What does cartelizing mean?
Cartelizing is the present participle and gerund of the verb cartelize, meaning to organize an industry or market into a cartel — that is, to arrange for nominally competing firms to coordinate prices, restrict output, divide territories, or otherwise suppress competition among themselves. The term belongs primarily to the vocabulary of economics, antitrust law, and financial journalism, where it describes conduct regulators regard as a serious violation of competition rules. It carries an unambiguously negative connotation, implying secret or illicit collusion rather than legitimate cooperation. In practice it appears most often in phrases such as "accused of cartelizing the market" or "cartelizing an entire industry." The word derives from cartel, which entered English via French from Italian cartello, ultimately from Latin carta ("paper" or "document"), the same root that gives us chart and charter. Related forms include cartelize, cartelized, and the noun cartelization.
verbTo form or organize (an industry or market) into a cartel, typically by coordinating prices, output, or market-sharing among nominally competing firms; also, to bring a business or sector under such collusive control.
- To organize an industry or market into a cartel by fixing prices, limiting output, or dividing up territories among competitors.
- (Extended use) To bring any group of nominally independent actors under coordinated, anti-competitive control.
"The oil-producing nations stood accused of cartelizing the global petroleum market."
"Prosecutors alleged that the airlines were quietly cartelizing transatlantic routes by sharing fare data."
"Critics warned that consolidating suppliers would amount to cartelizing the entire construction sector."
Every time companies secretly agree on prices instead of competing, economists say they are cartelizing — and antitrust regulators around the world treat it as one of the most serious crimes in business.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cartelizing
Cartelizing derives from the verb cartelize, built on the noun cartel, which English borrowed from French cartel in the sixteenth century; French took it from Italian cartello, a diminutive of carta, from Latin carta or charta meaning "paper" or "written document." The word originally referred to written challenges between combatants and later to agreements between states, before narrowing in the late nineteenth century to its modern economic sense of a producers' price-and-output agreement. The same Latin root carta underlies cognates such as chart, charter, card, and cartography.
Related word forms
How cartelizing is actually used
A technical term of economics, competition law, and business journalism, usually appearing in formal or journalistic registers rather than everyday speech. It carries a strongly negative connotation, since cartelizing implies unlawful or unethical collusion. It is most often used in the progressive or passive constructions typical of gerundive -ize verbs.
Easily confused with cartelizing
Catalyzing means to cause or accelerate a change or reaction, whereas cartelizing specifically refers to organizing firms into an illegal price-fixing or market-sharing combine.