Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/282602 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 16475
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
The subdued wage growth observed in many countries has spurred interest in monopsony views of regional labour markets. This study measures the extent and robustness of employer power and its wage implications exploiting comprehensive matched employer-employee data. We find average (employment-weighted) Herfindhal indices of 800 to 1,100, stable over the 1986-2019 period covered, and that typically less than 9% of workers are exposed to concentration levels thought to raise market power concerns. When controlling for both worker and firm heterogeneity and instrumenting for concentration, we find that wages are negatively affected by employer concentration, with elasticities of around -1.4%. We also find that several methodological choices can change significantly both the measurement of concentration and its wage effects.
Subjects: 
oligopsony
wages
regional labour markets
worker mobility
Portugal
JEL: 
J42
J31
J63
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
574.93 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.