An Empirical Analysis of Market Power in The Dallas-Forth Worth Milk Market

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

In this paper, we develop a dynamic structural model based on a dynamic supergame and measure market power for the Dallas-Forth Worth fluid milk market in the U.S. In particular, we compare the conduct parameter estimates from a static model with that from the dynamic model and illustrate bias in the market-power measure in a static model. And we also analyze the cyclical behavior of firm conduct. We find that the conduct parameter in a static model underestimates true market power if firms’ behaviors are posited by a dynamic oligopoly game. We also verify that firm conduct in the Dallas-Forth Worth fluid milk market is countercyclical against demand shocks and expected future cost shocks. Our results indicate that the firms’ conduct in the Dallas-Forth Worth fluid milk market is consistent with what dynamic oligopoly models predict. This implies that the firms consider not only the contemporary reactions of the other firms’ but also future market competition. Therefore, the measurement of market power requires the specification of fully dynamic pricing relationship.

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