ABSTRACT
At present, catfish is generally recognized as the most successful aquacultural venture in the United States (US). This chapter quantifies key economic relationships affecting the US catfish industry that can serve as a tool for policy analysis and industry planning. It specifies and estimates a monthly econometric model for catfish that takes into account an imperfectly competitive processing sector, rapid industry growth, and industry-funded media advertising and promotion. The chapter provides background information pertinent to the study and summarizes relevant econometric studies. It presents the conceptual model followed by a discussion of estimation procedures and econometric results. The modeling procedure used by Kinnucan and Wineholt is based on a price-setting behavioral hypothesis, reflecting the imperfectly competitive nature of catfish processing. The maintained hypothesis of short-run causality between producers, processors, and consumers and the consequent independence of their respective decision processes justifies single-equation estimation of the supply response, price markup and wholesale demand relations.
