Marketing structure of potato in Hamedan province, The combination of wholesale monopoly and cobweb phenomenon

Hamedan province is known as the center of potato production in the country, however, despite the appropriate production conditions, the market of this product does not experience favorable conditions and the difference between farmers 'incomes and consumers' final payment is one of the challenges in the market. Therefore, in this article, the structure of potato market in Hamedan province, as the core production area in Iran, was analyzed and evaluated. For this purpose, the statistics of monthly prices were scrutinized at different levels of the market in the period from April 2006 to April 2019. A significant and growing gap was observed in the market margins of this product. Then, the mechanism of price transfer and transmission were estimated and investigated. All of the results showed an inefficient structure in this market, which has stabilized the farmers in cobweb pattern and wholesalers in the position of monopoly. The results of the research indicated that four specific features of this market including low product elasticity, high perishability rate, lack of export schedules, low storage capacity and the high construction cost of warehouses have created this imperfect structure and should be given special attention in future policies.