Are Price-Cost Markups Rising in the United States? A Discussion of the Evidence

Susanto Basu

No 26057, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: A number of recent papers have argued that US firms exert increasing market power, as measured by their markups of price over marginal cost. I review three of the main approaches to estimating economy-wide markups and show that all are based on the hypothesis of firm cost-minimization. Yet different assumptions and methods of implementation lead to quite different conclusions regarding the levels and trends of markups. I survey the literature critically, and argue that some of the startling findings of steeply-rising markups are difficult to reconcile with other evidence and with aggregate data. Existing methods cannot determine whether markups have been stable or whether they have risen modestly over the past several decades. Even relatively small increases in markups are consistent with significant changes in aggregate outcomes, such as the observed decline in labor’s share of national income.

JEL-codes: E23 E32 L11 L16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-com, nep-hme, nep-ind and nep-mac
Note: EFG ME
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (114)

Published as Susanto Basu, 2019. "Are Price-Cost Markups Rising in the United States? A Discussion of the Evidence," Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol 33(3), pages 3-22.

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