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Labor Market Concentration and Wages: Incumbents versus New Hires

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  • Bassanini, Andrea

    (OECD)

  • Batut, Cyprien

    (Paris School of Economics)

  • Caroli, Eve

    (PSL Université Paris Dauphine)

Abstract

We investigate the impact of labor market concentration on average wages and decompose it into its effects on new hires and incumbents, where incumbents are defined as individuals who were already employed in the same firm the year before. Using administrative data for France, we find that concentration negatively affects both new hires' and incumbents' wages with elasticities ranging from -0.0287 to -0.0296 and -0.0185 to -0.0230, respectively. It also reduces the probability that a worker be a new hire rather than an incumbent. When decomposing the overall effect of labor market concentration on wages into its different components, we find that the negative effect on incumbents' wages accounts for between two thirds and three fourth of the total.

Suggested Citation

  • Bassanini, Andrea & Batut, Cyprien & Caroli, Eve, 2023. "Labor Market Concentration and Wages: Incumbents versus New Hires," IZA Discussion Papers 15910, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15910
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    Cited by:

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    3. Martins, Pedro S. & Melo, António, 2024. "Making their own weather? Estimating employer labour-market power and its wage effects," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    4. Lehner, Lukas & Parolin, Zachary & Pignatti, Clemente & Pintro Schmitt, Rafael, 2024. "Monopsony Power and Poverty: The Consequences of Walmart Supercenter Openings," INET Oxford Working Papers 2024-07, Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.
    5. Popp, Martin, 2024. "Minimum Wages in Concentrated Labor Markets," IZA Discussion Papers 17357, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Vitor Costa, 2023. "Local Labor Market Effects of Mergers and Acquisitions in Developing Countries: Evidence from Brazil," Papers 2306.08797, arXiv.org.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J42 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Monopsony; Segmented Labor Markets
    • L41 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Monopolization; Horizontal Anticompetitive Practices

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