Survey of Public Attitudes to Price Fixing in the UK, Germany, Italy and the USA

Abstract

This paper reports the results of four surveys gauging public attitudes to price fixing and cartel enforcement in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and the United States. A previous study was carried out in the UK in 2007. The results show a robust understanding that price fixing is harmful and popular support for enforcement and punishment. In particular, there is an expectation that businesses should calculate their prices independently of each other. Overall there is surprising uniformity in opinion between the four jurisdictions despite significant differences in culture and levels of enforcement. Support for the imprisonment of cartelists has significantly increased in the UK since 2007, but the results suggest price-fixing is still viewed as being less serious than traditional crime and some other forms of corporate wrongdoing.

Keywords: Competition Law; Antitrust; Price-Fixing; Public Attitudes

JEL Classification: K21