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Productivity-Concentration Relationship in The U.S. Meatpacking Industry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2016

Clement E. Ward
Clement E. Ward*
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics, Oklahoma State University
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Abstract

Previous research found a positive relationship between concentration and total factor productivity in food manufacturing. One industry (i.e., meatpacking plants [SIC 2011]) was selected for independent analysis due to a relatively sharp increase in concentration in recent years. The methodology chosen was similar to previous studies. Total factor productivity increased 2.4 percent per year, and labor productivity increased 3.3 percent per year for meatpacking plants over the 1958–82 period. Concentration in meatpacking did not positively or negatively affect total factor productivity or labor productivity over the 25-year study period.

Keywords

meatpackingproductivityconcentrationindustry structureeconomic performance
Type
Notes
Information
Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , December 1987 , pp. 217 - 222
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 1987

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