsony behavior, in particular for those cases where researchers may have rather limited data sets. We derive a set of equations to estimate buyer market power with fewer equations and less formal functional specifications than are typically used in such
studies. We apply the model to the U.S. rice industry finding a degree of oligopsony behavior consistent with that found in studies of other agricultural markets.
Keywords
  • oligopsony,
  • monopsony,
  • buyer conduct,
  • market power,
  • rice
Publication Date
2005
DOI
10.2202/1542-0485.1117
Publisher Statement
2005 by the authors. Posted with permission.
Citation Information
John M. Crespi, Zhifeng Gao and Hikaru H. Peterson. "A Simple Test of Oligopsony Behavior with an Application to Rice Milling" Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization Vol. 3 Iss. 2 article 6 (2005) p. 1 - 17
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/john-crespi/11/