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What Drives Wage Stagnation: Monopsony or Monopoly?

Author

Listed:
  • Shubhdeep Deb
  • Jan Eeckhout
  • Aseem Patel
  • Lawrence Warren

Abstract

Wages for the vast majority of workers have stagnated since the 1980s while, productivity has grown. We investigate two coexisting explanations based on rising market power: (1) monopsony, where dominant firms exploit the limited mobility of their own workers to pay lower wages; and (2) monopoly, where dominant firms charge too high prices for what they sell, which lowers production and the demand for labor, and hence equilibrium wages economy-wide. Using establishment data from the US Census Bureau between 1997 and 2016, we find evidence of both monopoly and monopsony, where the former is rising over this period and the latter is stable. Both contribute to the decoupling of productivity and wage growth, with monopoly being the primary determinant: In 2016, monopoly accounts for 75% of wage stagnation, monopsony for 25%.

Suggested Citation

  • Shubhdeep Deb & Jan Eeckhout & Aseem Patel & Lawrence Warren, 2022. "What Drives Wage Stagnation: Monopsony or Monopoly?," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 20(6), pages 2181-2225.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jeurec:v:20:y:2022:i:6:p:2181-2225.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jeea/jvac060
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    Cited by:

    1. Chiara Bellucci & Armando Rungi, 2024. "Procompetitive effects of vertical takeovers. Evidence from the European Union," Papers 2411.12412, arXiv.org, revised May 2025.
    2. Malik Curuk & Jérôme Héricourt & Gonzague Vannoorenberghe, 2025. "Labor Market Power, Export Prices and Pass-through," Working Papers 2025-15, CEPII research center.
    3. Shubhdeep Deb & Jan Eeckhout & Aseem Patel & Lawrence Warren, 2024. "Reply to: Comments on “Walras–Bowley Lecture: Market Power and Wage Inequality”," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 92(3), pages 647-650, May.
    4. Ziran Ding & Jose Garcia‐Louzao & Valentin Jouvanceau, 2025. "The dynamics of product and labour market power: Evidence from Lithuania," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 33(1), pages 165-194, January.
    5. Berger, David & Hasenzagl, Thomas & Herkenhoff, Kyle & Mongey, Simon & Posner, Eric A., 2025. "Merger guidelines for the labor market," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    6. Kuosmanen, Natalia & Kuosmanen, Timo & Pajarinen, Mika, 2025. "Are Firms Hiring Enough Workers? Firm-level Evidence from Finland’s Manufacturing and Service Industries," ETLA Working Papers 133, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    7. Matthias Mertens & Bernardo Mottironi, 2023. "Do larger firms exert more market power? Markups and markdowns along the size distribution," CEP Discussion Papers dp1945, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    8. Shubhdeep Deb & Jan Eeckhout & Aseem Patel & Lawrence Warren, 2022. "Market power and wage inequality," IFS Working Papers W22/40, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    9. Masayuki MORIKAWA, 2025. "Are Productivity and Wages Decoupling in Japan? Divergence between macro and micro relationships," Discussion papers 25106, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    10. Garibaldi, Pietro & Turri, Enrico D., 2024. "Monopsony in Growth Theory," IZA Discussion Papers 17392, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Shubhdeep Deb & Jan Eeckhout & Aseem Patel & Lawrence Warren, 2024. "Walras–Bowley Lecture: Market Power and Wage Inequality," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 92(3), pages 603-636, May.
    12. Erin Wolcott, 2024. "Did Racially Motivated Labor Policy Reverse Equality Gains for Everyone?," Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute Working Papers 090, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    13. Silva, Jose I. & Okabe, Tomohito & Urzay, Sergi, 2025. "Labor share and market power in European firms," MPRA Paper 123442, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 24 Jan 2025.
    14. Francesco Devicienti & Elena Grinza & Alessandro Manello & Davide Vannoni, 2025. "Employer cooperation, productivity and wages: new evidence from inter‐firm formal network agreements," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 92(365), pages 1-41, January.
    15. Gmeiner, Michael & Gmeiner, Robert, 2023. "Estimating the employment effect of the minimum wage through variation in compliance: evidence from five US states," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121277, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

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