The Food Sector in Transition - Nordic Research Proceedings of NJF-seminar No. 313, June 2000

Abstract

This report presents the greater part of the scholarly contributions at the NJFseminar No. 313, titled “The Food Sector in Transition – Nordic Research”. The seminar was held at June 14th–15th 2000 in Oslo. The following working group within NJF (Section IX, Agricultural Economics) was responsible for planning and organizing: - Illka Laurila (Agricultural Economics Research Institute, Finland) - Jerker Nilsson (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) - Søren Büchmann Petersen (Danske Andelsselskaber) - Øystein Strøm (Norwegian Agricultural Economics Research Institute).

The overall purpose of the seminar was to debate vital driving forces behind the current changes in the Nordic food sectors such as new regulatory regimes, new competitors, new consumer trends and the rise of dominating retail chains. What challenges do such changes pose for the Nordic food industries? The theoretical point of departure was the ongoing redirection of research focus within agricultural economics from the free competition paradigm towards game theory, principalagent theory and transaction cost economics.

More specifically, the following issues were debated during the seminar: - Strategic issues for the Nordic agricultural cooperatives, with a bent towards the significance of agency problems. - Entrepreneurship and organizational change - Brands, private labels and willingness to pay - Vertical coordination - Margins and consumer prices - Regulation and deregulation - Efficiency in agricultural sectors.