Firm market power and the earnings distribution

B-Tier
Journal: Labour Economics
Year: 2015
Volume: 35
Issue: C
Pages: 123-134

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Using the Longitudinal Employer Household Dynamics (LEHD) data from the United States Census Bureau, I compute firm-level measures of labor market (monopsony) power. To generate these measures, I extend the empirical strategy of Manning (2003) and estimate the labor supply elasticity facing each private non-farm firm in the U.S. While a link between monopsony power and earnings has traditionally been assumed, I provide the first direct evidence of the positive relationship between a firm's labor supply elasticity and the earnings of its workers. I also contrast the dynamic model strategy with the more traditional use of concentration ratios to measure a firm's labor market power. In addition, I provide several alternative measures of labor market power which account for potential threats to identification such as endogenous mobility. Finally, I construct a counterfactual earnings distribution which allows the effects of firm market power to vary across the earnings distribution.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:labeco:v:35:y:2015:i:c:p:123-134
Journal Field
Labor
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-29