Concurrence, coopératives de producteurs et Marketing Orders aux États-Unis

Although industries in the United States are subject to a variety of antitrust laws, agricultural cooperatives and marketing orders have received partial exemptions from these laws. These institutions allow their members to jointly regulate the amount of product that goes to market. Because of this statutory authority, it is important to examine the extent to which these institutions have attained market power. The authors present the history and rationale behind the Congressional acts that facilitated development of cooperatives and established federal marketing orders. The authors further discuss the limitations that cooperatives and marketing orders in the United States face in achieving substantial market power.