Une revue de la littérature académique anglo-saxonne sur la grande distribution alimentaire

Literature from economics and business journals and books that addresses the concentration of market power and its relationship to retail food prices and profits are reviewed in this article. With some exceptions, the review covers research published in the United States and the United Kingdom over the past two decades. Market structure, power and performance speaks to the overall behavior and performance of the industry and provides a perspective on the dramatic consolidation and shifts in power that we observe in the retail food industry today. A discussion of the theoretical background and advances precedes the findings that focus on two major questions : does the concentration of retail food firms in local markets increase food prices and firms' profit ? Has the retail sector become relatively more profitable ? The results are mixed, especially with regard to price. Most studies imply that it is due to lower costs. These costs have been and are being lowered in the retail food business through the use of information technology and vertical integration with suppliers. There was no evidence that retailers' profit are increasing faster than food manufacturers' profits.