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Monopsony power and the demand for low-skilled workers

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  • Arnd Kölling

Abstract

This study analyses firms’ labour demand when employers have at least some monopsony power. It is argued that without taking into account (quasi-)monopsonistic structures of the labour market, wrong predictions are made about the effects of minimum wages. Using switching fractional panel probit regressions with German establishment data, I find that slightly more than 80% of establishments exercise some degree of monopsony power in their demand for low-skilled workers. The outcome suggests that a 1% increase in payments for low-skilled workers would, in these firms, increase employment for this group by 1.12%, while firms without monopsony power reduce the number of low-skilled, by about 1.63% for the same increase in remuneration. The study can probably also be used to explain the limited employment effects of the introduction of a statutory minimum wage in Germany and thus leads to a better understanding of the labour market for low-skilled workers. JEL Codes : J23, J42, C23, D24

Suggested Citation

  • Arnd Kölling, 2022. "Monopsony power and the demand for low-skilled workers," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 33(2), pages 377-395, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecolab:v:33:y:2022:i:2:p:377-395
    DOI: 10.1177/10353046211042427
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Monopsony; labour demand; low-skilled workers; low wages;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J42 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Monopsony; Segmented Labor Markets
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity

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