2007 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

A Comparative Research on Self-organising Process of Food system

Research Project

Project/Area Number	18580211
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Research Field	Agro-economics
Research Institution	Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine
Principal Investigator	SEMBOKUYA Yasushi Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Animal Science, Associate Professor (50243382)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	KANAYAMA Toshihisa Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Graduate School, Professor (00214445) KONO Hiroichi Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Graduate School, Associate Professor (20281876)
Project Period (FY)	2006 – 2007
Keywords	self-organising process / food system / transaction economies / Nash equilibrium / historical path dependency / comparative research / 比較制度論
Research Abstract	The existence of a market in itself does not guarantee adaptation to trends to rationalise the distribution of fruits and vegetables. A wholesale market that is a simple gathering of small wholesalers will fall behind as trends to rationalise distribution continue In contrast, large wholesalers are well capable of meeting demand from mass retailers and can occasionally even withdraw from a wholesale market to facilitate greater efficiency of operation. This response is not limited to Czech but is also seen in Western European nations. At London's Covent Garden and France's Rungis, wholesale markets are rapidly declining in power.eWhile retailers' demand is growing more diversified and expanding in size, agricultural production is spread both geographically and seasonally. To integrate these factors efficiently, at least one player needs to integrate many transactions from production through retailing. Many of the existing wholesale fruits and vegetables markets lack this functionality. We should consider the following five factors: 1) Degree of development of agricultural production (independence and organization of producers), 2) Structure of wholesalers (size, degree of concentration), 3) Structure of the retail (and eat out) industries, 4) Consumption behavior of consumers, 5) Structure of imports. The specific functions of wholesaling are not necessarily performed by wholesale markets. They are to be carried out by wholesalers. In many countries other than Japan, rationalising the distribution of fruits and vegetables requires integration of wholesalers. We consider that just expanding the size of wholesale markets is not effective.