The study analyzes the effects of three maize market policies on strategic price volatility, oligopoly/oligopsony market power, distribution of market surplus and total welfare. Policies of interest are privatization, the Current Malawi government policy and a proposed policy. The study first develops a workable theory then tests the various government policies in laboratory market experiments. The laboratory results indicate that the proposed policy was the most effective in reducing strategic volatility, but resulted in high output and low input prices. In terms of welfare distribution, privatization had highest consumer surplus followed by the current policy. The same was the case with producers’ surplus. However, traders’ profits were substantially higher in the proposed policy treatment. Total welfare was highest in the proposed policy followed by the current policy. In all, there appears there can be significant policy tradeoffs between market volatility, market power, surplus distribution and total welfare.

In a simple oligopsonistic model, firms compete for labour through wages and job qualities. We modify the product market model developed by Vandenbosch/Weinberg 1995 and apply it to the job market with jobs being defined by two vertically differentiated non-wage characteristics. Workers differ in their valuation of these two characteristics but do not differ in their productivity. In equilibrium firms offer different wages and differ in only one of these non-wage characteristics. Whereas our labour market model is based on firms, we apply subclasses according to the UK SIC(2003) in our empirical analysis. When comparing subclasses within selected sectors (WERS) we found evidence that firms compete in both wages and job qualities. (author´s abstract) / Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Series

My dissertation consists of three empirical essays where I analyze animal products consumption and marketing. First using cross-sectional household data, I investigate the importance of consumption from home produce (self-provisioning) and conclude that studying food consumption decisions in isolation from production is not warranted for Turkey. I develop a testing procedure incorporated into linear approximation of the almost ideal demand system (LA/AIDS) model to formally test the relevance of food self-provisioning. Studying consumption in isolation from production leads significant overestimation of rural households' responsiveness to price and income signals especially for the dairy and egg products. Second I investigate the contribution of consumption from home produce to alleviate vulnerability to undernutrition in rural areas. I find that the level, depth and severity of food poverty to be least among rural households who engage in food self-provisioning and food self-provisioning reduce vulnerability to undernutrition. Moreover, food self-provisioning is concentrated in expensive calories from vegetables and dairy so self-provisioning rural households also have a more balanced diet. Finally I investigate whether milk processing firms abuse their oligopsony power to excessively profit themselves to the expense of milk farmers and final consumers. I look for evidence whether the speed of adjustment of processed milk price is same when farm-gate milk prices increase and decrease. I find no evidence that will point out any price gauging on the part of milk processors to benefit themselves. Actually I detect a long-term downward trend in processed milk prices coinciding with new major entries to milk processing industry.

