Imperfect Competition and Anglo-German Trade Rivalry: Markets for Cotton Textiles before 1914

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Abstract
This article reappraises export performance on international markets before World War I by examinnig the case of cotton textiles. The German industry expanded its market share from the 1850s to 1914 despite remaining a high-cost industry relative to Great Britain. Evidence from contemporary accounts and analysis of trade data from 1913 suggests that German success arose in part from the importance of monopolistic competition in export markets for finished cloth. Germany’s relative wealth, geographic position, and perhaps the intensive marketing efforts of its industry may have enabled it to counter the cost advantage of its British rival.Their heads are still gay with crimson kerchiefs, but those kerchiefs do not come from Manchester.—E. E. Williams