El mercado de harina de maíz en México. Una interpretación microeconómica

Abstract

In this paper we analyze from the microeconomics perspective, the maize flour market and its price formation in Mexico.This product is basic in the diet of Mexicans, and its market is characterized by being dominated by a duopoly: Gruma and Minsa. This characteristic requires that its analysis transcend the traditional theoretical framework of perfect microeconomics and must be studied from the theory of oligopoly, highlighting: its power to fix prices, relationships of interdependence and non-price competition.This market is dominated by Gruma, which is a multinational Mexican corporation that operates as a leader, while Minsa acts as a follower. One of the strategies of barriers to entry is installed capacity, which surpasses the national demand. This implies that companies work with excess capacity.These characteristics: pricing power, excess installed capacity and demand fluctuations are attempted to be systematized as a microeconomic system, explains the fluctuations of effective demand against a rigid potential supply in the short term, and its effects on employment and occupation of productive resources around the manufacture of corn flour.