In this vigorous and well-documented "current view" of competition in the mid-western coal industry, Reed Moyer has set himself two tasks: to bring up to date existing economic analyses and to correct a "distortion which arises from generalizing about an industry composed of several diverse parts." Most previous economic analyses have become obsolete, partly because of the shifting picture within the industry. Moyer's detailed study of the economic behavior of the midwestern coal industry focuses on the transformation in the mining operation. Contrary to popular opinion, the bituminous coal industry in the Midwest is not "chronically depressed"; instead, it is successfully surmounting years of stagnation dating back to the 1920s, the effects of strikes, and the stiff competition offered coal by other fuels in the recent past. Concerned primarily with the coal producing regions of Illinois, Indiana, and western Kentucky, the author considers not only the economic factors touching the industry, but the geologic and geographic as well. In a framework of market structure, conduct, and performance Moyer analyzes in detail the "geographically isolated position of the midwestern coal industry," which "limits interdistrict competition." Ample discussion is devoted to factors which influence the structural characteristics and the economic behavior of the industry: seller concentration, the importance of freight rates in determining delivery costs, price competition, entry barriers, and the effect of mining techniques on resource conservation, to name a few. The book includes an extensive treatment of the mining methods, strip and underground, common to the region, and their influence on its economic picture. This crisply written technical study searches thoroughly into the many facets of a leading component of a still lively major industry. The author has drawn on a supply of unpublished material as well as on information from confidential sources.

Inhalt: Hans Pohl: Introduction - International Markets: Wilfried Feldenkirchen: Competition and Cooperation in the German Electrical Industry in the Home and World Markets - Harm G. Schroter: Fields of Competition and of Cooperation: Cartel Structures in the International Chemical Industry Regional Markets: a) Europe: Jurij A. Petrov: Russian-German Economic Relations in the 19th - Early 20th Centuries - Zdenek Jindra: Konkurrenz und Zusammenarbeit in den Geschaftsbeziehungen der Firmen Fried. Krupp/Essen und Skodawerke/Pilsen zwischen 1890-1914 - Pierre-E. Mounier-Kuhn: La Compagnie des Machines Bull et l'industrie informatique americaine - Francesco Chiapparino: Cooperation and Competition among National and International Firms in Industrializing Italy - Walter Minchinton Y: Competition and Cooperation. The British Cider Industry since 1880 b) Latin America: Rolf Walter: Europaische Unternehmen auf sudamerika-nischen Markten c) Asia: Hiroaki Yamazaki: Competition and Cooperation in the Japanese Textile Industries during the Inter-War Period - Aron Shai: The Closure of British and French Commercial Interests in China in the 1950s. (Franz Steiner 1997)