Is Wal-Mart a Monopsony? Evidence from Local Labor Markets

Alessandro Bonanno and Rigoberto Lopez

No 51289, 2009 Conference, August 16-22, 2009, Beijing, China from International Association of Agricultural Economists

Abstract: This paper measures the degree of monopsony power exerted by Wal-Mart over retail workers using a dominant-firm model and data in the 48 contiguous U.S. states for counties where the company operates, presenting for the first time a measure of the company’s anticompetitive behavior. Empirical results show that Wal-Mart’s monopsony power over workers varies significantly across the country, being higher in non-metro and rural counties, particularly in the south. For instance, Wal-Mart’s buying power index in labor markets in rural southern and central states is estimated to be 5% or higher while the impact on northeastern states’ retail wages is negligible.

Keywords: Community/Rural/Urban Development; Industrial Organization; Labor and Human Capital; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 36
Date: 2009-08
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:iaae09:51289

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.51289

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