New analysis and empirical evidence on several topics such as the determinants of shape and nature of the vertical relationships in the food system, the determinants of vertical co-ordination and competition, types and mechanisms of co-ordination as well as the consequences for competitiveness, consumer welfare and policy implications are provided. The focus is on vertical issues at different stages of the food chain with a particular emphasis on the increasing role played by retailers in shaping the vertical relationships in the food system through the development of food supply-chain management.

Inhalt
I: The Economics of Vertical Coordination.- 1. Vertical Relationships: Economic Theory and Empirical Evidence.- 2. Capabilities, Transaction Costs, and Vertical Coordination in the Food System.- 3. The Economics of Private Label Pricing and Channel Coordination.- 4. Towards a Theory of Successful Vertical Cooperation in the Food System.- 5. Value Differentiation in Agriculture: Driving Forces and Complementarities.- 6. Backward Linkages and Strategic Firm Behavior: An Application to International Trade.- 7. A Structural Vector Error-Correction Model of Price Time Series to Detect Bottleneck Stages within a Marketing Channel.- 8. The Effect of Economic Integration in Oligopolistic Markets.- 9. Globalization's Consequences for Vertical Coordination and Competition in the Food System.- 10. Export Subsidies in a Vertically-Interrelated Marketing System: The Case of Durum Wheat and Pasta.- II: Contractual Relationships and Mechanisms of Coordination.- 11. Internationalization and Vertical Relationships in the Dutch Agrifood Sector.- 12. The Economics of Learning-based Strategies and Structural Changes in the U.S. Pork Chain: A System Dynamics Perspective.- 13. Couponing as a Horizontal and Vertical Strategy: Theory and Effects.- 14. Motives, Consequences and Determinants of Vertical Contractual Relations in Agriculture: Some Results of an Empirical Investigation in Germany.- 15. Contracts Between Farmers and Farmers' Processing Co-operatives: A Principal-Agent Approach for the Potato Starch Industry.- 16. Manufacturer Strategies in the European Food Industry.- 17. Supermarkets and Co-ordination Forms in the Food Sector.- 18. Effects of Contractual Terms on the Balance of Risk.- 19. The Role of Quality Assurance in Food Retailer-Manufacturer Relations: The Case of FoodSafety Controls in the Supply of Retailer Own-branded Products in the UK.- 20. Supply Chain Integration, Category Management and the Italian Food Retail Sector.- 21. Farmer's Choice about Market and Contract with Price Risk.- 22. Intellectual Property Rights and the Welfare Effects of Agricultural R&D.- 23. Coordination Without Vertical Integration: The Case of the French Food System.- 24. The Efficient Consumer Response Initiative: Implications for Vertical Relationships Throughout the U.S. Food System.- 25. Vertical Coordination in Agribusiness and Food Industry: The Challenge of Developing Successful Partnerships.- III: Case Studies.- 26. Coordination Mechanisms in the Agro-industrial System. The Case of High-Oleic Sunflower.- 27. Public Intervention in Vertically Related Markets with an Application to Dairy Policy.- 28. Vertical Coordination and Competitiveness: The Case of High Quality and Aged Foods.- 29. Vertical Coordination in the Dutch Livestock Industry: Determinants, Developments and Performance.- 30. Forward Contract Versus Spot Market: The Case of the French Beef Chain.- 31. Specific Quality and Evolution of Market Coordination Forms: The Case of Environmentally Friendly Food Products.- 32. Competitiveness and Vertical Coordination in the Apulian Agro-Food System.- 33. Coordination Efficiency: Proposals for a Framework. An Illustration with the Fresh Tomato Sector in France.- 34. Creating a Central Party to Manage a Web of Contracts: The Case of Franchising in the French Milling Industry.- 35. Vertical Integration, Causation and Price Transmission in the Spanish Hog Industry.- 36. Market Coordination in the U.S. Rice Industry: Firm Responses to Changing Demands for Product Quality.