OPEC is the economist's favorite cartel to study, partly because it had such a spectacular short-run success and partly because oligopoly theory could be used to predict how OPEC pricing actually evolved. Research some recent developments in petroleum pricing. How relevant are the factors listed in this chapter in affecting the difficulty of maintaining a cartel?
The factors listed are: differences in average cost, number of firms in the cartel, new entry into the industry, and cheating.