Vertical Linkages in Agri-Food Supply Chains: Changing Roles for Producers, Commodity Groups, and Government Policy

Linda M. Young and Jill Hobbs

Review of Agricultural Economics, 2002, vol. 24, issue 2, 428-441

Abstract: Market developments arising from closer vertical linkages in agri-food supply chains have given rise to a variety of issues. This paper outlines key issues and discusses possible responses by producers, their associations, and government. A vision of the future organization of agricultural production serves as a basis for discussion. The continued increase in contracting between producers and processors is accompanied by issues of contract transparency, terms, negotiation, and dispute settlement. Other ramifications include producer access to supply chains and the decline of spot markets. Furthermore, the development of agricultural biotechnology products may force a rethinking of the rationale for public investment in agricultural research and development. Evaluation of market power needs to account for efficiency gains from nonstandard forms of organization to achieve a balanced appraisal of the public interest. Agricultural economists are urged to evaluate new forms of firm and industry structure on the basis of how they work in practice rather than in comparison to an ideal form.

Date: 2002
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (35)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/1467-9353.00107 (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:revage:v:24:y:2002:i:2:p:428-441.

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://academic.oup.com/journals

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Review of Agricultural Economics from Agricultural and Applied Economics Association Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Oxford University Press ( this e-mail address is bad, please contact ) and Christopher F. Baum ().