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Credit and the Labour Share: Evidence from US States

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  • Aslı Leblebicioğlu
  • Ariel Weinberger

Abstract

We investigate the role of credit markets as a cause for changes in the US labour share. Causal evidence is provided that the labour share declined between 0.8 and 1.2 percentage points following the interstate banking deregulation, explaining more than half of the overall reduction during that period. The lower costs of credit and greater bank competition in each state are mechanisms that led to the decline. To quantify the relationship between credit and factor payments, we calibrate a model with financial frictions and highlight financial development as a potential channel for the reduction in labour share observed globally.

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  • Aslı Leblebicioğlu & Ariel Weinberger, 2020. "Credit and the Labour Share: Evidence from US States," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 130(630), pages 1782-1816.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:econjl:v:130:y:2020:i:630:p:1782-1816.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/ej/ueaa025
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    Cited by:

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    2. Gene M. Grossman & Elhanan Helpman & Ezra Oberfield & Thomas Sampson, 2017. "The productivity slowdown and the declining labor share: a neoclassical exploration," CEP Discussion Papers dp1504, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    3. Gene Grossman & Elhanan Helpman & Ezra Oberfield & Thomas Sampson, 2018. "The Productivity Slowdown and the Declining Labor Share," 2018 Meeting Papers 169, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    4. Riccardo Pariboni & Walter Paternesi Meloni & Pasquale Tridico, 2020. "When Melius Abundare Is No Longer True: Excessive Financialization and Inequality as Drivers of Stagnation," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(2), pages 216-242, April.
    5. Leblebicioğlu, Asli & Weinberger, Ariel, 2021. "Openness and factor shares: Is globalization always bad for labor?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    6. Maya Eden & Paul Gaggl, 2019. "Capital Composition and the Declining Labor Share," CESifo Working Paper Series 7996, CESifo.
    7. Li, Chengming & Huo, Peng & Wang, Zeyu & Zhang, Weiguang & Liang, Feiyan & Mardani, Abbas, 2023. "Digitalization generates equality? Enterprises’ digital transformation, financing constraints, and labor share in China," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    8. Gonzalez, Ignacio & Trivin, Pedro, 2019. "The Global Rise of Asset Prices and the Decline of the Labor Share," MPRA Paper 94587, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • E25 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Aggregate Factor Income Distribution
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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