We hypothesize a particular source of cartel instability and explore its relevance to understanding cartel dynamics …. The cartel instability is rooted in the observation that, upon cartel formation, the relative positions of firms are often … fixed which may lead some growthconscious members to be discontent. This incongruity between a cartel member’s allocated …

Although the pricing dynamics of hardcore cartels have been studied intensively from a theoretical perspective … transactions from 36 smaller and larger customers of German cement producers to study the pricing dynamics during and after the … breakdown of a German cement cartel. We find that, first, after the breakdown of the cartel, cartel members reduce net prices to …