Value Chain and Price Integration in the Spanish Market for Salted Cod

Salted cod is a much appreciated product in the traditional Spanish cuisine. Following the collapse of the Newfoundland fishery, local processors became dependent on imports of raw material in order to keep on producing. As a result, substantial changes in the value chain structure and dynamics took place. Using price integration techniques, this paper analyzes the relation across prices of salted cod products along the value chain in the modern Spanish markets. Horizontal price integration is used to test competition across commodities and countries at the import level. Vertical integration analyzes price transmission from imports to retail. Results suggest competition across imports of different commodities of salted cod and countries of origin. On the other side, changes in the prices of imports are transmitted to final consumers when the product is imported from the producing country. However, price transmission can be affected when intra EU trade takes place.