John M. Clark's Concept of Too Strong Competition: The U.S. Cement Industry as a Possible Case

Gerald Aranoff
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Gerald Aranoff: Jerusalem College of Technology

Eastern Economic Journal, 1991, vol. 17, issue 1, 45-60

Abstract: The principal hypothesis of this paper is that the U.S. cement industry for most of the sixties and seventies can serve as an instance of John M. Clark's concept of too strong competition. This paper argues that the mainstream academic view--notably that of S. M. Loescher and F. M. Scherer--mischaracterizes the cement industry of 1909-46 due to methodological and data errors. The paper presents evidence that during periods of capacity surplus in the sixties and early seventies cement profit margins were inadequate, despite generally good economic years, and this contributed to reduced investment in the seventies and eighties and to a severe capacity shortages during 1972-73 and 1978-79.

Keywords: Cement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L11 L61 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1991
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eej:eeconj:v:17:y:1991:i:1:p:45-60

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