Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Pedro S. Martins
Author-X-Name-First: Pedro S.
Author-X-Name-Last: Martins
Author-Email: p.martins@qmul.ac.uk
Author-Workplace-Name: School of Business and Management, Queen Mary University of London.
Title: Making their own weather? Estimating employer labour-market power and its wage effects
Abstract: The subdued wage growth observed over the last years in many countries has spurred renewed interest in monopsony views of the labour market. This paper is the first to measure the extent and robustness of employer labour-market power and its wage implications exploiting comprehensive matched employer-employee data. We find average (employment-weighted) Herfindhal indices of 800 to 1,100; and that less than 9% of workers are exposed to concentration levels thought to raise market power concerns. However, these figures can increase significantly with different methodological choices. Finally, when holding worker composition constant and instrumenting concentration, wages are found to be negatively affected by employer concentration, with elasticities of between -1.5% and -3%.
Length: 31 pages
Creation-Date: 2018-10 
Revision-Date: 
Publication-Status: 
Classification-JEL: J42, J31, J63
Keywords: Oligopsony, Wages, Portugal 
File-URL: http://cgr.sbm.qmul.ac.uk/CGRWP95.pdf
Number: 95
Handle: RePEc:cgs:wpaper:95