Cartels as Small World Networks: Evidence from Graphite Electrode Cartel

Abstract This article contributes to understanding the organization of collusive agreements by studying the inner-workings of the graphite electrode cartel. For this purpose: (i) we construct a database that comprises 49 meetings between 24 cartel members during the life period of the agreement, and (ii) we develop a conceptual framework that captures the affiliation of cartel members to meetings. Using statistical methods of social networks, we find that the cartel is organized around a few highly connected sub-networks that are close to each other.