Price efficiency across markets over time, space and form: Three case studies

This thesis investigates the impact of collusive behaviour and incomplete information on price efficiency across markets over space, form and time. Three cases have been studied. The first case evaluates the Ontario grain industry's practice of pricing corn and soybean by adding an unadjusted basis (UB) to the nearby futures contract, as if there was a parity exchange between the American and Canadian currency. Results indicated that the law of one price is verified across Ontario's major corn markets, but not across soybean markets. Nonetheless, out-of-sample forecasts indicate the presence of limited profitable trade opportunities in both commodity markets.; The second case assesses the impact of the Italian Competition Council's decision to abolish supply management on Parmigiano Reggiano (PR) and Grana Padano (GP) cheeses. Results highlight the existence of a stable long-run equilibrium among prices along and between the GP and PR marketing channel before and after the antitrust ruling. Therefore, an implicit coordination mechanism is found to be in place between the two cheeses, even though a cartel no longer exists.; The third case appraises the recent BSE outbreak in Canada. During the BSE crisis, the ban on exports of live cattle and beef opened the possibility to both packers and retailers to act uncompetitively. The packers could inefficiently price live cattle in the short run taking advantage of its position in the marketing channel. Similarly, the retailers could exert oligopsonistic power buying either primal or sub-primal beef cuts. Empirical results found that contrary to what economic theory would suggest, price dynamics of live cattle and railgrade beef are not influenced by the wholesale market. However, consideration must be given to the export-oriented nature of the Canadian industry to help explain these findings. Moreover, pricing over time at the wholesale level has been efficient. Therefore, the hypothesis that beef packers unfairly transferred profit from low to high demand beef cuts can be ruled out.