Market structure and the coal cartel in early nineteenth‐century England1

Using counterfactual competitive prices, the effect of the north-east coal cartel on prices is estimated at 13-17 per cent between 1816 and 1845. Non-cartel producers were highly responsive to price changes, and their threat to the cartel was made credible by market integration facilitated by canals. The spread of railways had little impact on the cartel’s market power. Highly inelastic demand and responsive supply from other regions meant that deadweight losses from the cartel were insignificant throughout this period.