Vertical Coordination and Consumer Welfare: The Case of the Pork Industry

by Steve Martinez and Kelly Zering

Net benefits to consumers are not a certainty, but the "industrialization" of the U.S. pork industry could lead to lower prices and larger supplies of higher quality pork products because of lower onfarm production costs, more efficient processing, and greater control over hog quality characteristics.

Keywords: agricultural economics, vertical coordination, vertical integration, contracts, transactions costs, lean pork

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