Market Power and Market Failure The Decline of the European Fertilizer Industry and the Expansion of Norsk Hydro

摘要

During the 1980s, the fertilizer industry in Western Europe underwent some radical changes. Reduced profitability and overcapacity forced a number of smaller producers to close down, and most of the major firms in the business either withdrew from the market or reduced their capacity. The exception was the Norwegian industrial conglomerate Norsk Hydro, which expanded rapidly and established itself as the largest producer in Europe and later globally.