IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/caa/jnlage/v69y2023i12id278-2023-agricecon.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are futures markets functioning well for agricultural perishables? Evidence from China's apple futures market

Author

Listed:
  • Qianqian Mao

    (School of Economics, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hanghzou, China
    Institute for Industrial System Modernization, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
    Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany)

  • Jens-Peter Loy

    (Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany)

  • Thomas Glauben

    (Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), Halle, Germany)

  • Yanjun Ren

    (College of Economics and Management, Northwest A & F University, Yangling, China
    Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), Halle, Germany)

Abstract

Emerging economies often establish commodity futures markets to discover price signals, manage price risks and improve market integration, but establishing a futures market may not be feasible for agricultural perishables. In this study, we evaluated the function of the world's first fresh fruit futures contract for apples. Combining partial cointegration with state-space modelling, we derived time-varying price discovery metrics for the apple futures market. Our findings revealed a limited and time-varying dominance of price discovery by the futures market, while a substantial share of price discovery occurred in the spot market. Moreover, poor convergence of disaggregated spot prices to the futures price suggests that commercial traders in the apple supply chain tended to focus more on the spot market than on the futures market. Thus, emerging economies should be cautious about the new establishment of futures markets for agricultural perishables. Future research using more specific data on the spot market may provide a better insight on the limited function of the futures market.

Suggested Citation

  • Qianqian Mao & Jens-Peter Loy & Thomas Glauben & Yanjun Ren, 2023. "Are futures markets functioning well for agricultural perishables? Evidence from China's apple futures market," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 69(12), pages 471-484.
  • Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:69:y:2023:i:12:id:278-2023-agricecon
    DOI: 10.17221/278/2023-AGRICECON
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/278/2023-AGRICECON.html
    Download Restriction: free of charge

    File URL: http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/278/2023-AGRICECON.pdf
    Download Restriction: free of charge

