What is a cartel in economics?

A cartel is a formal agreement between a group of producers of a good or service to control supply or to regulate or manipulate prices. Cartels often fix prices, define trading terms, and allocate trade or market share rules to achieve economies of scale. Cartels are illegal in the United States and regulated by anti-trust laws.

How does a cartel affect price stability?

Cartels result in a price to the consumer higher than the competitive price. Cartels may also sustain inefficient firms in an industry and prevent the adoption of cost-saving technological advances that would result in lower prices. Though a cartel tends to establish price stability as long as it lasts, it does not typically last long.

Are cartels anti-competitive?

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.