Investigation of Factors Affecting Market Power Structure in Iran's Pistachio Domestic Market

Detection of the factors affecting market power structure is a key step toward increasing market competitiveness. In this study, market power structure of pistachio domestic market in Iran was investigated. A Sample of 343 pistachio producers and 252 pistachio traders were selected from 5 provinces, namely, Kerman, Fars, Khorasan, Tehran and Yazd. Results showed that the causes of pistachio market power weakness were financial constraint, mutual distrust, psychological factors and wide differences in pistachio quality. Finally, to increase pistachio market power, increase in efficiency of financial market, extending credit to farmers and traders, increasing trust in pistachio market, decreasing the effects of psychological factors by means of establishing an efficient information system, and price differentiation based on quality were recommended