Despite the extensive literature on product market power, evidence on markups at the firm level and which also accounts for labour market power is still limited. In this paper, we investigate the trends in both these market frictions in a large sample of Italian manufacturing firms over the period 2010–2018. In doing so, we devote particular attention to the factors underlying product market power, and especially to the way the markup is related to labour market power and the labour share of income. Our analysis reveals that, during the selected years, the manufacturing sector has experienced a limited rise in markups and a shift in labour market power away from firms and towards workers. These dynamics are mostly driven by withinfirm changes. Additionally, the overall growth in bargaining power, which explains the muted positive trend in the labour share, is mainly ascribable to the rise in the average firm-level wages. However, the latter are likely to hide relevant inter-individual heterogeneity, as national data on wage inequality suggest, and monopsony power is still a widespread phenomenon, especially in the Mezzogiorno.
Product and labour market imperfections in the Italian manufacturing sector: a firm-level analysis / Mondolo, Jasmine. - In: ECONOMIA POLITICA. - ISSN 1120-2890. - 39:(2022), pp. 813-838. [10.1007/s40888-022-00280-w]
Product and labour market imperfections in the Italian manufacturing sector: a firm-level analysis
Jasmine Mondolo
Primo
2022-01-01
Abstract
Despite the extensive literature on product market power, evidence on markups at the firm level and which also accounts for labour market power is still limited. In this paper, we investigate the trends in both these market frictions in a large sample of Italian manufacturing firms over the period 2010–2018. In doing so, we devote particular attention to the factors underlying product market power, and especially to the way the markup is related to labour market power and the labour share of income. Our analysis reveals that, during the selected years, the manufacturing sector has experienced a limited rise in markups and a shift in labour market power away from firms and towards workers. These dynamics are mostly driven by withinfirm changes. Additionally, the overall growth in bargaining power, which explains the muted positive trend in the labour share, is mainly ascribable to the rise in the average firm-level wages. However, the latter are likely to hide relevant inter-individual heterogeneity, as national data on wage inequality suggest, and monopsony power is still a widespread phenomenon, especially in the Mezzogiorno.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.