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This content will become publicly available on April 1, 2026

Title: Delegation and strategic collusion under antitrust policies: An experiment;
When firm owners delegate decision-making to managers, such as corporate executives who operate firms directly, a firm’s behavior can vary depending on how the owner determines the incentives of the managers. This study employs a lab experiment to investigate the impact of delegation on collusive behavior of firms in a situation where antitrust policies exist. The experiment highlights the following two key findings: (i) Firms form cartels strategically, alternating their collusive and competitive output to evade antitrust regulations, rather than consistently producing collusive output to maximize joint profits; and (ii) Delegation does not necessarily increase the overall number of cartels, but it may change how cartels are formed.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2149219
PAR ID:
10578235
Author(s) / Creator(s):
Corporate Creator(s):
Editor(s):
Ackert, Lucy; Wei, Lijia; QI, Li
Publisher / Repository:
Elsevier
Date Published:
Journal Name:
China Economic Review
Volume:
90
Issue:
C
ISSN:
1043-951X
Page Range / eLocation ID:
102361
Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
Delegation Collusion Cartel Antitrust
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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