Leniency programs have become widespread and are generally quite active as reflected in the number of applications. What is not well-understood is how they affect the number of cartels. This paper develops and explores a theoretical framework to help understand when leniency programs are likely...

Price dynamics are characterized when a price-fixing cartel is concerned about creating suspicions of the presence of a cartel. A dynamical extension of static models yields the counterfactual prediction that the cartel initially raises price and then gradually lowers it. An alternative...

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...