Labor market concentration
Antitrust’s Monopsony Problem
Four cases from the past decade alleging employer collusion against workers show that at present, antitrust law is ill-equipped to protect workers. A root...
Banning Noncompete Agreements Benefits Low-Wage Workers
Examining the effects of a 2008 ban on noncompete agreements for low-wage workers in Oregon, a recent paper finds that the ban increased average...
The Lousy Job Economy: Young People Bear the Brunt of a Long-Term Decline in American Job Quality
A new study finds a steady decline in the quality of American jobs between 1979 to 2017, even as GDP has grown. This decline...
How Robert Bork Fathered the New Gilded Age
Much like in the first Gilded Age, antitrust enforcers today are hitting labor, not capital. This is thanks to Robert Bork’s radical and influential...
Restoring Antimonopoly Through Bright-Line Rules
The “consumer welfare” approach to antimonopoly is the main contributor to the extreme and dangerous concentrations of power that Americans face today. In place...
Regulators Should Not Change the Regulatory Environment to Include Labor Market Concentration
Research has shown that labor markets with higher levels of labor market concentration have lower wages. It does not necessarily follow that regulators should...
Why Local Labor Market Concentration Is Lower Than It Used to Be, Even As National Concentration Increases
A new study compares the trends in national and local industrial concentration between 1976 and 2015, and explains why they diverged.
The idea that firms...
How the FTC Protects Strong Employers and Targets Weak Workers
Since the 1970s, the US has seen a growing power imbalance between workers and employers. This story was not inevitable, but the product of...
Why the FTC Should Focus on Labor Monopsony
Economic theory tells us that firms are more likely to exploit labor market power than product market power in the United States today. And...
