Did the National Industrial Recovery Act Foster Collusion? Evidence from the Macaroni Industry
利用美国制造业普查的工厂级数据，研究大萧条期间通心粉行业的合谋行为，发现国家工业复兴法案通过后价格对成本变化反应减弱、价格离散度下降、价格持续性增强，表明合谋确实增加。
We use plant-level data from the Census of Manufactures to study collusion in the United States macaroni industry during the Great Depression. The National Industrial Recovery Act was passed in 1933 to promote recovery through industry coordination of economic activity. While there is no change in the price-cost margin after the law is passed, a variety of markers of anti-competitive conduct suggest that collusion indeed increased. Prices became less responsive to changes in cost, the dispersion of prices decreased, and the persistence in prices increased.