Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Markdown Pricing And Cattle Supply In The Beef Packing Industry, Kyle Stiegert, Azzeddine Azzam, Wade Brorsen

Azzeddine Azzam

The authors determine the effect of anticipated and unanticipated cattle supply on the departure of fed cattle price from cattle's marginal value product. Results indicate fed cattle were priced significantly below their marginal value during thirty-one of the fifty-nine quarters between 1972 II and 1986 IV. When unanticipated supply shocks are small, markdown behavior is consistent with the hypothesis that packers follow an average processing cost pricing rule. One implication of the authors' results is that reducing industry concentration is not likely to lead to changes in cattle prices predicted by structure-conduct-performance-based studies of the industry.