Este trabalho analisou o cenário em que está inserida a comercialização de bovinos para abate, no estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Para isto, foram utilizados dados obtidos através das Guias de Trânsito Animal (GTAs), entre os anos de 2010 (ano em que o sistema informatizado para GTAs foi implantado na Secretaria da Agricultura, Pecuária e Agronegócio - SEAPA) a 2013. Também foram utilizados dados da Declaração Anual de Rebanho, fornecidos pela SEAPA. Um dos diferenciais deste trabalho é esta fonte única, com documentos obrigatórios a todos que comercializam animais e o agrupamento por mesorregião geográfica das informações obtidas. Para o entendimento deste cenário, foram utilizadas como aporte teórico a Teoria da Localização, que considera a otimização da localização de uma firma, e a Organização Industrial, que através do Modelo E-C-D proporciona subsídios para caracterização da concentração em uma indústria. Os resultados mostraram que o número de animais abatidos é diferente entre as mesorregiões geográficas. Os matadouros-frigoríficos recebem animais para abate provenientes da mesorregião geográfica em que se estão localizados, mas também de outras mesorregiões do RS, em diferentes proporções. Nas análises, as mesorregiões geográficas Centro Oriental e Metropolitana destacaram-se pelo maior número de animais abatidos. No entanto, o rebanho nestas mesorregiões ainda não foi o suficiente para a demanda gerada pelo mercado consumidor, que está muito próximo devido as grandes cidades que compõem estas mesorregiões, como Santa Maria e Porto Alegre. A Mesorregião Sudoeste é a terceira que mais abateu animais. A quantidade abatida nesta mesorregião é composta por 74% de animais da própria mesorregião Sudoeste, porém, o seu rebanho foi uma importante fonte de animais para as demais mesorregiões. Neste cenário, o estado do RS apresentou mais de 60 mil ofertantes (pecuaristas) em 2013, e o número de demandantes (matadouros-frigoríficos) chegou a 459. O matadouro-frigorífico que mais abateu em 2010 perdeu participação de mercado até 2013, e frigoríficos menores conseguiram aumentar as suas participações, havendo uma tendência de maior equilíbrio entre as empresas. Não existe concentração na indústria de carne bovina, e as medidas de concentração analisadas mostram índices cada vez menores. / This study analyzed the scenario in which the marketing of cattle for slaughter is inserted in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. For this, it was used data of Animal Transit Guides (GTAs) for slaughter since 2010 - year that these guides were made available electronically by the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock and Agribusiness (SEAPA) - to 2013. It was also used data from Herd Annual Statement, supplied by SEAPA, which is one of the remarkable points of this paper, the unique and reliable source that was provided with a set of mandatory documents that all cattle sellers must have. Based on information that was founded, it was used the theory of location, considering the optimization of the location of a firm, and the Industrial Organization, through the S-C-P model, focusing on the structure that allows one to see if there was concentration in the industry. The Metropolitan ant Eastern Center Mesoregions are the ones that slaughter the most, having their own production as their raw material. However, these cattle are still not enough for the demand generated by the consumer market, which live close to these centers. The Southwest Mesoregion slaughters a great number of animals, with 74% of these slaughtered cattle coming from their own production and it is still an important source of animals for other Mesoregions. The number of suppliers (farmers) exceeded 60,000 in 2013, and the slaughter houses had reached 459. There is no concentration in the beef industry, and analyzed concentration measurements show dwindling numbers. The most important slaughterhouse in 2010 lost market by 2013, and smaller slaughterhouses were able to increase their holdings, with a trend towards greater balance between companies.

