Market structure, power, and the unfair trading practices directive in the EU food sector: a review of indicators

Competition and power imbalances in the food chain are under increased scrutiny from policy makers. We assess the competitive conditions in the EU food sector, using firm-level accounting data to examine firm size distributions and market concentration (for 10 countries), and production-function-derived markups (for 7 countries) for food manufacturing, retail, and wholesale industries. Key findings include the following: (i) most firms are small, but larger firms generate most turnover; (ii) concentration is notable in certain subsectors (25% of retail/wholesale and 50% manufacturing subsectors); (iii) the correlation between turnover size, markups, and concentration at subsector level is weak. We discuss the implications for the use of turnover-based classification in the EU policy initiative on unfair trading practices.

NES Kjersti;  COLEN Liesbeth;  CIAIAN Pavel; 

2025-02-10

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

JRC136101

2372-2614 (online),   

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/agricultural-and-resource-economics-review/article/market-structure-power-and-the-unfair-trading-practices-directive-in-the-eu-food-sector-a-review-of-indicators/354612A2AEB586A1134611334E87E290,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC136101,   

10.1017/age.2024.16 (online),