Farmers’ Bargaining Power and Input Prices: What Can We Learn from Self-Reported Assessments?

Abstract

One of the key challenges in improving our understanding of farmers’ relations with input suppliers is that we do not have direct information about farmers’ bargaining power vis-à-vis their input providers. To overcome this problem, this study used farmers’ self-reported assessments of their position in the supply chain. Using unique micro-survey data from the dairy sector in Poland, we constructed a proxy of farmers’ bargaining power and showed that it helps to explain discounts at which farmers buy feed from input suppliers, in addition to what is explained by the standard variables.