Quotas without Supply Control: Effects of Dairy Quota Policy in California

Unlike the federal milk marketing order system, California's system includes a milk quota program. Oddly, this quota restricts neither production nor marketing. In aggregate, the quota program leads to more milk production than a typical marketing quota, but less milk than blend pricing without the quota. The California program generates more producer surplus and smaller welfare losses than a federal‐style program without quota. When class 1 milk sales expand, production expands less under the quota program than with blend pricing without a quota. Finally, increases in aggregate quota lower production because they lower the marginal price of milk facing producers.