IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ube/dpvwib/dp2001.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Rising Concentration and Wage Inequality

Author

Listed:
  • Guido Matias Cortes
  • Jeanne Tschopp

Abstract

Wage inequality has risen in many countries over recent decades. At the same time, production has become increasingly concentrated in superstar firms. In this paper, we show that these two phenomena are linked. Theoretically, we show that shocks that increase concentration, such as an increase in consumers price sensitivity, will also lead to an increase in wage dispersion between firms. Empirically, we use industry-level data from 14 European countries over the period 1999 2016 and show robust evidence of a positive and statistically significant correlation between concentration and the dispersion of firm-level wages.

Suggested Citation

  • Guido Matias Cortes & Jeanne Tschopp, 2020. "Rising Concentration and Wage Inequality," Diskussionsschriften dp2001, Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft.
    • Handle: RePEc:ube:dpvwib:dp2001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://repec.vwiit.ch/dp/dp2001.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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).
    2. Felbermayr, Gabriel & Prat, Julien & Schmerer, Hans-Jörg, 2011. "Globalization and labor market outcomes: Wage bargaining, search frictions, and firm heterogeneity," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 146(1), pages 39-73, January.
    3. Katz, Lawrence F. & Autor, David H., 1999. "Changes in the wage structure and earnings inequality," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 26, pages 1463-1555, Elsevier.
    4. 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.
    5. Anna Stansbury & Lawrence H. Summers, 2020. "The Declining Worker Power Hypothesis: An Explanation for the Recent Evolution of the American Economy," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 51(1 (Spring), pages 1-96.
    6. Gregory Corcos & Massimo Del Gatto & Giordano Mion & Gianmarco I.P. Ottaviano, 2012. "Productivity and Firm Selection: Quantifying the ‘New’ Gains from Trade," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 122(561), pages 754-798, June.
    7. Erling Barth & Alex Bryson & James C. Davis & Richard Freeman, 2016. "It's Where You Work: Increases in the Dispersion of Earnings across Establishments and Individuals in the United States," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(S2), pages 67-97.
    8. Bajgar, Matej & Berlingieri, Giuseppe & Calligaris, Sara & Criscuolo, Chiara & Timmis, Jonathan, 2019. "Industry concentration in Europe and North America," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 103427, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Gustavo Grullon & Yelena Larkin & Roni Michaely, 2019. "Are US Industries Becoming More Concentrated?," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 23(4), pages 697-743.
    10. José Azar & Ioana Marinescu & Marshall Steinbaum, 2022. "Labor Market Concentration," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(S), pages 167-199.
    11. Kevin Rinz, 2018. "Labor Market Concentration, Earnings Inequality, and Earnings Mobility," CARRA Working Papers 2018-10, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    12. Marc J. Melitz, 2003. "The Impact of Trade on Intra-Industry Reallocations and Aggregate Industry Productivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(6), pages 1695-1725, November.
    13. Cortes, Guido Matias & Salvatori, Andrea, 2019. "Delving into the demand side: Changes in workplace specialization and job polarization," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 164-176.
    14. James Levinsohn & Amil Petrin, 2003. "Estimating Production Functions Using Inputs to Control for Unobservables," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 70(2), pages 317-341.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Tommaso Bighelli & Filippo di Mauro & Marc J Melitz & Matthias Mertens, 2023. "European Firm Concentration and Aggregate Productivity," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 21(2), pages 455-483.
    2. Jorge Davalos & Ekkehard Ernst, 2021. "How has labour market power evolved? Comparing labour market monopsony in Peru and the United States," Papers 2103.15183, arXiv.org.
    3. Cortes, Matias & Lerche, Adrian & Schönberg, Uta & Tschopp, Jeanne, 2023. "Technological Change, Firm Heterogeneity and Wage Inequality," IZA Discussion Papers 16070, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Anders Akerman, 2024. "Market concentration and the relative demand for college‐educated labour," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 91(361), pages 292-319, January.
    5. Yannick Bormans & Angelos Theodorakopoulos, 2023. "Productivity dispersion, wage dispersion and superstar firms," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 90(360), pages 1145-1172, October.

    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. Guido Matias Cortes & Jeanne Tschopp, 2019. "Rising Concentration and Wage Inequality," Diskussionsschriften dp1912, Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft.
    2. Cortes, Matias & Lerche, Adrian & Schönberg, Uta & Tschopp, Jeanne, 2023. "Technological Change, Firm Heterogeneity and Wage Inequality," IZA Discussion Papers 16070, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Dobbelaere, Sabien & Hirsch, Boris & Müller, Steffen & Neuschaeffer, Georg, 2020. "Organised Labour, Labour Market Imperfections, and Employer Wage Premia," IZA Discussion Papers 13909, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. 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.
    5. David Berger & Kyle Herkenhoff & Simon Mongey, 2022. "Labor Market Power," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(4), pages 1147-1193, April.
    6. Ben Lipsius, 2018. "Labor Market Concentration does not Explain the Falling Labor Share," 2018 Papers pli1202, Job Market Papers.
    7. Mertens, Matthias, 2020. "Labor market power and the distorting effects of international trade," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    8. Salvanes, Kjell G & Dodini, Samuel & Willén, Alexander, 2021. "The Dynamics of Power in Labor Markets: Monopolistic Unions versus Monopsonistic Employers," CEPR Discussion Papers 16834, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Bustos, Emil, 2023. "The Effect of Centrally Bargained Wages on Firm Growth," Working Paper Series 1456, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    10. Sabien Dobbelaere & Boris Hirsch & Steffen Mueller & Georg Neuschaeffer, 2024. "Organized Labor, Labor Market Imperfections, and Employer Wage Premia," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 77(3), pages 396-427, May.
    11. Rizov, Marian & Vecchi, Michela & Domenech, Josep, 2022. "Going online: Forecasting the impact of websites on productivity and market structure," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    12. Romain Duval & Davide Furceri & Raphaël Lee & Marina M. Tavares, 2024. "Market power and monetary policy transmission," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 91(362), pages 669-700, April.
    13. Kahn, Matthew E. & Tracy, Joseph, 2024. "Monopsony in spatial equilibrium," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    14. 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.
    15. Alan Manning, 2021. "Monopsony in Labor Markets: A Review," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 74(1), pages 3-26, January.
    16. Anna Sokolova & Todd Sorensen, 2021. "Monopsony in Labor Markets: A Meta-Analysis," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 74(1), pages 27-55, January.
    17. Devicienti, Francesco & Grinza, Elena & Manello, Alessandro & Vannoni, Davide, 2022. "Employer Cooperation, Productivity, and Wages: New Evidence from Inter-Firm Formal Network Agreements," IZA Discussion Papers 15617, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Okudaira, Hiroko & Takizawa, Miho & Yamanouchi, Kenta, 2019. "Minimum wage effects across heterogeneous markets," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 110-122.
    19. Yue Qiu & Aaron Sojourner, 2023. "Labor-Market Concentration and Labor Compensation," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 76(3), pages 475-503, May.
    20. Gregor Jarosch & Jan Sebastian Nimczik & Isaac Sorkin, 2019. "Granular Search, Market Structure, and Wages," NBER Working Papers 26239, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity

    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:ube:dpvwib:dp2001. 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: Franz Koelliker (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vwibech.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.