Some of the most important work in the development of economic theory is associated with the study of market structure. In essence, most markets are two-sided. For example, product markets connect tens of thousands of product brands to tens of millions of consumers; marriage markets couple the single men and women who would otherwise suffer from a lonely heart; and labour markets link the job candidates to their preferred employers and positions. Apart from the two-sidedness, we have explored another important common aspect of these market structures, i.e. interconnection/competition of the segments within one side of the market. Under this common thread, the three essays in this thesis are freshly formulated in a loosely related manner, covering topics in three different areas. Chapter 2 is motivated by strategic transitions of many marketplaces (e.g. Amazon.com). From the perspective of a platform owner, when it owns part of the business on one side of the market, there is no straightforward answer as to whether having the rest of business owned by others is advantageous or not. The argument is that, on the one hand, the platform welcomes more third-party business as it boosts revenue in terms of membership fees; on the other hand the business owned by the platform dislikes the incoming competitors whose participation drives down pro t margins. We propose a novel framework in this chapter to explore the trade-off between the two. Here, the intermediary can decide to be either a "merchant" or a "two-sided platform", or a hybrid one in between. Our analysis shows that in hybrid mode the platform extracts all the surplus from the producers of the merchandised brands, and the merchandised brands always charge a price premium compared to the directly retailed ones. We also show that as the platform absorbs an existing directly retailed brand into the self-brand portfolio, the equilibrium prices of both brand types are increased. We find that only the directly retailed brands dominate the market when the platform s capacity is relatively small; and both brand types coexist in the marketplace when the capacity is relatively large. Furthermore, we find a backward bending proportion plus a vertical proportion of the "contract curve" in comparative statics. That is, the self-brand portfolio always expands while the third-party-brand portfolio shrinks until it reaches a certain level, when the platform increases its capacity. It helps us to gain some ideas on the dynamics of brand portfolio management for the platform. Lastly, taking into account of indirect network effect which is the common feature in the two-sided market, it is shown that the platform is better o¤ when consumers have positive expected surplus. Chapter 3 is much motivated by the Chinese experience. China has witnessed the largest rural to urban labour ow (among which the majority are male) in the world s history over the last three decades. We propose an idea that the grand migration can also be attributed to the unbalanced sex ratio between rural and urban areas. This chapter develops a two-sided matching model of two linked marriage markets with homogeneous agents, non-transferable utility and search friction. We extend the one-market model of the previous literature into a two-market one, allowing the agents to migrate between the markets at a fixed cost. The analysis focuses on the unmatched as well as the migrating population, which is induced by the different sex ratios in the two geographically isolated marriage markets. We find that imperfections in the matching technology leads to the enlarged gap of sex ratio of the unmatched population compared to that of the unbalanced inflows. We are interested in the question of how the migrating costs affect the migration between rural and urban areas, and under what conditions a subsidy covering migrating costs might benefit a party in the marriage markets. We characterise the equilibrium set in the parameter space of migrating costs, and find that a full subsidy of migrating costs does not necessarily benefit those who receive it but always benefits the opposite sex, if they are the short sides of both markets. Chapter 4 explains the migration of labour force from a different angle. Here, the migration is of workers to jobs. Motivated by the distinction of public and private sector, we consider a spatial oligopsony model in which forms (two co-locating small firms with recruiting capacity constraints and a large firm without such limit) are competing for workers along a "strip" market. The capacity issue that is extensively discussed in the Chapter 2 again plays an important role in this model, though in a very different context. It is shown that the recruiting capacity affects the intra-group competition and hence the inter-group competition in wage- posting strategies. Additionally, we show that, as recruiting limits expand, the expected wages offered by the small firms increase while the wage offered by the big firm decreases, which helps to explain the recent trend of the wage disparity between public and private jobs. We also characterise the equilibrium wages and the size (direction) of the migration in the three-stage game (i.e. the workers decide whether to relocate in the first stage, then the big firm decides its wage offer, and lastly, the two co-locating firms simultaneous set wages), which helps us to understand better the inter-sector mobility in a changing environment of economy. We investigate the issues of interconnection and competition in three different markets. It is always of interest for a researcher of economics to have some ideas on the same issue from different perspectives. Remember that whilst this is a collection of essays on economic theory, it is nonetheless compared to empirical observation. And it will surely serve as a starting point for the author to further the research on market structure.

