Economic Effects of the Lysine Cartel

Abstract

This chapter documents the economic effects of the operation of the lysine cartel on prices, production levels, international trade, and buyers’ incomes. Monetary estimates of these effects typically play a key role in legal actions to punish cartels or compensate their victims. The legal ramifications of the lysine cartel are discussed in Chapters 13 to 16. Chapter 13 covers the U.S. government’s criminal investigation that began in November 1992, Chapter 14 non-U.S. prosecutions, and Chapter 15 details the sentencing of three ADM officers in July 1999. Chapter 16 concentrates on the many parallel civil actions by parties seeking compensation for economic injuries they alleged they received at the hands of the lysine conspirators. The impacts on the companies themselves, the individual conspirators, and on the antitrust legal apparatus are reserved for the final chapter.