Consumer side or producer side transparancy. What is better to combat cartel formations? and what is the dilemma of market transparency for competition authorities?

Overall, PT increases likelihood for cartel formations but CT decreases likelihood for cartel formations. However, there is an argument for CT leading to more cartels: CT could cause the counter-response by loyal cartel firms to create price war and use predatory pricing . Consumers would switch to the loyal cartel firms running smaller firms out of business, decreasing competition. This creates the dilemma of market transparency for competition authorities: Can you increase consumer transparency (which in general has positive effects on competition) without increasing producer transparency (which in general has negative effects on competition through facilitating cartel formation)? Rule of thumb: The more unfavorable market structure is for competition, the greater the risk that information sharing may harm competition. Ie focus on the ’usual suspects’ for cartel-promoting factors: • High market concentration • High entry barriers • Homogeneous products • Similar companies (same size, costs, etc.) • Stable market development • Regular demand • Small, frequent orders