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Labor Market Power in Developing Countries: Evidence from Colombian Plants

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  • Amodio, Francesco

    (McGill University)

  • de Roux, Nicolás

    (Universidad de los Andes)

Abstract

How much can employers in low and middle-income countries suppress wages below marginal productivity? Using plant and customs data from Colombia, we exploit pre- determined variation across plants in sales export destination combined with variation in exchange rates to generate plant-specific shocks to marginal revenue productivity and labor demand. We estimate a firm-level labor supply elasticity of around 2.5, implying that workers produce about 40% more than their wage level. Our results indicate that Colombian and US manufacturers have a comparable degree of labor market power.

Suggested Citation

  • Amodio, Francesco & de Roux, Nicolás, 2021. "Labor Market Power in Developing Countries: Evidence from Colombian Plants," IZA Discussion Papers 14390, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14390
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    2. Andrés Álvarez & Juan Camilo Chaparro & Carolina González & Santiago Levy & Darío Maldonado & Marcela Meléndez & Natalia Ramírez & Marta Juanita Villaveces, 2022. "Reporte ejecutivo de la Misión de Empleo de Colombia," Documentos de trabajo 20156, Escuela de Gobierno - Universidad de los Andes.
    3. Hoang, Trang & Mitra, Devashish & Pham, Hoang, 2024. "The Effect of Export Market Access on Labor Market Power: Firm-Level Evidence from Vietnam," IZA Discussion Papers 17196, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Amodio, Francesco & Medina, Pamela & Morlacco, Monica, 2022. "Labor Market Power, Self-Employment, and Development," IZA Discussion Papers 15477, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Nicolás Francisco Abbate & Bruno Jimnez, 2022. "Do Minimum Wage Hikes Lead to Employment Destruction? Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design in Argentina," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4533, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    6. Yasin Kür¸sat Önder & Mauricio Villamizar-Villegas & Jose Villegas, 2023. "Debt Moratorium: Theory and Evidence," Borradores de Economia 1253, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    7. Chau, Nancy H. & Kanbur, Ravi & Soundararajan, Vidhya, 2022. "Employer Power and Employment in Developing Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 15514, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Laura Boudreau, 2024. "Multinational Enforcement of Labor Law: Experimental Evidence on Strengthening Occupational Safety and Health Committees," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 92(4), pages 1269-1308, July.
    9. Pham, Hoang, 2023. "Trade reform, oligopsony, and labor market distortion: Theory and evidence," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    10. Laura Boudreau & Julia Cajal-Grossi & Rocco Macchiavello, 2023. "Global Value Chains in Developing Countries: A Relational Perspective from Coffee and Garments," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 37(3), pages 59-86, Summer.
    11. Jiménez, Bruno, 2023. "The Political economy of the minimum wage," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    labor market power; export; Colombia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J42 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Monopsony; Segmented Labor Markets
    • L10 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - General
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • O54 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Latin America; Caribbean

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