Competition and Oligopsony in the Douglas Fir Lumber Industry

Walter J. Mead

University of California Press

Contents

• Introduction: 1
• Economies of Scale in Lumber Production: 11
• Distribution of lumber output in the Douglas fir region by plant: 14
• Estimates of costs at various levels of output mill A: 28
• Elasticity of Demand for Lumber and Timber: 32
• Lumber use per dwelling unit in selected years between 1920: 41
• Price trends for Douglas fir lumber compared with those for competing building materials: 42
• Relationships between employment labor cost and stumpage: 47
• Relationship between employment labor cost and stumpage: 48
• Elasticity of Supply for Timber and Lumber: 51
• Log production by source Douglas fir region 19531962: 55
• Model for federal timber supply: 67
• Cost and demand model for lumber firms: 69
• Economic Concentration in Timber Resource: 77
• Concentration in ownership of commercial forest land in: 80
• Trend in timber resource concentration in Oregon and Wash: 86
• Douglas fir stumpage prices 19101964: 89
• Softwood log exports from Oregon and Washington 19611964: 92
• Economic Concentration in Lumber Production: 97
• Economic concentration in the national lumber industry and: 99
• Concentration ratios for lumber veneer and plywood 1947: 100
• Production by twenty largest lumberproducing firms in: 106
• Number of and production by sawmills in the Douglas fir region by size class 19481962: 107
• Organization of lumber distribution: 109
• Conditions of Entry into the Lumber Industry: 111
• Relationship between lumber prices and number of mills: 119
• MARKET CONDUCT: 125
• Fluctuations in price and output lumber 19531960: 132
• Fluctuations in price and output steel 19531960: 133
• Index of Douglas fir log sales consummated in the Columbia River Grays Harbor and Puget Sound areas 19471961: 137
• Decisionmaking process in bidding on federal timber sales: 145
• Tokenbid sale Willamette National Forest: 156
• Marketprice determination in an oligopsony when collusion is absent: 166
• Bidprice reaction functions: 172
• Characteristics of competitive and noncompetitive oral auction: 189
• Competitive characteristics of oral auction and sealedbid sales: 197
• Net regression lines showing bidappraisal ratio computed from logarithm of number of bidders: 202
• Net regression lines showing bidappraisal ratio computed from volume per sale: 203
• Number of working circles classified by percent of total volume sold under competitive conditions 19591962: 209
• Test of homogeneity between observed and theoretical fre: 211
• Net regression lines showing percent competitive computed from average number of bidders and select values of percent of volume purchased by lar...: 218
• Productivity of recently cut commercial forest land in: 247
• Lumber price index deflated by All Commodities Wholesale Price Index and All Construction Materials Price Index: 251
• Factor substitution 35: 253
• Ratio of hourly wage rates in Douglas fir lumbermanufacturing industry to all manufacturing and ratio of Douglas fir lumber prices to All Commodit...: 254

Bibliographic information

• Title: Competition and Oligopsony in the Douglas Fir Lumber Industry
• Author: Walter J. Mead
• Publisher: University of California Press