Strategic response to mandatory reporting legislation in the U.S. livestock and meat industries: Are collusive opportunities enhanced?

Recent federal legislation requires U.S. meat packers to report detailed information about livestock and meat transactions. The goal of this legislation is to improve competitiveness within the livestock sector and improve decision making within the marketing channel. We discuss the effect of industry structure and market transaction information on the competitive behavior of participant firms and why this legislation may actually reduce the price paid to livestock producers. [JEL Classification: L100, L110, L120] © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.