BEER Lab Meeting - Fidel Petros

We present an experimental strategy to address the following question: Do GEIs' statements about a particular market foster tacit collusion? Such statements have been disclosed in different western countries these 12 last months and they suggest in some cases a clear direction (whether collusion is likely or not). A credible context for such a statement to be issued by GEIs is an upward shock on (nominal) prices. Such a conjecture may represent a good opportunity for firms to tacitly collude because the antitrust authority would struggle to prove that the increase in prices is merely due to inflation or also to changes in pricing behavior leading to a higher degree of profitability for firms involved in the cartel.