Vertical price dependence structures: copula-based evidence from the beef supply chain in the USA

emmanouilides j. christos; fousekis, panos;

The objective of this paper is to assess the degree and the structure of price dependence along the beef supply chain in the USA. This is pursued using the statistical tool of copulas, and monthly rates of price changes over the period 2000�2013. The analysis considers two pairs of markets, namely the pair farm�wholesale and the pair wholesale� retail. It turned out that price co-movement for the pair farm�wholesale is relatively strong and it is described with the Gumbel�Clayton copula, while that for the pair wholesale�retail is rather weak and it is described by the Gumbel copula. The empirical findings point to the existence of price transmission asymmetry, which is much more
important for the pair wholesale�retail.