Econometric Analysis of Asymmetric Price Transmission Using Threshold Cointegration Approach: A Case Study of Morocco’s Apple Markets

The level of market integration between deficit and surplus markets is a key determinant of price stability and food security. Thus, market integration can be regarded as a way of assessing efficiency of agricultural markets. The current study intends to investigate the domestic market integration and explore the potential presence of asymmetric price adjustments between spatially separated markets. The paper employs threshold cointegration approach using monthly data of wholesale apples prices over the period from September 1993 to June 2017 in five major wholesale markets in Morocco. Study findings suggest that wholesale apples markets are significantly cointegrated, implying the presence of the long-run equilibrium relationships between the examined markets pairs. Considering the evidence as a whole, for five out of eight market pairings, the results reveal that the nature of price transmission exhibits significant asymmetric adjustments. Nonetheless, the empirical analysis does not always support the research hypothesis, stipulating that deficit market prices adjust more swiftly to price increases than to price decreases in surplus market because of the market power of intermediaries in the food marketing chain. Based on these results, the domestic market integration shows some signs of weakness, which may affect the progress of the sector. In this respect, further efforts should be made to enhance market performance so as to ensure an even balance between the production and marketing segment