IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/kue/epaper/e-25-004.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Quality-Driven Price Dispersion:Implications for Testing Market Efficiency

Author

Listed:
  • Hisaki KONO
  • Ernst DAVID
  • Tsilavo RALANDISON
  • Yutaka ARIMOTO

Abstract

Spatial price dispersion in agricultural markets is often interpreted as evidence of market inefficiencies. Yet, price differences may also reflect variations in product quality, especially where formal grading is absent. This study utilizes a novel dataset of transaction-level paddy rice sales from rural Madagascar, collected in 2022-2023, that includes laboratory-assessed grain quality indicators. By employing hedonic regressions, we construct a composite quality index to quantify how much of the observed cross-regional price variation can be explained by quality differences. We find that quality accounts for only a small share of observed dprice dispersion, and controlling for quality has little impact on conventional measures of market integration. This suggests that buyers may face challenges in accurately assessing quality at the point of sale. In such contexts, buyers appear to rely on village-level reputations as a substitute, with villages known for high-quality rice commanding price premiums that exceed what is explained by observable quality attributes. These results highlight the importance of informal reputation as a substitute for formal quality verification in rural markets and suggest that weak qualityprice linkages may undermine incentives to invest in quality.

Suggested Citation

  • Hisaki KONO & Ernst DAVID & Tsilavo RALANDISON & Yutaka ARIMOTO, 2025. "Quality-Driven Price Dispersion:Implications for Testing Market Efficiency," Discussion papers e-25-004, Graduate School of Economics , Kyoto University.
  • Handle: RePEc:kue:epaper:e-25-004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.econ.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dp/papers/e-25-004.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hoffmann, Vivian & Gatobu, Ken Mwithirwa, 2014. "Growing their own: Unobservable quality and the value of self-provisioning," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 168-178.
    2. Demont, Matty & Rutsaert, Pieter & Ndour, Maimouna & Verbeke, Wim, 2013. "Reversing Urban Bias in African Rice Markets: Evidence from Senegal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 63-74.
    3. Obstfeld, Maurice & Taylor, Alan M., 1997. "Nonlinear Aspects of Goods-Market Arbitrage and Adjustment: Heckscher's Commodity Points Revisited," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 441-479, December.
    4. Bob Baulch, 1997. "Transfer Costs, Spatial Arbitrage, and Testing for Food Market Integration," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 79(2), pages 477-487.
    5. Christopher B. Barrett & Jau Rong Li, 2002. "Distinguishing between Equilibrium and Integration in Spatial Price Analysis," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 84(2), pages 292-307.
    6. Steven Tadelis, 1999. "What's in a Name? Reputation as a Tradeable Asset," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(3), pages 548-563, June.
    7. Minten, Bart & Assefa, Thomas & Hirvonen, Kalle, 2017. "Can Agricultural Traders be Trusted? Evidence from Coffee in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 77-88.
    8. Laurian J. Unnevehr, 1986. "Consumer Demand for Rice Grain Quality and Returns to Research for Quality Improvement in Southeast Asia," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 68(3), pages 634-641.
    9. Martin Ravallion, 1986. "Testing Market Integration," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 68(1), pages 102-109.
    10. Van Campenhout, Bjorn, 2007. "Modelling trends in food market integration: Method and an application to Tanzanian maize markets," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 112-127, February.
    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. Sekhar, C.S.C., 2012. "Agricultural market integration in India: An analysis of select commodities," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 309-322.
    2. Isaac Abunyuwah & Henry De-Graft Acquah, 2013. "Modelling non-linear Spatial Market Integration and Equilibrium Processes in Hidden Markov Framework," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 5(8), pages 535-545.
    3. Burke, William J. & Myers, Robert J., 2014. "Spatial equilibrium and price transmission between Southern African maize markets connected by informal trade," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(P1), pages 59-70.
    4. Félix Badolo, 2011. "Transmission des chocs de prix internationaux : le cas du riz au Burkina Faso," Working Papers halshs-00627189, HAL.
    5. Van Campenhout, Bjorn, 2007. "Modelling trends in food market integration: Method and an application to Tanzanian maize markets," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 112-127, February.
    6. Rahman, Mohammad Chhiddikur, 2020. "Welfare Impact of Asymmetric Price Transmission on Bangladesh Rice Consumers," EconStor Theses, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, number 242248.
    7. Elleby, Christian, 2014. "Poverty and Price Transmission," 2014 International Congress, August 26-29, 2014, Ljubljana, Slovenia 182722, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    8. Sanogo, Issa & Maliki Amadou, Mahamane, 2010. "Rice market integration and food security in Nepal: The role of cross-border trade with India," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 312-322, August.
    9. Stephan von Cramon-Taubadel, 2017. "The analysis of market integration and price transmission – results and implications in an African context," Agrekon, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(2), pages 83-96, April.
    10. Ankamah-Yeboah, Isaac, 2012. "Spatial Price Transmission in the Regional Maize Markets in Ghana," MPRA Paper 49720, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Sahito, Jam Ghulam Murtaza, 2015. "Market integration of wheat in Pakistan," Discussion Papers 72, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Center for international Development and Environmental Research (ZEU).
    12. Tione, Sarah Ephridah, 2011. "Analysis of Effectiveness of Modern Information and Communication Technologies on Maize Marketing Efficiency in Lilongwe and Dedza Districts and Selected Markets of Malawi," Research Theses 198525, Collaborative Masters Program in Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    13. Fabio Gaetano Santeramo, 2015. "Price Transmission in the European Tomatoes and Cauliflowers Sectors," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(3), pages 399-413, June.
    14. Badolo, Félix, 2012. "Chocs de prix internationaux et transmission : cas du marché du riz au Burkina Faso," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 88(3), pages 317-346, Septembre.
    15. Meizal Popat & Garry Griffith & Stuart Mounter & Oscar Cacho, 2022. "Infrastructure investments, regional trade agreements and agricultural market integration in Mozambique," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(1), pages 9-22, February.
    16. Baiyegunhi, Lloyd & Sharaunga, Stanley & Dlangis, Sphelele & Ndaba, Nonkhululeko, 2018. "Tomato market integration: a case study of the Durban and Johannesburg fresh produce markets in south Africa," Journal of Agribusiness and Rural Development, University of Life Sciences, Poznan, Poland, vol. 49(3), March.
    17. Quattri, Maria A., 2012. "On trade efficiency in the Ethiopian agricultural markets," 123rd Seminar, February 23-24, 2012, Dublin, Ireland 122512, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    18. repec:ags:ijag24:346854 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Livat, Florine & Alston, Julian M. & Cardebat, Jean-Marie, 2019. "Do denominations of origin provide useful quality signals? The case of Bordeaux wines," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 518-532.
    20. Hamulczuk, Mariusz, 2020. "Spatial Integration of Agricultural Commodity Markets – Methodological Problems," Problems of Agricultural Economics / Zagadnienia Ekonomiki Rolnej 311225, Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics - National Research Institute (IAFE-NRI).
    21. Alam, Mohammad Jahangir & McKenzie, Andrew M. & Buysse, Jeroen & Begum, Ismat Ara & Wailes, Eric J. & Van Huylenbroeck, Guido, 2012. "Measuring Market Integration in the Presence of Threshold Effect: The Case of Bangladesh Rice Markets," 2012 Annual Meeting, August 12-14, 2012, Seattle, Washington 124435, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:kue:epaper:e-25-004. 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: Graduate School of Economics Project Center (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/fekyojp.html .

    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.