From Big Ag to Big Finance: a market network approach to power in agriculture

被引:15
作者
Ashwood, Loka [1 ]
Pilny, Andy [2 ]
Canfield, John [3 ]
Jamila, Mariyam
Thompson, Ryan [4 ]
机构
[1] Univ Kentucky, Dept Sociol, 1539 Patterson Off Tower, Lexington, KY 40506 USA
[2] Univ Kentucky, Dept Commun, 269 Blazer Dining, Lexington, KY 40506 USA
[3] Univ Wisconsin, Dept Community & Environm Sociol, 1450 Linden Dr, Madison, WI 53706 USA
[4] Auburn Univ, Dept Agr Econ & Rural Sociol, 313 Comer Hall, Auburn, AL 36849 USA
关键词
Corporate agriculture; Financialization; Hog production; Market power; Monopolies; Oligopolies; Social network analysis; POLITICAL EMBEDDEDNESS; CONSTRAINED CHOICE; FOOD; INCENTIVES; CREDIT; SYSTEM; RISE;
D O I
10.1007/s10460-022-10332-3
中图分类号
S [农业科学];
学科分类号
09 ;
摘要
Critics charge that agriculture has reached an unsustainable level of consolidation and expropriation, as exemplified by the supply-chain breakdown of the COVID-19 pandemic. Simultaneously, advocates suggest the current system serves consumers well by keeping prices low and access to choices high. At the center of this debate rests a disagreement over how to compute market power to identify monopolies and oligopolies. We propose a method to study power across different sectors by using Social Network Analysis (SNA) to analyze key players, the presence of core-periphery structures, and agricultural consolidation. We test our market network approach to power through an analysis of the top ten pork powerhouses. We find that Big Finance is closely tied to Big Ag, and that key players limit the capacity for more peripheral actors, like growers, equipment producers, and regional banks, to engage in the network. We identify system level risk of collapse and suggest pathways for reform.
引用
收藏
页码:1421 / 1434
页数:14
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