Este trabalho analisou o cenário em que está inserida a comercialização de bovinos para abate, no estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Para isto, foram utilizados dados obtidos através das Guias de Trânsito Animal (GTAs), entre os anos de 2010 (ano em que o sistema informatizado para GTAs foi implantado na Secretaria da Agricultura, Pecuária e Agronegócio - SEAPA) a 2013. Também foram utilizados dados da Declaração Anual de Rebanho, fornecidos pela SEAPA. Um dos diferenciais deste trabalho é esta fonte única, com documentos obrigatórios a todos que comercializam animais e o agrupamento por mesorregião geográfica das informações obtidas. Para o entendimento deste cenário, foram utilizadas como aporte teórico a Teoria da Localização, que considera a otimização da localização de uma firma, e a Organização Industrial, que através do Modelo E-C-D proporciona subsídios para caracterização da concentração em uma indústria. Os resultados mostraram que o número de animais abatidos é diferente entre as mesorregiões geográficas. Os matadouros-frigoríficos recebem animais para abate provenientes da mesorregião geográfica em que se estão localizados, mas também de outras mesorregiões do RS, em diferentes proporções. Nas análises, as mesorregiões geográficas Centro Oriental e Metropolitana destacaram-se pelo maior número de animais abatidos. No entanto, o rebanho nestas mesorregiões ainda não foi o suficiente para a demanda gerada pelo mercado consumidor, que está muito próximo devido as grandes cidades que compõem estas mesorregiões, como Santa Maria e Porto Alegre. A Mesorregião Sudoeste é a terceira que mais abateu animais. A quantidade abatida nesta mesorregião é composta por 74% de animais da própria mesorregião Sudoeste, porém, o seu rebanho foi uma importante fonte de animais para as demais mesorregiões. Neste cenário, o estado do RS apresentou mais de 60 mil ofertantes (pecuaristas) em 2013, e o número de demandantes (matadouros-frigoríficos) chegou a 459. O matadouro-frigorífico que mais abateu em 2010 perdeu participação de mercado até 2013, e frigoríficos menores conseguiram aumentar as suas participações, havendo uma tendência de maior equilíbrio entre as empresas. Não existe concentração na indústria de carne bovina, e as medidas de concentração analisadas mostram índices cada vez menores. / This study analyzed the scenario in which the marketing of cattle for slaughter is inserted in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. For this, it was used data of Animal Transit Guides (GTAs) for slaughter since 2010 - year that these guides were made available electronically by the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock and Agribusiness (SEAPA) - to 2013. It was also used data from Herd Annual Statement, supplied by SEAPA, which is one of the remarkable points of this paper, the unique and reliable source that was provided with a set of mandatory documents that all cattle sellers must have. Based on information that was founded, it was used the theory of location, considering the optimization of the location of a firm, and the Industrial Organization, through the S-C-P model, focusing on the structure that allows one to see if there was concentration in the industry. The Metropolitan ant Eastern Center Mesoregions are the ones that slaughter the most, having their own production as their raw material. However, these cattle are still not enough for the demand generated by the consumer market, which live close to these centers. The Southwest Mesoregion slaughters a great number of animals, with 74% of these slaughtered cattle coming from their own production and it is still an important source of animals for other Mesoregions. The number of suppliers (farmers) exceeded 60,000 in 2013, and the slaughter houses had reached 459. There is no concentration in the beef industry, and analyzed concentration measurements show dwindling numbers. The most important slaughterhouse in 2010 lost market by 2013, and smaller slaughterhouses were able to increase their holdings, with a trend towards greater balance between companies.

Este trabalho analisou o cenário em que está inserida a comercialização de bovinos para abate, no estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Para isto, foram utilizados dados obtidos através das Guias de Trânsito Animal (GTAs), entre os anos de 2010 (ano em que o sistema informatizado para GTAs foi implantado na Secretaria da Agricultura, Pecuária e Agronegócio - SEAPA) a 2013. Também foram utilizados dados da Declaração Anual de Rebanho, fornecidos pela SEAPA. Um dos diferenciais deste trabalho é esta fonte única, com documentos obrigatórios a todos que comercializam animais e o agrupamento por mesorregião geográfica das informações obtidas. Para o entendimento deste cenário, foram utilizadas como aporte teórico a Teoria da Localização, que considera a otimização da localização de uma firma, e a Organização Industrial, que através do Modelo E-C-D proporciona subsídios para caracterização da concentração em uma indústria. Os resultados mostraram que o número de animais abatidos é diferente entre as mesorregiões geográficas. Os matadouros-frigoríficos recebem animais para abate provenientes da mesorregião geográfica em que se estão localizados, mas também de outras mesorregiões do RS, em diferentes proporções. Nas análises, as mesorregiões geográficas Centro Oriental e Metropolitana destacaram-se pelo maior número de animais abatidos. No entanto, o rebanho nestas mesorregiões ainda não foi o suficiente para a demanda gerada pelo mercado consumidor, que está muito próximo devido as grandes cidades que compõem estas mesorregiões, como Santa Maria e Porto Alegre. A Mesorregião Sudoeste é a terceira que mais abateu animais. A quantidade abatida nesta mesorregião é composta por 74% de animais da própria mesorregião Sudoeste, porém, o seu rebanho foi uma importante fonte de animais para as demais mesorregiões. Neste cenário, o estado do RS apresentou mais de 60 mil ofertantes (pecuaristas) em 2013, e o número de demandantes (matadouros-frigoríficos) chegou a 459. O matadouro-frigorífico que mais abateu em 2010 perdeu participação de mercado até 2013, e frigoríficos menores conseguiram aumentar as suas participações, havendo uma tendência de maior equilíbrio entre as empresas. Não existe concentração na indústria de carne bovina, e as medidas de concentração analisadas mostram índices cada vez menores. / This study analyzed the scenario in which the marketing of cattle for slaughter is inserted in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. For this, it was used data of Animal Transit Guides (GTAs) for slaughter since 2010 - year that these guides were made available electronically by the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock and Agribusiness (SEAPA) - to 2013. It was also used data from Herd Annual Statement, supplied by SEAPA, which is one of the remarkable points of this paper, the unique and reliable source that was provided with a set of mandatory documents that all cattle sellers must have. Based on information that was founded, it was used the theory of location, considering the optimization of the location of a firm, and the Industrial Organization, through the S-C-P model, focusing on the structure that allows one to see if there was concentration in the industry. The Metropolitan ant Eastern Center Mesoregions are the ones that slaughter the most, having their own production as their raw material. However, these cattle are still not enough for the demand generated by the consumer market, which live close to these centers. The Southwest Mesoregion slaughters a great number of animals, with 74% of these slaughtered cattle coming from their own production and it is still an important source of animals for other Mesoregions. The number of suppliers (farmers) exceeded 60,000 in 2013, and the slaughter houses had reached 459. There is no concentration in the beef industry, and analyzed concentration measurements show dwindling numbers. The most important slaughterhouse in 2010 lost market by 2013, and smaller slaughterhouses were able to increase their holdings, with a trend towards greater balance between companies.

