By Jon Tomlin and Chris Ring (July 7, 2017, 1:06 PM EDT) -- Over the past six years, the U.S. Department of Justice has announced a steady flow of guilty pleas for price-fixing of automotive parts in what it and many commentators have called the largest criminal antitrust investigation in U.S. history. What will be learned from this investigation? Academic studies of price-fixing conspiracies have typically relied on datasets dating back several decades (and sometimes several centuries), involving very disparate industries, and involving firms engaged in only a single conspiracy. By contrast, the auto parts investigation is current, includes dozens of firms supplying automotive parts, and includes firms pleading guilty to conspiring in more than one automotive part. Given this, information from the auto parts investigation will likely be a fruitful field for economic research for many years to come. The information contained in plea agreements reached thus far offers a "sneak peek" into what future research may reveal....