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17221/278/2023-AGRICECON?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhepeng Hu & Mindy Mallory & Teresa Serra & Philip Garcia, 2020. "Measuring price discovery between nearby and deferred contracts in storable and nonstorable commodity futures markets," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 51(6), pages 825-840, November.
    2. Jian Yang & David A. Bessler & David J. Leatham, 2001. "Asset storability and price discovery in commodity futures markets: A new look," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(3), pages 279-300, March.
    3. Janet Ceglowski, 2003. "The law of one price: intranational evidence for Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 36(2), pages 373-400, May.
    4. Brorsen, B. Wade & Fofana, N'Zue F., 2001. "Success And Failure Of Agricultural Futures Contracts," Journal of Agribusiness, Agricultural Economics Association of Georgia, vol. 19(2), pages 1-17.
    5. Julio Lucia & Angel Pardo, 2010. "On measuring speculative and hedging activities in futures markets from volume and open interest data," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(12), pages 1549-1557.
    6. Dimpfl, Thomas & Flad, Michael & Jung, Robert C., 2017. "Price discovery in agricultural commodity markets in the presence of futures speculation," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 5(C), pages 50-62.
    7. Maddala, G S & Wu, Shaowen, 1999. "A Comparative Study of Unit Root Tests with Panel Data and a New Simple Test," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 61(0), pages 631-652, Special I.
    8. C. Simon Fan & Xiangdong Wei, 2006. "The Law of One Price: Evidence from the Transitional Economy of China," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(4), pages 682-697, November.
    9. Gonzalo, Jesus & Granger, Clive W J, 1995. "Estimation of Common Long-Memory Components in Cointegrated Systems," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 13(1), pages 27-35, January.
    10. Holbrook Working, 1948. "Theory of the Inverse Carrying Charge in Futures Markets," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 30(1), pages 1-28.
    11. Dwight R. Sanders & Mark R. Manfredo, 2002. "The white shrimp futures market: Lessons in contract design and marketing," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(4), pages 505-522.
    12. Yan, Bingcheng & Zivot, Eric, 2010. "A structural analysis of price discovery measures," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 1-19, February.
    13. Bohl, Martin T. & Stephan, Patrick M., 2013. "Does Futures Speculation Destabilize Spot Prices? New Evidence for Commodity Markets," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(4), pages 595-616, November.
    14. Jian Yang & Zheng Li & Tao Wang, 2021. "Price discovery in chinese agricultural futures markets: A comprehensive look," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(4), pages 536-555, April.
    15. Donald Lien & Keshab Shrestha, 2009. "A new information share measure," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(4), pages 377-395, April.
    16. Bohl, Martin T. & Sulewski, Christoph, 2019. "The impact of long-short speculators on the volatility of agricultural commodity futures prices," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 16(C).
    17. Robert S. Pindyck, 2001. "The Dynamics of Commodity Spot and Futures Markets: A Primer," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 1-30.
    18. Teresa Vollmer & Helmut Herwartz & Stephan von Cramon-Taubadel, 2020. "Measuring price discovery in the European wheat market using the partial cointegration approach," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 47(3), pages 1173-1200.
    19. Xiaoli L. Etienne & Scott H. Irwin & Philip Garcia, 2015. "Price Explosiveness, Speculation, and Grain Futures Prices," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 97(1), pages 65-87.
    20. Perron, Pierre, 1989. "The Great Crash, the Oil Price Shock, and the Unit Root Hypothesis," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 57(6), pages 1361-1401, November.
    21. Rittler, Daniel, 2012. "Price discovery and volatility spillovers in the European Union emissions trading scheme: A high-frequency analysis," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 774-785.
    22. Walter Enders & Junsoo Lee, 2012. "A Unit Root Test Using a Fourier Series to Approximate Smooth Breaks," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 74(4), pages 574-599, August.
    23. Matthew Clegg & Christopher Krauss, 2018. "Pairs trading with partial cointegration," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 121-138, January.
    24. Janet Ceglowski, 2003. "The law of one price: intranational evidence for Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 36(2), pages 373-400, May.
    25. Hasbrouck, Joel, 1995. "One Security, Many Markets: Determining the Contributions to Price Discovery," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(4), pages 1175-1199, September.
    26. Sophie van Huellen, 2018. "How financial investment distorts food prices: evidence from U.S. grain markets," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 49(2), pages 171-181, March.
    27. Gregory, Allan W & Hansen, Bruce E, 1996. "Tests for Cointegration in Models with Regime and Trend Shifts," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 58(3), pages 555-560, August.
    28. Bohl, Martin T. & Stephan, Patrick M., 2013. "Does Futures Speculation Destabilize Spot Prices? New Evidence for Commodity Markets," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 45(4), pages 1-21, November.
