Food Banks and Retail Markups

John D. Lowrey; Timothy J. Richards; Stephen F. Hamilton

doi:10.1093/erae/jbab047

Food Banks and Retail Markups

John D. Lowrey, Timothy J. Richards, Stephen F. Hamilton

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Food banks play a critical part in the food distribution system. In this paper, we examine the impact of food bank donations on retailer markups using data on donations and store-level productivity. We frame our empirical model of food bank donations and store-level markups as an example of quality-based price discrimination and find that stores that donate more food to the local food bank are able to charge higher markups - 33% higher - after controlling for the well-known endogeneity problems. Our findings suggest that donations are not just charitable gestures by retailers but are in their own self-interests.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1027-1055
Number of pages	29
Journal	European Review of Agricultural Economics
Volume	49
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbab047
State	Published - Dec 1 2022
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

D43
food banks
food retailing
L13
M31
markups
price discrimination
production economics

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous)
Economics and Econometrics

Access to Document

10.1093/erae/jbab047

Cite this

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title = "Food Banks and Retail Markups",

abstract = "Food banks play a critical part in the food distribution system. In this paper, we examine the impact of food bank donations on retailer markups using data on donations and store-level productivity. We frame our empirical model of food bank donations and store-level markups as an example of quality-based price discrimination and find that stores that donate more food to the local food bank are able to charge higher markups - 33% higher - after controlling for the well-known endogeneity problems. Our findings suggest that donations are not just charitable gestures by retailers but are in their own self-interests.",

keywords = "D43, food banks, food retailing, L13, M31, markups, price discrimination, production economics",

author = "Lowrey, {John D.} and Richards, {Timothy J.} and Hamilton, {Stephen F.}",

note = "Funding Information: Funding from Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (National Institute for Food and Agriculture, United States Department of Agriculture (UDSA)) grant No. 2020-67021-31377 is gratefully acknowledged. All conclusions are those of the authors, and do not reflect USDA policy. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Foundation for the European Review of Agricultural Economics. All rights reserved.",

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month = dec,

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doi = "10.1093/erae/jbab047",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "49",

pages = "1027--1055",

journal = "European Review of Agricultural Economics",

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T1 - Food Banks and Retail Markups

AU - Lowrey, John D.

AU - Richards, Timothy J.

AU - Hamilton, Stephen F.

N1 - Funding Information: Funding from Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (National Institute for Food and Agriculture, United States Department of Agriculture (UDSA)) grant No. 2020-67021-31377 is gratefully acknowledged. All conclusions are those of the authors, and do not reflect USDA policy. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Foundation for the European Review of Agricultural Economics. All rights reserved.

PY - 2022/12/1

Y1 - 2022/12/1

N2 - Food banks play a critical part in the food distribution system. In this paper, we examine the impact of food bank donations on retailer markups using data on donations and store-level productivity. We frame our empirical model of food bank donations and store-level markups as an example of quality-based price discrimination and find that stores that donate more food to the local food bank are able to charge higher markups - 33% higher - after controlling for the well-known endogeneity problems. Our findings suggest that donations are not just charitable gestures by retailers but are in their own self-interests.

AB - Food banks play a critical part in the food distribution system. In this paper, we examine the impact of food bank donations on retailer markups using data on donations and store-level productivity. We frame our empirical model of food bank donations and store-level markups as an example of quality-based price discrimination and find that stores that donate more food to the local food bank are able to charge higher markups - 33% higher - after controlling for the well-known endogeneity problems. Our findings suggest that donations are not just charitable gestures by retailers but are in their own self-interests.

KW - D43

KW - food banks

KW - food retailing

KW - L13

KW - M31

KW - markups

KW - price discrimination

KW - production economics

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Food Banks and Retail Markups

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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