Swimming in Pools: Collusion in the Salmon Market

Abstract

We study the events alleged in recent Norwegian salmon industry antitrust cases to explore the relationship between vertical integration, public price indexes, and collusion. The salmon market provides an intriguing opportunity to study these issues, as there was a vertical merger followed by a reformulation of the methodology by which prices were reported for a new price index. We explore whether the confluence of the merger and the creation of the Nasdaq price index is associated with evidence consistent with collusion. JEL codes: L13, L41, L42, Q22