The Inner Workings of a Hub-and-Spoke Cartel in the Automotive Fuel IndustryIndian Rupee

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Chaves, Daniel; Duarte, Marco
• 署名单位: Western University (University of Western Ontario)
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-MICROECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7669
• DOI: 10.1257/mic.20210250
• 发表日期: 2025
• 页码: 41-65
• 关键词: Collusion; COMMUNICATION; COSTS

摘要

We study the inner workings of a hub-and-spoke cartel in the Brazilian automotive fuel industry. Based on court documents and detailed price and sales data, we discuss how gas station owners (spokes) operating inside the federal capital received help from fuel distributors (hub) to reduce dispersion of and increase gasoline's retail price. We provide evidence that distributor cartel members benefited by raising wholesale prices while keeping competitors from supplying retail cartel members. We also provide theoretical foundations and empirical evidence for a new mechanism through which hubs help spokes: smoothing cost fluctuations.