Is Rising Concentration Hampering Productivity Growth?

Pete Klenow, Huiyu Li and Theodore Naff

FRBSF Economic Letter, 2019

Abstract: U.S. productivity is growing slower than in the past. Meanwhile, sales have become increasingly concentrated in the largest businesses. Analysis suggests that IT innovation may have facilitated the rise in concentration by reducing the cost for large firms to enter new markets. This contributed to booming productivity growth from 1995 to 2005. Though large firms are more profitable, their expansion may have increased competition and reduced profit margins within markets. Lower profit margins in a given market could have deterred innovation, eventually lowering growth.

Date: 2019
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