Market Performance of Poultry Industries under Different North American and European Market Structures

The broiler chicken and egg industries are compared across the economies of the USA, Canada, FRG, and Switzerland to contrast the impacts on market performance of different market structures due to different government policies. The US industries approzimate free market conditions whereas the other three countries use different methods to restrict entry or exansion or to set prices. Two different data sets show substantially higher retail prices for broielrs and eggs in Canada and Western Europe than in the USA. Producer egg prices were 34 to 166 percent above and live broiler chicken prices 29 to 110 percent higher than those in the USA during 1980-85.