    29. Baillie, Richard T. & Geoffrey Booth, G. & Tse, Yiuman & Zabotina, Tatyana, 2002. "Price discovery and common factor models," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 5(3), pages 309-321, July.
    30. Li, Miao & Xiong, Tao, 2021. "Dynamic price discovery in Chinese agricultural futures markets," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    31. G. S. Maddala & Shaowen Wu, 1999. "A Comparative Study of Unit Root Tests with Panel Data and a New Simple Test," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 61(S1), pages 631-652, November.
    32. Philipp Adämmer & Martin T. Bohl, 2018. "Price discovery dynamics in European agricultural markets," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(5), pages 549-562, May.
    33. Brenner, Robin J. & Kroner, Kenneth F., 1995. "Arbitrage, Cointegration, and Testing the Unbiasedness Hypothesis in Financial Markets," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 30(1), pages 23-42, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qianqian Mao & Jens-Peter Loy & Thomas Glauben & Yanjun Ren, . "Are futures markets functioning well for agricultural perishables? Evidence from China's apple futures market," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 0.
    2. Mao, Qianqian & Loy, Jens-Peter & Glauben, Thomas & Ren, Yanjun, 2023. "Are futures markets functioning well for agricultural perishables? Evidence from China's apple futures market," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 69(12), pages 471-484.
    3. Teresa Vollmer & Helmut Herwartz & Stephan von Cramon-Taubadel, 2020. "Measuring price discovery in the European wheat market using the partial cointegration approach," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 47(3), pages 1173-1200.
    4. Bohl, Martin T. & Siklos, Pierre L. & Stefan, Martin & Wellenreuther, Claudia, 2020. "Price discovery in agricultural commodity markets: Do speculators contribute?," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 18(C).
    5. Dirk G. Baur & Thomas Dimpfl, 2019. "Price discovery in bitcoin spot or futures?," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(7), pages 803-817, July.
    6. Zhuo Chen & Bo Yan & Hanwen Kang & Liyu Liu, 2023. "Asymmetric price adjustment and price discovery in spot and futures markets of agricultural commodities," Review of Economic Design, Springer;Society for Economic Design, vol. 27(1), pages 139-162, February.
    7. Dimpfl, Thomas & Flad, Michael & Jung, Robert C., 2017. "Price discovery in agricultural commodity markets in the presence of futures speculation," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 5(C), pages 50-62.
    8. Ziliang Yu & Jian Yang & Robert I. Webb, 2023. "Price discovery in China's crude oil futures markets: An emerging Asian benchmark?," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(3), pages 297-324, March.
    9. Arzandeh, Mehdi & Frank, Julieta, 2017. "The Information Content of the Limit Order Book," 7th Annual Canadian Agri-Food Policy Conference, January 11-13, 2017, Ottawa, ON 253251, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society.
    10. Zhang, Dan & Farnoosh, Arash & Lantz, Frédéric, 2022. "Does something change in the oil market with the COVID-19 crisis?," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 252-268.
    11. Fassas, Athanasios P. & Papadamou, Stephanos & Koulis, Alexandros, 2020. "Price discovery in bitcoin futures," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    12. Joakim Westerlund & Simon Reese & Paresh Narayan, 2017. "A Factor Analytical Approach to Price Discovery," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 79(3), pages 366-394, June.
    13. Ho-Chuan Huang & Pei-Chien Lin & Chih-Chuan Yeh, 2011. "Price level convergence across cities? Evidence from panel unit root tests," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 87-93.
    14. Mehdi Arzandeh & Julieta Frank, 2019. "Price Discovery in Agricultural Futures Markets: Should We Look beyond the Best Bid-Ask Spread?," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 101(5), pages 1482-1498.
    15. Marc J. M. Bohmann & David Michayluk & Vinay Patel, 2019. "Price discovery in commodity derivatives: Speculation or hedging?," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(9), pages 1107-1121, September.
    16. Martin T. Bohl & Alexander Pütz & Pierre L. Siklos & Christoph Sulewski, 2018. "Information Transmission under Increasing Political Tension – Evidence for the Berlin Produce Exchange 1887-1896," CQE Working Papers 7618, Center for Quantitative Economics (CQE), University of Muenster.
    17. Nigatu, Getachew & Adjemian, Michael K., 2016. "The U.S. Role in the Price Determination of Major Agricultural Commodities," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 236045, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    18. Hengyun Ma & Les Oxley & John Gibson, 2008. "Testing for Energy Market Integration in China," Working Papers in Economics 08/12, University of Canterbury, Department of Economics and Finance.
    19. Qingfeng “Wilson” Liu & Hui Sono & Wei Zhang, 2021. "The Price Discovery Processes in China, India, and Russia’s Stock Index Futures Markets," Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies (RPBFMP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 24(03), pages 1-28, September.
    20. Figuerola-Ferretti, Isabel & Gonzalo, Jesús, 2010. "Modelling and measuring price discovery in commodity markets," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 158(1), pages 95-107, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:69:y:2023:i:12:id:278-2023-agricecon. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Ivo Andrle (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cazv.cz/en/home/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.