Efficiency in Wholesale, Retail and Village Markets: A Study of Potato Markets in West Bengal

In: Journal of South Asian Development, Band 5, Heft 1, S. 85-111

Abstract

The article attempts to examine the marketing efficiency of potato markets in West Bengal's Hooghly district. The analysis was made at three levels, namely wholesale markets, retail markets and the village market. The analysis using the Johansen and Juselius (1990) cointegration test revealed that the potato markets were integrated and efficient. Turning to the village level, primary data were collected from primary sources in the Arambagh block of Hooghly for the period of July 2000–December 2001. The study simultaneously covered two regions—the cold storage concentration zone and the non-concentration zone. We conclude that 'efficiency', as revealed by integration of wholesale and retail markets, cannot coexist with a complex and non-competitive market structure at the village level. This means that the village findings support the inefficiency of potato marketing. There is a need to intervene the private corporate sectors in the potato market to enhance the efficiency at the village level.