ABSTRACT
since 1918 the flat-glass industry in this country has been dominated by Pilkington’s and the history of the period is concerned with Pilkington’s struggles with foreign competition and technical progress. There has been only one merger, the absorption by Pilkington’s of Chance Brothers; this merger is, however, of the greatest interest since the actual financial merger was simply one stage of an increasingly close association between the two firms. Out of all the cases studied this is the one example of a monopoly which is now so strong in the home market as to approach the classical text-book pattern. Examination of the way in which such a ‘monopoly’ conducts its affairs gives rise to interesting comparisons between this and the workings of an oligopolistic industry.
