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Welfare‐enhancing Trade Unions in an Oligopoly with Excessive Entry

Author

Listed:
  • Marco de Pinto
  • Laszlo Goerke

Abstract

Trade unions are often argued to cause allocative inefficiencies and to lower welfare. We analyze whether this evaluation is also justified in a Cournot‐oligopoly with free but costly entry. If input markets are competitive and output per firm declines with the number of firms (business stealing), there is excessive entry into such oligopoly. If trade unions raise wages above the competitive level, output and profits per firm decline, which could deter entry and thus improve welfare. We find that an increase in the union’s bargaining power raises welfare if the (inverse) demand curve is (sufficiently) concave. We also show that collective bargaining loosens the linkage between business stealing and excessive entry.

Suggested Citation

  • Marco de Pinto & Laszlo Goerke, 2020. "Welfare‐enhancing Trade Unions in an Oligopoly with Excessive Entry," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 88(1), pages 60-90, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:manchs:v:88:y:2020:i:1:p:60-90
    DOI: 10.1111/manc.12288
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Stephan Huber & Jochen Model & Silvio Städter, 2019. "Ostracism in alliances of teams and individuals: Voting, exclusion, contribution, and earnings," IAAEU Discussion Papers 201901, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    2. Marco de Pinto & Laszlo Goerke & Alberto Palermo, 2024. "Informational rents and the excessive entry theorem: The case of hidden action," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 71(2), pages 237-252, May.
    3. Laszlo Goerke, 2018. "Sickness Absence and Relative Income," IAAEU Discussion Papers 201812, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    4. Debasmita Basak & Emmanuel Petrakis, 2021. "Social efficiency of entry: Implications of network externalities," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 820-829, November.
    5. Krzysztof Makarski & Joanna Tyrowicz & Magda Malec, 2018. "Evaluating welfare and economic effects of raised fertility," GRAPE Working Papers 25, GRAPE Group for Research in Applied Economics.
    6. Goerke, Laszlo, 2020. "A political economy perspective on horizontal FDI in a dynamic Cournot-oligopoly with endogenous entry," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    7. Marco de Pinto & Laszlo Goerke, 2022. "Cost uncertainty in an oligopoly with endogenous entry," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(4), pages 927-948, October.
    8. Laszlo Goerke, 2019. "Corporate social responsibility and tax avoidance," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 21(2), pages 310-331, April.
    9. de Pinto Marco & Goerke Laszlo, 2019. "Efficiency Wages in Cournot-Oligopoly," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 19(4), pages 1-13, October.
    10. Oliwia Komada & Pawel Strzelecki & Joanna Tyrowicz, 2019. "A regression discontinuity evaluation of reducing early retirement eligibility in Poland," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 40(2), pages 286-303, February.
    11. Florian Hett & Markus Kroell & Mario Mechtel, 2019. "The Structure and Behavioral Effects of Revealed Social Identity Preferences," IAAEU Discussion Papers 201903, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    12. Laszlo Goerke, 2022. "Endogenous Market Structure and Partisan Competition Authorities," IAAEU Discussion Papers 202201, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    13. Basak Debasmita & Mukherjee Arijit, 2022. "Social Efficiency of Market Entry Under Tax Policy," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 22(3), pages 601-610, July.
    14. Alberto Palermo & Clemens Buchen & Bruno Deffains, 2018. "Stigmatization, Liability and Public Enforcement of Law," IAAEU Discussion Papers 201811, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    15. Marco de Pinto & Laszlo Goerke & Alberto Palermo, 2024. "Business Stealing + Economic Rent = Insufficient Entry? An Integrative Framework," IAAEU Discussion Papers 202402, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets

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