Vertical integration

In applied economics the control by a single entity of all resources and raw materials required, all extracting, converting, processing or manufacturing plant, equipment and processes needed, and all distribution means and outlets to the market. An example is a food conglomerate which owns farms and plantations, canneries, trucking companies and retail food stores. Another example is a socialist economy where the entity which vertically integrates is the state. Vertical integration is sometimes associated therefore with private or state monopolies, unfair business practices and unfair labour practices, as for example, in the agricultural sectors in both free market and planned economics.