A Stochastic Frontier Analysis Approach for Estimating Market Power in the Major US Meat Export Markets.

The present study estimates the degree of market power in the major US beef and pork export destinations. The recently developed stochastic frontier (SF) estimator is used. Estimations of market and time-specific Lerner indices are provided. Balanced panel data between 1980 and 2011 were employed. The average Lerner index is 39% for the US beef exports and is the highest in the markets of ASEAN, Hong Kong/China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. For the US pork exports, the average Lerner index is 16% and is the highest in the markets of Mexico and Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]