Definition: An agreement between two or more parties, generally considered to be competitors, to set, maintain, and charge a specified price for a particular product. This is considered to be a collusion to artificially set prices at a certain level, rather than allowing the free market to organically drive price levels.
Horizontal Price Fixing is an unlawful practice in a free market because it is can stifle innovation, reduce GDP growth, artificially raise prices, create inefficiency, and possibly create a monopoly in which output is reduced and prices are raised.
Also Known As: competitive collusion
Common Misspellings: horzontal price fixing, horizontal prize fixing, horizontal price fising
Examples: If Ralph's supermarkets, Albertson's supermarkets, and Von's supermarkets all conspired to charge a certain price for breakfast cereal, they could face criminal charges for horizontal price fixing.
