2003
DOI: 10.2307/30041144
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Gentlemanly Price-Fixing and Its Limits: Collusion and Competition in the U.S. Explosives Industry during the Civil War Era

Abstract: During the Civil War era, when the U.S. explosives industry was already dominated by a handful of firms, the leading manufacturers of black powder tried repeatedly–with mixed success–to fix prices in commercial and military markets. Their surviving correspondence reveals some of the dynamics of oligopolistic collusion and competition. In commercial markets, price-fixing by leading explosives makers was undermined not only by competition from small powder manufacturers but also by rivalry among their own sellin… Show more

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Cited by 9 publications
(1 citation statement)
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“…In contrast, the strategies of the largest firms in the industry were evolving in ways that required greater stability. Some were developing agency networks in marketing to gain greater control over demand, hurdling the barrier to cooperation identified by Wilson (2003) in his study of the US gunpowder industry. Others were integrating backwards into the sourcing and processing of raw materials, a few even switching from being buyers to being suppliers of inputs.…”
Section: Mapping the Limits Of Associationalismmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…In contrast, the strategies of the largest firms in the industry were evolving in ways that required greater stability. Some were developing agency networks in marketing to gain greater control over demand, hurdling the barrier to cooperation identified by Wilson (2003) in his study of the US gunpowder industry. Others were integrating backwards into the sourcing and processing of raw materials, a few even switching from being buyers to being suppliers of inputs.…”
Section: Mapping the Limits Of Associationalismmentioning
confidence: 99%