IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/jmp/jm2018/pli1202.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Labor Market Concentration does not Explain the Falling Labor Share

Author

Listed:
  • Ben Lipsius

Abstract

Using U.S. administrative data, this paper shows that the employment-weighted average labor market concentration has been declining since 1980 - the opposite of the change needed to explain the falling labor share. The relationship between wages and labor market concentration has also weakened (become less negative) over that time. Together, these results make labor market concentration an implausible driver of the falling labor share despite a strong, negative relationship between labor market concentration and wages.

Suggested Citation

  • Ben Lipsius, 2018. "Labor Market Concentration does not Explain the Falling Labor Share," 2018 Papers pli1202, Job Market Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:jmp:jm2018:pli1202
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ideas.repec.org/jmp/2018/pli1202.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Esteban Rossi-Hansberg & Pierre-Daniel Sarte & Nicholas Trachter, 2021. "Diverging Trends in National and Local Concentration," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 35(1), pages 115-150.
    2. Andrew Foote & Mark J. Kutzbach & Lars Vilhuber, 2021. "Recalculating ... : How Uncertainty in Local Labour Market Definitions Affects Empirical Findings," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(14), pages 1598-1612, March.
    3. Matthias Kehrig & Nicolas Vincent, 2021. "The Micro-Level Anatomy of the Labor Share Decline," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 136(2), pages 1031-1087.
    4. Alan Manning & Barbara Petrongolo, 2017. "How Local Are Labor Markets? Evidence from a Spatial Job Search Model," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(10), pages 2877-2907, October.
    5. José Azar & Ioana Marinescu & Marshall Steinbaum, 2022. "Labor Market Concentration," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(S), pages 167-199.
    6. Oi, Walter Y. & Idson, Todd L., 1999. "Firm size and wages," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 33, pages 2165-2214, Elsevier.
    7. William M. Boal & Michael R. Ransom, 1997. "Monopsony in the Labor Market," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 86-112, March.
    8. David Autor & David Dorn & Lawrence F Katz & Christina Patterson & John Van Reenen, 2020. "The Fall of the Labor Share and the Rise of Superstar Firms [“Automation and New Tasks: How Technology Displaces and Reinstates Labor”]," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 135(2), pages 645-709.
    9. Jae Song & David J Price & Fatih Guvenen & Nicholas Bloom & Till von Wachter, 2019. "Firming Up Inequality," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(1), pages 1-50.
    10. Cecile Gaubert, 2018. "Firm Sorting and Agglomeration," NBER Working Papers 24478, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Azar, José & Marinescu, Ioana & Steinbaum, Marshall & Taska, Bledi, 2020. "Concentration in US labor markets: Evidence from online vacancy data," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    12. Efraim Benmelech & Nittai K. Bergman & Hyunseob Kim, 2022. "Strong Employers and Weak Employees: How Does Employer Concentration Affect Wages?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(S), pages 200-250.
    13. Raven S. Molloy & Christopher L. Smith & Abigail Wozniak, 2013. "Declining migration within the US: the role of the labor market," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2013-27, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    14. Keith Barnatchez & Leland D. Crane & Ryan A. Decker, 2017. "An Assessment of the National Establishment Time Series (NETS) Database," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2017-110, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    15. Jan De Loecker & Jan Eeckhout & Gabriel Unger, 2020. "The Rise of Market Power and the Macroeconomic Implications [“Econometric Tools for Analyzing Market Outcomes”]," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 135(2), pages 561-644.
    16. Dale T. Mortensen, 2005. "Wage Dispersion: Why Are Similar Workers Paid Differently?," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262633191, December.
    17. John Haltiwanger & Ron S. Jarmin & Javier Miranda, 2013. "Who Creates Jobs? Small versus Large versus Young," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(2), pages 347-361, May.
    18. Partridge, Mark D. & Rickman, Dan S. & Olfert, M. Rose & Ali, Kamar, 2012. "Dwindling U.S. internal migration: Evidence of spatial equilibrium or structural shifts in local labor markets?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 375-388.
    19. Cecile Gaubert, 2018. "Firm Sorting and Agglomeration," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(11), pages 3117-3153, November.
    20. Nicolas Vincent & Matthias Kehrig, 2017. "Growing Productivity without Growing Wages: The Micro-Level Anatomy of the Aggregate Labor Share Decline," 2017 Meeting Papers 739, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    21. Gaubert, Cécile, 2018. "Firm Sorting and Agglomeration," CEPR Discussion Papers 12835, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    22. Kevin Rinz, 2018. "Labor Market Concentration, Earnings Inequality, and Earnings Mobility," CARRA Working Papers 2018-10, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    23. Ron S Jarmin & Javier Miranda, 2002. "The Longitudinal Business Database," Working Papers 02-17, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Why Local Labor Market Concentration Is Lower Than It Used to Be, Even As National Concentration Increases
      by Kevin Rinz in Pro-Market on 2019-01-02 13:35:10

