Not Just Cartels

In this article, the phenomena cartels are placed in a broader perspective than usual. The purpose is to provide a background for an ongoing study of cartels and competition in Sweden before 1950. Regard is here given to the manifold forms in which firms interacted with each other, and where cartels was just one form. Oligopolistic net-work behavior was also very important. The impact of policies and practices of other actors than the interacting firms themselves is also studied. Government, industrial organizations, and trade-unions were important actors. Their activities promoted market restrictions more than prevented them. The industrial activities of the consumers? cooperatives in cartelized industries have in Swedish discourse been seen as guarantee for a competitive market but it is far from clear that they had any significant impact on the price levels. The cooperative firms were quite profitable and they financed the expansion of an industrial group that became one of the biggest in Sweden.