Grants and Contracts Details
Description
Title: Monopolizing the Web of Relations: A Social Network Analysis of Dependency in U.S.
Industrial Agriculture
Investigators: Loka Ashwood (PI, University of Kentucky), Mary Hendrickson (Co-PI,
University of Missouri), Phil Howard (Co-PI, Michigan State University), and Andy Pilny (Co-
PI, University of Kentucky).
Abstract
Drastic consolidation and corporatization has defined the trajectory of U.S. agriculture over the
last century. The outcomes for rural communities are stark. Vertical and horizontal integration
unearthed local economies and markets (Hendrickson and Heffernan 2002). The law continues to
largely exempt industrial agriculture from common law and regulatory standards (Ashwood,
Diamond and Walker 2019). Today, rural antipathy toward the government grows in tandem
with the recognition that the government has created policies, markets, and property rights that
benefit the few at the expense of the many (Ashwood 2018).
While many of these outcomes are increasingly recognized, pinpointing the lexicon of power that
enables agricultural consolidation remains elusive. Consolidation happens across financial,
productive, processing and sales sectors, making its nodes of power difficult to identify.
However this intersectoral consolidation also offers a unique opportunity, as it is innately
relational. Such process cannot unfold with relationships between firms and financiers that allow
for acquisitions and commodity exchange (Ribot and Peluso; Christman 1994). We propose
utilizing Social Network Analysis to examine the web of relations across key agricultural sectors
– grain, hogs, beef, and poultry – to identify the key weavers of this web. We do so by using
Nexis to create a dataset based on business reports that identify the key business associates,
corporate relatives, locations, and creditors exerting control in this system (Ashwood, Canfield,
Fairbairn, and De Master Forthcoming). We apply network exchange theory to our findings, and
in doing so merge our methodological attention to finance and credit with a potentially new
approach to studying monopoly power (James, Hendrickson and Howard 2013).
Status | Finished |
---|---|
Effective start/end date | 10/1/21 → 4/30/23 |
Funding
- Economic Security Project Action Incorporated: $46,500.00
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