The Empirics of Information Sharing in Supply Chains: The Case of the Food Industry

Using the Supermarket Panel Data gathered by The Food Industry Center at the University of Minnesota, the behavior of food retailers is examined in their adoption of Information Technologies that facilitate information exchange with suppliers. Using a theoretical framework developed by Mohtadi and Kinsey (MK) (2004) the predictions of that paper are examined. Logistic Regressions based on Maximum Likelihood Estimation support the hypothesis that food retailers with greater market power and numerous suppliers are more inclined to share, rather than to withhold, sales information. Stock-outs play a key role in the process as well. Finally, the structure of the market plays an interesting role in the type of information sharing platforms that the retailers adopt.