Discussion Papers no. 237

The Response by the Norwegian aluminium industry to changing market structure

This paper analyses how changes in market structure have affected the margins (measured by the Lerner index) of Norwegian aluminium plants. Instead of showing the expected negative trend, due to increased competition internationally, the margins are found to move procyclically around a constant that significantly exceeds zero. Three explanations for this stability in the levels of the margins are identified; a better exploitation of scale economies, increased productivity and product specialisation which allows Norwegian producer prices to increase more rapidly than the international reference price.

Om publikasjonen

Tittel

The Response by the Norwegian aluminium industry to changing market structure

Ansvarlig

Kjersti-Gro Lindquist

Serie og -nummer

Discussion Papers no. 237

Utgiver

Statistics Norway, Research Department

Emne

Discussion Papers

Antall sider

25

Målform

Engelsk

Om Discussion Papers

Discussion papers comprise research papers intended for international journals and books. A preprint of a Discussion Paper may be longer and more elaborate than a standard journal article as it may include intermediate calculations, background material etc.

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