In the field of economics, the concept of collusion refers to the agreement or agreement reached by two or more companies that operate in the same mercado to coordinate actions that allow them to reinforce their positions in it, while undermining the growth options of the rest.
Among other things, they manage to set minimum prices for sale, purchase or other marketing conditions with the purpose of dividing up consumers, reducing to the maximum the power of the competition and increasing your profits.
The collusion agreement can be explicit or tacit. In the first situation, the companies maintain communication with each other and sign an agreement explicitly, but when it is tacit they do not communicate directly or seal an agreement. However, they are capable of coordinating actions while maintaining their strategic interdependence. This implies that knowing the consequences this may have for the market, they continue to act in the same way to reduce the power of competitors.
The Competition Authorities understand that collusion represents a serious setback for Competition laws. Hence, a large amount of resources are allocated to the investigation and this type of practice is sanctioned with heavy financial fines.
To avoid this type of situation, the companies that establish these anti-competition agreements, aware of the illegality, try to be cautious, holding secret meetings and erasing any type of evidence that may incriminate them.
An example of collusion can be the agreement established by electricity companies to establish a minimum rate or the agreement between courier companies not to 'steal' customers from each other.
The origin of the collusion concept is found in the theory of the psychologist Paul Watzlawick, who used it applied to human communication, referring to collusion as the situation that arises when a person looks for another that allows them to consolidate their way of being.