This thesis deals with gathering of private information when company tries to enter on concentrated markets. Aim of the thesis is to show how much private information will company require and how is its output and profit affected by private information. Thesis uses standard optimalization tools of microeconomic analysis.

[pt] Analisar comportamentos não-competitivos no mercado de trabalho tem se tornado um aspecto crucial para melhorar a compreensão das dinâmicas do mercado de trabalho, e estimar elasticidades-salário da oferta de trabalho pode auxiliar a determinar a existência de estruturas de oligopsônio. Ao construir sobre Manning (2003), uso dados de contratos identificados por empregadorempregado, e aproveito choques específicos de desonerações na folha de pagamento, para estimar elasticidades-salário da oferta de trabalho para o mercado de trabalho brasileiro. Estimamos elasticidades-salário de separações e contratações utilizando de uma abordagem por IV que permite a identificação de variações exógenas nos salários, através da desoneração implementada no Brasil, que representa choques à demanda por trabalho. Enquanto estimativas padrão por MQO são baixas (e irrealistas) como na literatura recente, estimativas usando a abordagem de variáveis instrumentais são muito mais razoáveis. Os resultados indicam a existência de considerável poder de mercado pelo lado de firmas no mercado de trabalho no Brasil, com a elasticidade no nível do mercado de 1.4 e no nível da firma de 4.4. Finalmente, avaliamos se o poder de oligopsônio das firmas difere entre níveis de qualificação, e entre municípios mais ou menos urbanos e informais. Encontramos que as firmas exertem maiores markdowns para trabalhadores menos qualificados, e que maior poder de mercado das firmas está correlacionado com menor urbanização e maior informalidade. / [en] Understanding non-competitive behavior in labor markets has become crucial to gain insight into labor market dynamics, and estimating labor supply wage elasticities can help determine the existence of oligopsony power. By building on Manning (2003), I use matched employer-employee data, and take advantage of sector-specific shocks to payroll taxes, to estimate labor supply wage elasticities for the Brazilian labor market. I estimate separation and recruitment elasticities using an IV approach that allows for the identification of exogenous variation in wages through the reform on payroll taxes implemented in Brazil, which represents shocks to labor demand. While standard OLS estimates are low (and unrealistic) as in the recent literature, estimates using the IV approach are much more reasonable. Results indicate that there exists considerable labor market power by firms in Brazil, with a market-level elasticity of 1.4 and a firm-level elasticity of 4.4. Finally, I evaluate whether oligopsony power is different between skill levels, as well as between more or less urbanized and informal municipalities. I find that firms exert higher markdowns for low-skill workers, and that higher labor market power is correlated with lower urbanization and higher informality.

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