Effects of the Private-Label Invasion in Food Industries
Michael B. Ward
assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and member of the Giannini Foundation
University of California, Berkeley
The authors are very grateful to Mark Denbaly for suggesting the project and supporting it. The authors thank Veronica Jones and John Hession for helping to produce the data in useable form. The authors' names are listed in reverse alphabetical order. Two anonymous reviewers made very helpful suggestions.
Search for more papers by this authorJay P. Shimshack
assistant professor in the Department of Economics and member of the Giannini Foundation
Tuffs University; University of California, Berkeley
Search for more papers by this authorJeffrey M. Perloff
professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and member of the Giannini Foundation
University of California, Berkeley
Search for more papers by this authorJ. Michael Harris
economist in the Economic Research Service
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Search for more papers by this authorMichael B. Ward
assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and member of the Giannini Foundation
University of California, Berkeley
The authors are very grateful to Mark Denbaly for suggesting the project and supporting it. The authors thank Veronica Jones and John Hession for helping to produce the data in useable form. The authors' names are listed in reverse alphabetical order. Two anonymous reviewers made very helpful suggestions.
Search for more papers by this authorJay P. Shimshack
assistant professor in the Department of Economics and member of the Giannini Foundation
Tuffs University; University of California, Berkeley
Search for more papers by this authorJeffrey M. Perloff
professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and member of the Giannini Foundation
University of California, Berkeley
Search for more papers by this authorJ. Michael Harris
economist in the Economic Research Service
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Using supermarket scanner data, we test a variety of hypotheses from trade journals about the invasion of private-label food products. According to conventional industry wisdom, name-brand firms defended their brands against new private-label products by lowering their prices, engaging in additional promotional activities, and increasingly differentiating their products. Our empirical evidence is inconsistent with these beliefs.
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