How can the differences in German raw milk prices be explained? An empirical investigation of market power asymmetries and other price determinants

Addressing competition in Germany’s dairy sector, this paper investigates imperfect competition on the raw milk market. By using the conjectural variation approach to determine dairy processors market power towards raw milk producers, regions in Germany with a high degree of imperfect competition can be detected. Therefore a panel data set of dairy processor's price data and related federal state level farm structural and market information data is used which also allows to analyze other price determinants like structural change and spatial aspects on raw milk prices.