Price Transmission Differences between Conventional and Organic Products

Abstract

In a competitive market, a rise in output prices at the wholesale level is expected to be transferred to the consumers via retailers. We have an asymmetric price transmission when an increase in the producer price transfers faster and stronger to the consumers comparing to a reduction in the producer price. The research question here is how product heterogeneity and differentiation can affect the price transmission in the carrots markets. Carrots consumption in the U.S. has been increasing significantly over the past few decades. We investigate the price linkages of carrots at terminal and retail levels for two different qualities of this product, organic and conventional. According to the VECM model results, the speed of price adjustment in the conventional carrot market is 0.354 in absolute value, while for the organic carrot market it is 0.026. This result is an indication of asymmetric price transmission with respect to speed. It shows that the price adjustment in the organic carrot market is relatively slow, pointing to inefficiency in this market. These results have important policy implications, especially in case of price shocks, there could be differential welfare consequences for both consumers and producers.

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