Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP13265
Authors: Will Abel; Silvana Tenreyro; Gregory Thwaites
Abstract: We study the evolution and effects of monopsony power in the UK private sector labour market from 1998 to 2017. Using linked employee-fi rm micro-data, we find that: (1) Measures of monopsony have been relatively stable across the time period examined - rising prior to the crisis, before subsequently falling again. (2) There is substantial cross-sectional variation in monopsony at the industry level. (3) Higher levels of labour market concentration are associated with lower pay amongst workers not covered by a collective bargaining agreement. (4) For workers covered by a collective bargaining agreement, the association between labour market concentration and pay is greatly reduced and in most cases disappears. (5) The link between productivity and wage levels is weaker when labour markets are more concentrated.
Keywords: monopsony; labour markets; market power; unionization
JEL Codes: No JEL codes provided
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| higher levels of labour market concentration (J42) | lower pay among workers not covered by a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) (J52) |
| higher levels of labour market concentration (J42) | lower pay among workers covered by a CBA (J52) |
| monopsony power (J42) | lower pay (J31) |
| monopsony power (J42) | weaker link between productivity and wage levels (J39) |