Aluminium was one of most cartelised industries in the international economic panorama of the 20th century. Born following the discovery of electrolytic smelting process in 1886, this industry, even in its infancy, established a cartel which characterised its history until nearly 1980. Managers of the aluminium industry from various historical eras and countries shared the same vision about the development of their industry: to keep prices as stable as possible in order to encourage expansions and to provide return on investments. Price instability, which characterised the trade of other commodities, was unknown to the aluminium industry. This book neither argues that cartels are fundamentally evil, nor attempts to demonstrate that cartels are optimal business organisations. It instead provides an in-depth and frank analysis of the internal working of industrial organisations and of the interplay between cartels and political powers and institutions. The International Aluminium Cartel offers explanations for the construction and collapse of cartels, descriptions of their operations, and an historical interpretation of their experiences. Incorporating information gleaned from a unique collection of private and public archives from several countries, this unique study will appeal to a wide variety of readers, including academics interested in industrial and business history.

Aluminium was one of most cartelised industries in the international economic panorama of the 20th century. Born following the discovery of electrolytic smelting process in 1886, this industry, even in its infancy, established a cartel which characterised its history until nearly 1980. Managers of the aluminium industry from various historical eras and countries shared the same vision about the development of their industry: to keep prices as stable as possible in order to encourage expansions and to provide return on investments. Price instability, which characterised the trade of other commodities, was unknown to the aluminium industry. This book neither argues that cartels are fundamentally evil, nor attempts to demonstrate that cartels are optimal business organisations. It instead provides an in-depth and frank analysis of the internal working of industrial organisations and of the interplay between cartels and political powers and institutions. The International Aluminium Cartel offers explanations for the construction and collapse of cartels, descriptions of their operations, and an historical interpretation of their experiences. Incorporating information gleaned from a unique collection of private and public archives from several countries, this unique study will appeal to a wide variety of readers, including academics interested in industrial and business history.

The Political Economy of International Commodity Cartels examines how international commodity cartels in the 1930s were impacted not only by commercial rivalry, but also by international trade political and diplomatic concerns. This work presents the rise and decline of the European Timber Exporters’ Convention (ETEC) and analyses how firms navigated through the cartel game under increasing international competition, pressures from the national governments, and the interventionist endeavours of the League of Nations. Cartels are often associated with, in the standard economic interpretation, business collusion. However, in using vast archive sources and historical methodology, the chapters in this book shed light onto how international relations shaped cartels. The rise of British protectionism, the emergence of the Soviet Union as an industrial power, and the economic rapprochement of the League of Nations in the early 1930s created a wave of political and diplomatic challenges in the timber trading countries and affected cartelisation. Timber firms in the biggest producer countries—Finland and Sweden—were uninterested in international cartel collaboration, but under pressure joined the ETEC nevertheless. This book makes a strong contribution to the fields of business history and cartel studies. It is an essential read for economic historians interested in how political pressure shaped international cartels and how cartels became avenues of diplomacy.

International cartels are powerful organizations that impact our everyday lives, although they are little known. This book presents 15 historical case studies of international cartels that include agricultural and mineral commodities, the machinery industry, telephone equipment, whiskey and cement. These cases reveal that international cartels manipulated prices and shared markets over many decades but that their real impact was far wider. The global convergence towards criminalizing serious cartel conduct has seen a revival in historical research on cartels and competition policy. The regulation of anti-competitive behaviour has changed over time. To understand why the US, European and other modern economies altered their policies through the 20th century, it is critical to understand when, how and why governments have interacted with, and been influenced by, business organizations such as cartels. This volume draws together researchers from different nations to examine the impact of international cartels on the experience of individual nations, those nations’ interactions with one or more international cartels, and ultimately the interactions of individual nations with the wider international community. This book will be of interest to researchers, academics and advanced students in the fields of business and economic history, political economy, and government policy, as well as those interested in cartels and their impact on the wider economy.

. . . highly recommendable to anyone interested in international competition policy. Arndt Christiansen, European Competition Law Review This book provides a comprehensive and refreshing analysis of the competition issues raised by the globalisation of markets. It draws on a very wide range of economic and legal sources to assess the manifold proposals for controlling the competitive forces released by the freeing up of world markets. All those interested in these important and largely unresolved issues will find it an invaluable source of reference. Michael A. Utton, University of Reading, UK and Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, Dalian, China The globalization of market competition and business behaviour fosters globalization of cartels and monopolising mergers that can lead to abusive and predatory strategies. The globalization of competition therefore also demands an internationalization of competition policy. However, Oliver Budzinski is realistic in his assertion that supranational competition governance must be built upon the existing, predominantly national, regimes. The resulting multilevel system of antitrust institutions and authorities, he argues, is problematic for the horizontal and vertical allocation of competences. This book employs the economics of federalism to create an analytical framework which can be used for comparative analysis of stylised competence allocation rules. The result is a proposal for a sound international multilevel competition policy system that combines elements of both centralized and decentralized governance. This book provides an innovative and unique perspective on international competition policy and will be of interest to economists, legal scientists and competition authorities as well as academics and practitioners of international governance and international relations and politics.

What is Cartel A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. A cartel is an organization formed by producers to limit competition and increase prices by creating artificial shortages through low production quotas, stockpiling, and marketing quotas. Cartels can be vertical or horizontal but are inherently unstable due to the temptation to defect and falling prices for all members. Additionally, advancements in technology or the emergence of substitutes may undermine cartel pricing power, leading to the breakdown of the cooperation needed to sustain the cartel. Cartels are usually associations in the same sphere of business, and thus an alliance of rivals. Most jurisdictions consider it anti-competitive behavior and have outlawed such practices. Cartel behavior includes price fixing, bid rigging, and reductions in output. The doctrine in economics that analyzes cartels is cartel theory. Cartels are distinguished from other forms of collusion or anti-competitive organization such as corporate mergers. How you will benefit (I) Insights, and validations about the following topics: Chapter 1: Cartel Chapter 2: Oligopoly Chapter 3: International Air Transport Association Chapter 4: United States antitrust law Chapter 5: Price fixing Chapter 6: Collusion Chapter 7: Anti-competitive practices Chapter 8: Competition law Chapter 9: Decartelization Chapter 10: Market power Chapter 11: Market concentration Chapter 12: Ultra-imperialism Chapter 13: Lysine price-fixing conspiracy Chapter 14: Economic law Chapter 15: George W. Stocking Sr. Chapter 16: State cartel theory Chapter 17: Holm Arno Leonhardt Chapter 18: Cartel theory Chapter 19: Compulsory cartel Chapter 20: Cartel seat (monument) Chapter 21: Margaret Levenstein (II) Answering the public top questions about cartel. (III) Real world examples for the usage of cartel in many fields. Who this book is for Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of Cartel.