Concentration in Product Markets

C. Lanier Benkard, Ali Yurukoglu and Anthony Lee Zhang

American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 2026, vol. 18, issue 2, 268-92

Abstract: This paper measures concentration in narrowly defined product markets for a broad range of consumer goods and services in the United States from 1994 to 2019. We document two main empirical facts. First, concentration levels are high. Of the markets in our sample, 44.4 percent are "highly concentrated" as defined by US regulators. Second, market concentration has been decreasing since 1994. The median HHI falls from 2,362 to 2,045. These findings stand in stark contrast to the prior literature, which uses market definitions that are aggregated to a level that is typically too broad to accurately reflect competition in consumer markets.

JEL-codes: D43 L13 M37 R32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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DOI: 10.1257/mic.20240258

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