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gregor Jarosch & Jan Sebastian Nimczik & Isaac Sorkin, 2019. "Granular Search, Market Structure, and Wages," NBER Working Papers 26239, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Marinescu, Ioana & Ouss, Ivan & Pape, Louis-Daniel, 2021. "Wages, hires, and labor market concentration," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 506-605.
    3. Kahn, Matthew E. & Tracy, Joseph, 2024. "Monopsony in spatial equilibrium," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    4. Samuel Dodini & Kjell Salvanes & Alexander L.P. Willén & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2021. "The Dynamics of Power in Labor Markets: Monopolistic Unions versus Monopsonistic Employers," CESifo Working Paper Series 9495, CESifo.
    5. Efraim Benmelech & Nittai K. Bergman & Hyunseob Kim, 2022. "Strong Employers and Weak Employees: How Does Employer Concentration Affect Wages?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(S), pages 200-250.
    6. Elizabeth Weber Handwerker & Matthew Dey, 2022. "Some Facts about Concentrated Labor Markets in the United States," Economic Working Papers 550, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    7. Dominic Smith & Sergio Ocampo, 2020. "The Evolution of U.S. Retail Concentration," Economic Working Papers 526, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    8. Claudio Luccioletti, 2022. "Labor Market Power Across Cities," Working Papers wp2022_2214, CEMFI.
    9. Yue Qiu & Aaron Sojourner, 2023. "Labor-Market Concentration and Labor Compensation," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 76(3), pages 475-503, May.
    10. Albert Jan Hummel, 2021. "Monopsony power, income taxation and welfare," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 21-051/VI, Tinbergen Institute.
    11. Georg Graetz, 2019. "Labor Demand in the Past, Present, and Future," European Economy - Discussion Papers 114, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    12. Chen Yeh & Claudia Macaluso & Brad Hershbein, 2022. "Monopsony in the US Labor Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(7), pages 2099-2138, July.
    13. Roya Taherifar & Mark J. Holmes & Gazi M. Hassan, 2023. "The drivers of labour share and impact on pay inequality: A firm-level investigation," Working Papers in Economics 23/03, University of Waikato.
    14. Gregor Jarosch & Isaac Sorkin & Jan Sebastian Nimczik, 2019. "Granular Search, Concentration and Wages," 2019 Meeting Papers 1018, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    15. Graetz, Georg, 2020. "Technological change and the Swedish labor market," Working Paper Series 2020:19, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    16. Steven Berry & Martin Gaynor & Fiona Scott Morton, 2019. "Do Increasing Markups Matter? Lessons from Empirical Industrial Organization," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 33(3), pages 44-68, Summer.
    17. Vitor Costa, 2023. "Local Labor Market Effects of Mergers and Acquisitions in Developing Countries: Evidence from Brazil," Papers 2306.08797, arXiv.org.
    18. Albert Jan Hummel, 2021. "Monopsony Power, Income Taxation and Welfare," CESifo Working Paper Series 9128, CESifo.
    19. Jonathan Hambur, 2023. "Did Labour Market Concentration Lower Wages Growth Pre-COVID?," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp2023-02, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    20. Kevin Rinz, 2019. "Did Timing Matter? Life Cycle Differences in Effects of Exposure to the Great Recession," Working Papers 19-25, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    21. Jaumandreu, Jordi & Doraszelski, Ulrich, 2019. "Using Cost Minimization to Estimate Markups," CEPR Discussion Papers 14114, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    22. Zhuravleva, Nadezhda, 2021. "How Bad Is Labor Market Concentration?: Evidence From Soviet (Urban) Satellites," VfS Annual Conference 2021 (Virtual Conference): Climate Economics 242405, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    23. Salvanes, Kjell G & Dodini, Samuel & Lovenheim, Michael F. & Willén, Alexander, 2020. "Monopsony, Skills, and Labor Market Concentration," CEPR Discussion Papers 15412, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. David Berger & Kyle Herkenhoff & Simon Mongey, 2022. "Labor Market Power," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(4), pages 1147-1193, April.
    2. Alan Manning, 2021. "Monopsony in Labor Markets: A Review," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 74(1), pages 3-26, January.
