Course:FRE306
| Global Food Markets | |
|---|---|
 | |
| FRE 306 | |
| Section: | |
| Instructor: | Rick Barichello |
| Email: | richard.barichello@ubc.ca |
| Office: | MCML 339 |
| Office Hours: | Mon Wed 13:45-14:45 |
| Class Schedule: | Mon Wed 15:00-16:20 |
| Classroom: | Mon: CHEM C-124; Wed: CHEM D200 |
| Important Course Pages | |
| Syllabus | |
| Lecture Notes | |
| Assignments | |
| Course Discussion | |
Learning Objectives
- Understanding how food prices are determined, past and present patterns of world prices.
- Assess implications of various aspects of market structure and organization such as increases in firm size and market power in both domestic and international markets, international procurement, supply chain management
- Identify the role of small firms who serve niche markets in global food systems
- Learn variety of economic tools (e.g., excess supply/demand analysis, farm-retail margin model), apply them to food markets to understand better effect of shocks to food markets
- Assess implications of strategic planning by food firms with market power and their investment in food product brand names
- Analyze importance and implications of recent developments in food markets (e.g., new tariffs from US-China trade war, increased demand for food safety)
- Identify and analyze implications of various marketing and trade institutions in food markets (e.g., supply management regimes in Canada, state trading enterprises, and the World Trade Organization)
- Understanding of how various developments in global food markets (e.g., trade and WTO rulings, international commodity agreements) affect the well-being of developed and developing countries
Textbook and Reading Materials
No single course textbook. Various readings will be assigned on a topic-by-topic basis.
R. Schrimper, Economics of Agricultural Markets, Prentice Hall 2001; HD1433 .S37 2001
(on reserve in Koerner and Woodward Library, 2 copies available @2hrs)
Alex McCalla and Tim Josling, Agricultural Policies and World Markets, Macmillan, 1985
(on reserve in Koerner and Woodward Library, 3 copies available @2hrs)
Assessment
| Activity | Percent of Grade |
|---|---|
| Midterm | 25% |
| Problem Sets (3) | 18% |
| Final Exam | 45% |
| Class Participation | 12% |
| Total: | 100% |
Midterm Date: Oct 21
Final Exam: December t.b.a.
Problem Sets: one late September, second late October, third late November
Course Outline
| Lecture | Topic |
|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction |
| 1,2,3 (Sep 4, 9, 11) | Global Food Price Dynamics, long run and recent |
| 4,5,6 (Sep 16, 18, 23) | Trade and food markets
RA Schrimper, Economics of Agricultural Markets, 2001, Ch. 10 |
| 7,8 (Sep 25, 30) | Seasonality and Cycles, Storage model C.P. Timmer, W. Falcon, S.R. Pearson, Food Policy Analysis, 1983, Chapter 4. R.A. Schrimper, Economics of Agricultural Markets, 2001, Ch. 13 (pp. 252-258) |
| Assignment #1 (Due approx. Sep 30) | |
| 9 (Oct 2) | Rural-urban market model Timmer et al, Ch.4: accessible online (Google “Timmer, Food Policy Analysis pdf”) |
| 10 (Oct 7, 9) | Farm Retail margin model; farm retail spreads and market structure R.A. Schrimper, Economics of Agricultural Markets, 2001, Ch. 2, (4, 5), 6 |
| 11 (Oct 16) | Trade Flows, fob-cif pricing, Econ of Joint Products |
| Midterm Exam: Oct 21 (Monday) | |
| 12 (Oct 23) | Market Power in food markets |
| 13 (Oct 28) | Monopoly, Monopsony models, Supply Management |
| Assignment #2 (Due approx. Oct 30) | |
| 14,15 (Oct 30, Nov 4) | Market Power practices: Price discrimination, Brand Names |
| 16,17 (Nov 6, 11) | Strategic Decisions and International Competition |
| 18 (Nov 13) | Futures Markets |
| Assignment #3 (Due approx. Nov20-22) | |
| 19,20,21,22 (Oct 18, 20, 25, 27) | Ag Trade Institutions: WTO + Ag trade, STEs, Commodity Agreements |
| Final Exam: December | |