The Ability of Iranian Exporters to Price Discriminate in Agricultural Sector Trade: Case Comparison of Fig and Grape

Fig and grape have a high position in job creation and foreign exchange earnings for Iran. Moreover, these two products also have the same international position in terms of production and exports. This study has examined and compared price discrimination in the two markets of fig and grape exports using Exchange Rate Pass-Through and Pricing To Market (PTM) behavior approaches. The econometric analysis using the Panel-Corrected Standard Errors (PCSE) model showed that fig exporters had the ability to discriminate prices in the Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Sweden, and Russia. Furthermore, fig and grape have an equal position in terms of production and exports, but the power of exporters are more in the fig export market and have better conditions for applying price discrimination. Therefore, it is recommended that the principled export of agricultural products be adopted according to global consumer demand by identifying target markets. The results of the analysis of the asymmetric effects of exchange rates on fig's exports illustrate that these effects are symmetrical in the market of all countries; however, it is asymmetrical in exporting grapes to Singapore, Sweden, and Saudi Arabia.