Micro-mechanisms behind Declining Labor Shares: Rising Market Power and Changing Modes of Production
Matthias Mertens
International Journal of Industrial Organization,
March
2022
Abstract
I derive a micro-founded framework showing how rising firm market power on product and labor markets and falling aggregate labor output elasticities provide three competing explanations for falling labor shares. I apply my framework to 20 years of German manufacturing sector micro data containing firm-specific price information to study these three distinct drivers of declining labor shares. I document a severe increase in firms’ labor market power, whereas firms’ product market power stayed comparably low. Changes in firm market power and a falling aggregate labor output elasticity each account for one half of the decline in labor's share.
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Globalization, Productivity Growth, and Labor Compensation
Christian Dreger, Marius Fourné, Oliver Holtemöller
IWH Discussion Papers,
Nr. 7,
2022
Abstract
We analyze how changes in international trade integration affect productivity and the functional income distribution. To account for endogeneity, we construct a leaveout measure for international trade integration for country-industry pairs using international input-output tables. Our findings corroborate on the country-industry level that international trade integration increases productivity. Moreover, we show that both trade in intermediate inputs and trade in value added is associated with lower labor shares in emerging markets. For advanced countries, we document a positive effect of trade in value added on the labor share of income. Further, we show that the effects on productivity and labor share are heterogeneous across different sectors. Finally, we discuss the implications of our results for a possible throwback in international trade integration due to experiences from recent crises.
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Competition, Cost Structure, and Labour Leverage: Evidence from the U.S. Airline Industry
Konstantin Wagner
IWH Discussion Papers,
Nr. 21,
2020
Abstract
I study the effect of increasing competition on financial performance through labour leverage. To capture competition, I exploit variation in product market contestability in the U.S. airline industry. First, I find that increasing competitive pressure leads to increasing labour leverage, proxied by labour share. This explains the decrease in operating profitability through labour rigidities. Second, by exploiting variation in human capital specificity, I show that contestability of product markets induces labour market contestability. Whereas affected firms might experience more stress through higher wages or loss of skilled human capital, more mobile employee groups benefit from competitions through higher labour shares.
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Has Labor Income Become More Volatile? Evidence from International Industry-Level Data
Claudia M. Buch
German Economic Review,
Nr. 4,
2013
Abstract
Changes in labor market institutions and the increasing integration of the world economy may affect the volatility of capital and labor incomes. This article documents and analyzes changes in income volatility using data for 11 industrialized countries, 22 industries and 35 years (1970–2004). The article has four main findings. First, the unconditional volatility of labor income has declined in parallel to the decline in macroeconomic volatility. Second, the industry-specific, idiosyncratic component of labor income volatility has hardly changed. Third, cross-sectional heterogeneity is substantial. If anything, the labor incomes of high- and low-skilled workers have become more volatile relative to the volatility of capital incomes. Fourth, the volatility of labor income relative to the volatility of capital income declines in the labor share. Trade openness has no clear-cut impact.
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Trade's Impact on the Labor Share: Evidence from German and Italian Regions
Claudia M. Buch
IAW Discussion Paper No. 46,
2008
Abstract
Has the labor share declined? And what is the impact of international trade? These
questions are not only relevant in an international context they also matter for
understanding the regional distribution of incomes in a given country. In this
paper, we study two regions with trade exposures that differ from the rest of the
country, and which display distinct changes in the labor share. East German and
Southern Italian regions have a degree of international openness which is below
the countries’ averages. At the same time, there has been a more pronounced
decline in the labor share in East Germany than in West Germany. In Southern
Italy, the labor share has increased in recent years. We show that increased trade
openness is not the main culprit behind changing labor shares.
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Kommunale Unternehmen in Deutschland: Umsatz, Beschäftigung, Tätigkeitsfelder
Peter Haug
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
Nr. 13,
2003
Abstract
Trotz anhaltender politischer und wissenschaftlicher Diskussionen über Berechtigung und Umfang kommunaler Wirtschaftstätigkeit weisen weder die amtliche Statistik noch Erhebungen von Verbänden oder Forschungsinstitutionen konkrete Zahlen zur Bedeutung der Kommunalwirtschaft aus. Eine vom IWH durchgeführte Auswertung verschiedener statistischer Quellen versucht hier für den Bereich kommunaler Unternehmen eine Lücke zu schließen und kommt zu folgenden Ergebnissen: Die gesamtwirtschaftlichen Umsatz- und Beschäftigungsanteile der (Groß-)Unternehmen mit kommunaler Beteiligung sind in Deutschland eher gering. Allerdings dominieren entsprechende Unternehmen in bestimmten Branchen (z. B. Energieversorgung) und ihre regionalwirtschaftliche Bedeutung ist vor allem in Ostdeutschland überdurchschnittlich groß.
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Branchenskizze: Ostdeutsche Industrie der Metallverarbeitung
Siegfried Beer
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
Nr. 7,
2000
Abstract
Die metallverarbeitende Industrie hat sich, gemessen am Produktions- und Beschäftigungsanteil, zum zweitgrößten Industriezweig in Ostdeutschland (nach dem Ernährungsgewerbe) entwickelt. Entscheidend dazu beigetragen haben die Verbesserung der Wettbewerbsfähigkeit der Unternehmen, die hohe Baunachfrage und die dynamische Entwicklung der Kraftfahrzeugproduktion in den neuen Ländern. Mit fast einem Sechstel Anteil am gesamtdeutschen Umsatz ist vor allem der Stahl- und Leichtmetallbau zu einer wirtschaftlich bedeutsamen Größe geworden.
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