Shredded wheat was invented in the late 19th century and has been marketed under the Nabisco brand name since 1925. In 1985 the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company acquired the Nabisco Company and in 1988 the RJR Nabisco Company underwent a leveraged buyout (LBO) led by Kolberg, Kravis, and Roberts...

Congressmen Gejdenson and Schumer should be commended for their persistent interest in the performance of the ready to eat cereal industry. The release of their well documented and thorough report, "Consumers in a Box" a year ago focused media attention on high cereal prices, which in turn...

This brief addresses three issues related to the performance of the RTE cereal industry. First, consumers are dissatisfied with the high price of many breakfast cereals and farmers are concerned about the consequent impact on the demand for agricultural inputs to the industry. Second, although...

During the course of my previous work in industrial organization and antitrust I published a number of articles in those fields and a book, Fair Competition, The Law and Economics of Antitrust Policy, which I wrote in collaboration with Professor Joel B. Dirlam, and served as a member of both...

The purpose of my talk today is to review several aspects of the market structure, strategic rivalry, and economic performance of the ready-to-eat cereals industry. To do so, I will at times take a long historical view of the breakfast cereals industry because many of the behaviors we observe...