Document Type
Article
Abstract
The field of industrial organization can help an economy function more efficiently by examining the performance of particular industries. In such an examination, economists customarily use the industrial organization paradigm, which consists of the market structure-conduct-performance framework, to analyze a specific industry. Market structure is often the first and most important element investigated because it determines conduct, which in turn determines performance (Clarkson 1982). Therefore, market structure will be the main concern of this paper which will examine the agricultural industry.
Structural elements consist of those characteristics of a market that strategically affect the nature of the competitive process within the industry (Metcalf 1969). They include barriers to entry, size and distribution of firms, cost structure, market instability, and government intervention. In this paper, each of these facets will be analyzed in detail for agriculture to determine the extent to which the structure of this industry corresponds to the structure of a purely competitive industry.
Publication Date
1987
Journal Title
Draftings In
Volume
2
Issue
4
First Page
8
Last Page
13
Copyright
©1987 by the Board of Student Publications, University of Northern Iowa
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Dingbaum, Linda M.
(1987)
"Agriculture: Its Structure and Competitiveness,"
Draftings In: Vol. 2:
No.
4, Article 4.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/draftings/vol2/iss4/4
Comments
This issue is also considered v.3 of the initial publication series of Major Themes in Economics.