ABSTRACT
In the second half of the nineteenth century, cartels became increasingly important. Cooperation between businessmen was obviously not a new thing, but in this period they found new ways of organising such collaborations, and thereby extending the scale and scope of their cooperative practices. These cooperative capitalist entities were known by many names: cartels, trusts or syndicates, to name a few. The arrangements ranged from gentlemens’ agreements on geographic market sharing, to complex agreements consisting of hundreds of pages, regulating prices, markets, output quotas, quality, marketing, sales, distribution, agents and pretty much any other aspect of business. Many cartels had organisations set up to monitor the behaviour of both member companies and outsiders, and sales and marketing departments. To some, these new entities were perceived as useful tools to prevent destructive competition; to others, they represented predatory business practices aimed at monopolising markets.
