Bloomberg Quint:
Blame monopolies for short-changing U.S. workers
27 January 2017
There are several worrying trends in the global economy, such as rising inequality within countries and slowing productivity growth. But perhaps the most troubling of them is the fall in labor’s share of national income. … Two new papers suggest that the rise might be due to an increase in market concentration. If industries are slowly inching toward monopoly, a few superstar companies in each sector could be squeezing profits out of the rest of the economy. The first of these new papers is by a large, star-studded team from the U.S. and Europe -- David Autor, David Dorn, Lawrence Katz, Christina Patterson and John Van Reenen. Titled “Concentrating on the Fall of the Labor Share,” it is short, clear and relies on relatively simple theories and general observations.
Related publications
Autor D, Dorn D, Katz LF, Patterson C, Reenen JV. Concentrating on the Fall of the Labor Share. American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings. Forthcoming;107 (5).