Oligopoly can be defined as a market model of the imperfect competition type, assuming the existence of only a few companies in a sector or industry, from which at least some have a significant market share and can therefore influence the production prices in the market. Many models of oligopoly that differ from one another mostly in the nature of the competitive companies' behaviour can be found through the study of oligopolistic structures. Some models describe only the behaviour of two companies in the monitored market (duopoly), others describe several companies of the same power (cartel), still others assume that one of the companies has a dominant position in the market, etc. The text of this article deals with oligopolistic competition in the food market in the terms of the behaviour of grocers and with the impact of this competition upon the market competition in the sector. First, it mentions the agreements on common cooperation and procedure, when cartel market structure originates. It also analyzes the examples of behaviour of oligopoly with a dominant firm on the market with products in the food sector, with the goal of detecting whether the market with these products is significantly influenced by the oligopolistic behaviour of companies.

The purpose of this study is to express changes in consumer preferences for certain food products due to the income growth of the population, and to specify the way producers or retailers of these commodities respond to the changes in customer choices. The methodology of this study is based on comparing the economic model of consumer behavior in the market to the analysis of demand elasticity, together with its practical application to food products of the same brand offered by multinational chains in Czechia and Germany. The study presents a new survey, including a comparison of the quality and safety of food products offered by retail chains in Czechia and Germany, and a comparison with similar bio-quality products offered by Czech farmers in their shops or at farmers’ markets. As the comparison indicates, unless multinational producers change their current behavior, consumers will prefer purchasing products from Czech producers, including products offered at farmers’ markets, and shop in neighboring countries where higher-quality original products may be found.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to express the development of market price of farmland in the CR and to describe causes and effects of these changes in the price on the ownership of land in the country. Design/methodology/approach Primarily, description methods (especially for describing the creation of investment farmland funds) and a comparative analysis (in the case of an indicator of the farmland prices in the Czech Republic) were used in this paper. Findings The findings show that the situation in the Czech agricultural sector has improved particularly due to increasing subsidies; non-agricultural subjects are showing increased interest and banks are changing their approach to granting loans for the purchase of farmland. The market price of farmland in the Czech Republic has been rising; in 2015, it exceeded CZK162,500 per hectare on average. However, it is still low compared to the old EU member states. Practical implications Practical implication of the paper consists in comparing market prices of farmland with prices at which state sold farmland through PRGLF. Plot owners are often approached about the sale or lease of farmland. However, there are many speculators among those interested in buying, who often focus on those owners who have no idea regarding the value of their plots. Originality/value In the paper, the model of farmland prices was newly used and applied to real data in the Czech Republic from 2004 to 2015. Moreover, current data on investments to farmland were acquired, and an analysis which could be useful for foreign investors was elaborated.

No abstract

Svoboda R., Kopecka L. (2017): Th e Sweezy model of price competition among private labels of chain stores. Agric. Econ. -Czech, 63: 299-307.Abstract: Th e aim of the paper is to verify and explain the actual eff ects of the Sweezy oligopoly model and its eventual impact on the consumer demand and the structure of the food supply of chain stores. Th e methodology of the paper is based on a comparative analysis of the structure of commodities of chain stores in the Czech Republic in terms of consumer demand and its change over time. An example of this model behaviour of fi rms may be the competition between two supermarket chains Billa and Kaufl and in the market with private label products (e.g. pork meat). Results of the analysis of the Sweezy model imply that the change in company costs due to higher prices of inputs does not aff ect product prices and this is the reason behind the rigidity of prices in the oligopolistic markets in the Sweezy model.