@article{f49cfdf886404d239c905efc76e89779,
title = "Strong Employers and Weak Employees How Does Employer Concentration Affect Wages?",
abstract = "We analyze the effect of local-level labor market concentration on wages. Using plant-level U.S. Census data during 1978-2016, we find that: (i) local-level employer concentration exhibits substantial cross-sectional variation; (ii) consistent with labor market monopsony power, there is a negative relation between local-level employer concentration and wages that strengthens with time; (iii) instrumenting concentration with merger activity shows that increased employer concentration decreases wages; (iv) the negative relation between employer concentration and wages increases when unionization rates are low; and (v) the link between productivity growth and wage growth is stronger when labor markets are less concentrated. Our results emphasize the role oflocal labor market monopsonies in influencing firm wage-setting.",
author = "Efraim Benmelech and Bergman, {Nittai K.} and Hyunseob Kim",
note = "Funding Information: Conference on the Political Economy of Finance 2018 for very helpful comments. They thank Eric Kim, Honghao Wang, and Zhenzhi He for research assistance, as well as Bert Grider at the TRFSRDC and Nichole Szembrot at the NYFSRDC (Cornell) for helping with data and clearance requests. Bergman thanks the Pinhas Sapir Center for Development for financial support. All results have been reviewed by the U.S. Census Bureau to ensure that no confidential information is disclosed. Any opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Census Bureau. Part of data used in this paper are drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau{\textquoteright}s confidential databases. The underlying Census databases can be accessed by submitting a research proposal directly to the U.S. Census Bureau (https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/ces/data/restricted-use-data/apply -for-access.html). The authors are willing to assist (Hyunseob Kim, Hyunseob.Kim@chi.frb.org). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System. All Rights Reserved.",
year = "2022",
month = apr,
doi = "10.3368/jhr.monopsony.0119-10007R1",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "57",
pages = "S201--S250",
journal = "Journal of Human Resources",
issn = "0022-166X",
publisher = "University of Wisconsin Press",
number = "SpecialIssue 1",
}