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Competition in Labour Markets: Understanding a specific form of buyers’ cartel

Most people think of cartels as businesses fixing prices; however, they can also form on the buying side. Supermarkets might collude to pay farmers less. Hospitals could co-ordinate to squeeze down doctors’ fees. In labour markets, employers can fix wages or agree not to hire from each other. In this video, Maria Pilar Canedo (Academic Director of the OECD-GVH Regional Centre for Competition), Alessio Aresu (Case Handler, European Commission DG COMP ) and Vivien Terrien (Vice-president, French Competition Authority) describe how buyer cartels operate in the labour markets and provide examples of two real cases.