Production structure and trends in the US meat and poultry products industries

The U.S. meat products industries have experienced increasing consolidation . It has been speculated that this has resulted from cost economies, perhap s associated with technical change or trade factors. It has also been asser ted that increased concentration in these industries may be allowing the ex ploitation of market power in the input (livestock) and output (meat produc t) industries. These issues are addressed for the four-digit SIC meat and p oultry industries. Findings show that the beef and pork products industries tend to have similar structures, which differ from the poultry industries. None of the industries, however, appear to have exhibited excessive market power, particularly when scale economies (diseconomies), and resulting red uctions (increases) in marginal cost from output expansion, are taken into account. Also, technical change and trade (especially export market) trend impacts seem overall to have contributed to cost efficiency.