Structure and rivalry in the United States farm machinery industry, 1945-1993

This thesis examines the development of the United States farm machinery industry. The two questions addressed in the thesis are: (1) how have internal organization changes within farm machinery firms affected industry structure; and (2) what were the effects of technological change on evolving market structure? An industrial organization approach is used in combination with historical and analytical methods. Fundamental to the analysis are the two sources of increasing returns, technology and organizational innovations. Based on the analysis this thesis shows the impact of these forces on structure and rivalry in the industry.; Competitive forces combined with the mechanization and restructuring of American agriculture affected the direction and pace of technological change in the farm machinery industry. Gradual incremental change in farm machinery was affected by a combination of domestic and international supply and demand factors.; Principal findings of the thesis that relate to the two questions are that: changing technology and organizational capacities of firms were sources of continual growth of firms and evolving industry structure; scale economies in production and distribution and economies of scope in joint production and joint distribution were driving forces in the industry; internal organization structures of full-line farm machinery firms were continually modified to find the right mix between centralization and decentralization in the organization; innovations in internal organization were necessary for effective coordination of resources in expanded companies; firms not achieving effective coordination of internal resources experienced reduced returns; central to strategic behavior by firms to gain a competitive advantage over rival were product development and the retail dealer organization.; In conclusion, technological advances in production processes, technical change in products, and innovations in internal organization within firms were major forces shaping the evolving market structure of the United States farm machinery industry.