Abstract
Before 1978, most of the domestic copper production in the US and an important share of imports were traded at a price set by the major US producers. At the same time, the rest of the world was trading copper at prices determined in auction markets. This two-price system ended in 1978, when the largest US producers began using the Comex price of refined copper as a benchmark for setting their prices. Using this regime shift, I empirically test the competitive behavior of the US copper industry before 1978. The results show that copper prices were close to the levels predicted by a competitive model of the industry.
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Agostini, C.A. Estimating Market Power in the US Copper Industry. Rev Ind Organ 28, 17–39 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11151-006-0006-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11151-006-0006-8