Browsing by Author "Munro, Grady"

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    Market Concentration in Canadian Beef Packing: The Wrong Target for Competition Policy
    (2023-05-29) Munro, Grady; Fellows, Kent
    During the COVID-19 pandemic, market concentration within the Canadian beef packing industry was highlighted as a policy issue that should be addressed using competition policy. This paper finds though the market is indeed highly concentrated, concentration alone is unlikely to give packers the ability to exert oligopsony power in live cattle markets nor is it maintained through anti-competitive conduct. Beef packing has reached this level of concentration primarily due to the strong influence of economies of scale, whereby firms are incentivized to increase scale in order to remain efficient. Yet, during normal market conditions firm concentration does not allow Canadian packers to exert market power because of competition from U.S.-based processors for live cattle inputs. Literature analyzing market power during the BSE-crisis, as well as analysis of beef sector Lerner Indices during the COVID-19 pandemic, do suggest that Canadian packers will exert oligopsony when market conditions allow. In terms of competition policy, market concentration alone is neither a violation of the law nor a necessarily undesirable outcome. To ensure Canadian beef packers cannot exert market power in live cattle markets, policymakers would be better served to ensure the U.S.-Canada border remains open to trade in cattle.