    3. Steven Berry & Martin Gaynor & Fiona Scott Morton, 2019. "Do Increasing Markups Matter? Lessons from Empirical Industrial Organization," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 33(3), pages 44-68, Summer.
    4. Azar, José & Marinescu, Ioana & Steinbaum, Marshall & Taska, Bledi, 2020. "Concentration in US labor markets: Evidence from online vacancy data," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    5. Kevin Rinz, 2018. "Labor Market Concentration, Earnings Inequality, and Earnings Mobility," CARRA Working Papers 2018-10, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    6. Emilien Gouin-Bonenfant, 2018. "Productivity Dispersion, Between-firm Competition and the Labor Share," 2018 Meeting Papers 1171, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    7. Claudia Macaluso & Brad Hershbein & Chen Yeh, 2019. "Concentration in U.S. local labor markets: evidence from vacancy and employment data," 2019 Meeting Papers 1336, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    8. Ufuk Akcigit & Sina T. Ates, 2023. "What Happened to US Business Dynamism?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 131(8), pages 2059-2124.
    9. Matteo G. Richiardi & Luis Valenzuela, 2024. "Firm heterogeneity and the aggregate labour share," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 38(1), pages 66-101, March.
    10. Jordy Meekes & Wolter H. J. Hassink, 2023. "Endogenous local labour markets, regional aggregation and agglomeration economies," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(1), pages 13-25, January.
    11. 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).
    12. Guido Matias Cortes & Jeanne Tschopp, 2019. "Rising Concentration and Wage Inequality," Diskussionsschriften dp1912, Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft.
    13. Philippe Aghion & Antonin Bergeaud & Timo Boppart & Peter J Klenow & Huiyu Li, 2023. "A Theory of Falling Growth and Rising Rents," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 90(6), pages 2675-2702.
    14. Efraim Benmelech & Nittai K. Bergman & Hyunseob Kim, 2022. "Strong Employers and Weak Employees: How Does Employer Concentration Affect Wages?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(S), pages 200-250.
    15. Georg Graetz, 2019. "Labor Demand in the Past, Present, and Future," European Economy - Discussion Papers 114, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    16. Ezra Oberfield & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg & Nicholas Trachter & Pierre-Daniel Sarte, 2019. "Plants in Space," 2019 Meeting Papers 1507, Society for Economic Dynamics.
      • Ezra Oberfield & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg & Pierre-Daniel Sarte & Nicholas Trachter, 2020. "Plants in Space," NBER Working Papers 27303, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
      • Rossi-Hansberg, Esteban & Oberfield, Ezra & Sarte, Pierre-Daniel & Trachter, Nicholas, 2020. "Plants in Space," CEPR Discussion Papers 14823, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
      • Ezra Oberfield & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg & Pierre-Daniel G. Sarte & Nicholas Trachter, 2020. "Plants in Space," Working Paper 20-05, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
    17. David Autor & David Dorn & Lawrence F Katz & Christina Patterson & John Van Reenen, 2020. "The Fall of the Labor Share and the Rise of Superstar Firms [“Automation and New Tasks: How Technology Displaces and Reinstates Labor”]," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 135(2), pages 645-709.
    18. Esteban Rossi-Hansberg & Pierre-Daniel Sarte & Nicholas Trachter, 2021. "Diverging Trends in National and Local Concentration," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 35(1), pages 115-150.
    19. Nolan, Brian & Richiardi, Matteo & Valenzuela, Luis, 2018. "The Drivers of Inequality in Rich Countries," INET Oxford Working Papers 2018-15, Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.
    20. Marinescu, Ioana & Ouss, Ivan & Pape, Louis-Daniel, 2021. "Wages, hires, and labor market concentration," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 506-605.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E25 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Aggregate Factor Income Distribution

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:jmp:jm2018:pli1202. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: RePEc Team (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://ideas.repec.org/jmp.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.