Concentration change in selected food manufacturing industries: The influence of mergers vs. internal growth
✍ Scribed by Bruce W. Marion; Donghwan Kim
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1991
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 940 KB
- Volume
- 7
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0742-4477
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Concentration of sales among the leading manufacturers changed sharply in some relatively undifferentiated food processing industries in the 1980s. In six industries examined, CR, increased 23 points, on average, from 1977 to 1988. Mergers accounted for virtually all of the'concentration increase in three, and roughly half of the increase in the other three. Overall, internal growth accounted for about one-third of the increase in concentration in the six industries. The relaxation of antitrust enforcement during the 1980s likely encouraged several large horizontal mergers that significantly increased concentration in these industries. At least seven mergers appear to have violated the Dept. of Justice Merger Guidelines of 1984.
Economists have long had an interest in the concentration of industries. In part, this is because industry concentration is often considered as a proxy for the level of market power. This view has been challenged by revisionist interpretations and theories during the last two decades. Although a significant positive relationship has been found between concentration and profits in the vast majority of empirical studies, the new learning of the 1970s challenged mainstream interpretations that this was due to market power in concentrated industries. Con-The helpful comments of