全球化背景下国际卡特尔为何难以持久——基于1930—1933年国际冰蛋卡特尔的研究

Why Is It Difficult for International Cartels to Last Under the Background of Globalization?——Research on the International Ice Egg Cartel from 1930 to 1933

在全球化背景下,近代中外资企业之间不仅有激烈的竞争,也存在着以某种方式进行跨国界的市场合谋行为。这在相当程度上体现了近代中外资企业互动的深度与广度。本文对1930—1933年间华商企业——上海茂昌公司与外资冰蛋企业在欧洲市场上实施冰蛋卡特尔的过程及其成效进行了比较深入的考察与分析。研究表明,国际冰蛋卡特尔的实施主要是为了解决生产过剩问题,以追求行业与成员企业利益最大化。但查实秘密削价的困难、市场配额的“不公”与外部竞争者的“搅局”使冰蛋卡特尔难以维持,以致未能达到市场合谋的目的。本研究有助于弥补近代中外资企业跨国互动研究的不足,还将为深入研究卡特尔不稳定性问题提供一个历史案例。

In the context of globalization, there was not only fierce competition between Chinese and foreign-funded enterprises in modern times, but also cross-border market collusion in some way. To a considerable extent, this reflected the depth and breadth of the interaction between Chinese and foreign-funded enterprises in modern times. This paper makes an in-depth investigation and analysis on the process and effectiveness of frozen egg cartel implemented by Chinese Enterprises-the China Egg Produce Company and foreign frozen egg enterprises in the European market from 1930 to 1933. Research shows that the main purpose of the implementation of cartel was to maximize the interests of the industry and solve the problem of excess production. However, the difficulty of verified secret price cuts, the “unfairness” of market quotas and the “disruption” of external competitors made it difficult for the frozen egg cartel to maintain, so that it failed to achieve the purpose of market collusion. This study will help to make up for the deficiency of the research on the transnational interaction of Chinese and foreign-funded enterprises in modern times, and will also provide a historical case for the in-depth study of the instability of cartels.