The economics of food systems

David Zilberman

Chapter 1 in A Modern Guide to Food Economics, 2022, pp 7-22 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The modern agri-food sector is evolving and dynamic. Its market structure is better described as oligopolistic than competitive. This chapter provides a framework for understanding the agri-food sector. The basic premise is that innovations trigger change and entrepreneurs who control innovations must design supply chains to profitably implement their innovations. Establishing a supply chain can require new arrangements for acquiring inputs or selling outputs. These arrangements can include vertical integration, contracting, existing markets, or new markets. The establishment of supply chains is constrained by credit and resource availability and risk considerations. Through learning and technological change, supply chain operations may improve over time, and they often expand across locations and products. Modern agri-food supply chains may produce multiple products, including food, bioenergy, and biochemicals. Changes in regulations and economic conditions may lead to creative destruction, driving the evolution of the industry.

Keywords: Development Studies; Economics and Finance; Environment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/9781800372047/9781800372047.00007.xml (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 503 Service Temporarily Unavailable

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:elg:eechap:20022_1

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Darrel McCalla ().