The Evolution of Quantitative Food Marketing Policy: A Public Perspective

Abstract

Quantitative analysis of food marketing policy has played a critical role in the evolution of empirical industrial organization and antitrust enforcement over the past 40 years. This article highlights the contributions of the author and other agricultural economists. The second half of this article explains why an economist might want to do, or perhaps avoid, public policy work. It gives several examples from antitrust cases where economic policy analysis is a front-line contact sport.