Sammanfattning

Food consumers have been engaging in collective action to combat food retail concentration for many years. As modern supermarkets gain in size and power, the activity of food consumer co-operatives may have more importance than ever to prevent food price increases. However, applied research on the price competition between consumer co-operatives and firms is scarce at best. We address the considerable gap with an empirical analysis of price information from consumer co-operatives and firms in England, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Using the market basket approach, we observe significant differences in the food prices of co-operatives and firms. In the case of Sweden, the price index of the consumer co-operative is significantly lower, which may indicate an inability to implement a yardstick effect on the firm. Meanwhile, in England and the Netherlands, the firms have significantly higher price indices, which may be explained by the tendency of co-operatives to return profit to members at the conclusion of the fiscal year.

Nyckelord

D22; D43; D70; Consumer co-operatives; Food retail; Food prices

Publicerad i

Journal of Co-operative Organization and Management
2023, Volym: 11, nummer: 1, artikelnummer: 100204

SLU författare

• Hakelius, Karin

  • Institutionen för ekonomi, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    

Globala målen

SDG2 Avskaffa hunger, uppnå tryggad livsmedelsförsörjning och förbättrad nutrition samt främja ett hållbart jordbruk


UKÄ forskningsämne

Företagsekonomi


Publikationens identifierare

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcom.2023.100204

Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/122093