Editing Oligopoly (section)

=== Formation of cartels ===
Particular companies may employ restrictive trade practices in order to inflate prices and restrict production in much the same way that a [[monopoly]] does. Whenever there is a formal agreement for such collusion between companies that usually compete with one another, the practice is known as a [[cartel]]. An example of an economic cartel is [[OPEC]], where oligopolistic countries control the worldwide oil supply, leaving a profound influence on the international price of oil.<ref>{{Cite web |title=OPEC (cartel) - Energy Education |url=https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/OPEC_(cartel) |access-date=2023-04-09 |website=energyeducation.ca |language=en |archive-date=19 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419102832/https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/OPEC_(cartel) |url-status=live }}</ref>

There are legal restrictions on cartels in most countries, with regulations and enforcement against cartels having been enacted since the late 1990s.<ref>Evenett, S. J., Levenstein, M. C., & Suslow, V. Y. (2001). ''International cartel enforcement: lessons from the 1990s''. The World Bank.</ref> For example, [[European Union competition law|EU competition law]] has prohibited some unreasonable [[anti-competitive practices]], such as directly or indirectly fixing selling prices, manipulating market supplies and controlling trade among competitors.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Competition policy {{!}} Fact Sheets on the European Union {{!}} European Parliament |url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/en/sheet/82/competition-policy |access-date=2023-04-09 |website=www.europarl.europa.eu |language=en |archive-date=12 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712060055/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/en/sheet/82/competition-policy |url-status=live }}</ref> In the US, the ''Antitrust Division of the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission'' was created to fight collusion among cartels''.''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Reading: Collusion or Competition? {{!}} Microeconomics |url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-microeconomics/chapter/collusion-or-competition/ |access-date=2023-04-09 |website=courses.lumenlearning.com |archive-date=24 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210424100924/https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-microeconomics/chapter/collusion-or-competition/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Tacit collusion]] is becoming a more popular topic in the development of [[Competition law|anti-trust law]] in most countries.<ref name=":0"/>