Interpreting Rising Food Price Markups: Demand Elasticity, Market Concentration, and the Limits of Structural Antitrust Enforcement

Increasing concentration throughout the U.S. food supply chain has been a focal point of politicians, regulators, and some industry stakeholders for at least the past 15 years. Proponents of more aggressive antitrust enforcement point to increasing price-cost markups over time and changes in industry concentration as justification. However, data on price markups and industry concentration are not very consistent with antitrust proponents’ claims. There are, however, other economic, demand-base