Labor Market Concentration

Jose Azar, Ioana Marinescu and Marshall Steinbaum

No 24147, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: A product market is concentrated when a few firms dominate the market. Similarly, a labor market is concentrated when a few firms dominate hiring in the market. Using data from the leading employment website CareerBuilder.com, we calculate labor market concentration for over 8,000 geographic-occupational labor markets in the US. Based on the DOJ-FTC horizontal merger guidelines, the average market is highly concentrated. Using a panel IV regression, we show that going from the 25th percentile to the 75th percentile in concentration is associated with a 17% decline in posted wages, suggesting that concentration increases labor market power.

JEL-codes: J2 J3 L1 L4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-com and nep-lma
Note: IO LS
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (92)

Published as José Azar & Ioana Marinescu & Marshall Steinbaum, 2022. "Labor Market Concentration," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(S), pages 167-199.
Published as José Azar & Ioana Marinescu & Marshall Steinbaum, 2022. "Labor Market Concentration," Journal of Human Resources, vol 57(S), pages S167-S199.

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Journal Article: Labor Market Concentration (2022)
Working Paper: Labor Market Concentration (2017)
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