Changes in Price Behavior in the U.S. Catfish Industry: Evidence Using Cointegration

The implications of market development in the catfish industry on catfish price behavior are explored using cointegration. It is hypothesized that market development, through increases in competition between processors and shifts in consumer preferences toward fish, has caused changes in price behavior among levels of the catfish market. Using monthly catfish price data, a cointegration analysis of subsets of prices shows that price behavior has changed through time, with catfish prices becoming integrated as the number of processors has increased. These results may have implications for the examination of market price behavior in developing or emerging markets.Catfish, Cointegration, Price behavior, Vertically related markets, Agribusiness, Demand and Price Analysis, Livestock Production/Industries,