ITT, LM Ericsson and their market-sharing cartel in Denmark and Norway in the 1930s

Cartels on market sharing between telephone equipment producers flourished in the inter-war period. These cartels were international in the sense that the main parties were multinational companies although the detailed agreements were often limited to one country or mainly involved the national subsidiaries. The UK market-sharing agreement in 1924 between four producers was the first. This paper is about the market-sharing agreement of 22 September 1932 between ITT and LM Ericsson which were to divide the market for telephone equipment in Denmark and Norway until 1950. The paper analyses how the agreement was implemented in the two countries. The paper shows that – and contrary to previous research – there was no actual implementation of the agreement in Denmark. In Norway however, the principal agreement between ITT and LM Ericsson was followed by a very detailed market sharing agreement by their respective subsidiaries in 1933, which were to last until 1950. The effects of the market sharing agreement in Norway lasted until the 1980s.