Investigating the Price Transmission Mechanism of the Greek Fresh Tomato Market with a Markov Switching Vector Error Correction Model

The present study investigates the price transmission mechanism between producer and consumer prices in the Greek fresh tomato market, using monthly price data from January 1995 to May 2011. The estimation is carried out by applying a Markov Switching Vector Error Correction model. The results indicate that there are causality and leadership relationships between producer and consumer prices in the short and in the long run. Finally, a multinomial logit model is utilized in order to determine the factors that affect the switching of the price transmission mechanism