Monopsony
The Next Administration Must Protect Workers From Monopsony Bargaining Power
Steven C. Salop recommends that the next presidential administration continue to focus competition policy on protecting against adverse labor market outcomes. He suggests several policies the administration might pursue to achieve these benefits.
The FTC’s Proposed Ban on Noncompetes Could Raise Wages by Four Percent
Nearly one in five American workers are affected by noncompete agreements, which prevent workers from working for or creating a rival firm. In new research, Axel Gottfries and Gregor Jarosch estimate that the Federal Trade Commission’s proposed noncompete ban could raise wages by 4%.
Do Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions Hurt Workers?
Competition authorities and analysts are increasingly focused on the impact of mergers and acquisitions on worker welfare. Using a novel dataset on Canadian firms and workers, David Arnold, Kevin Milligan, Terry S. Moon and Amirhossein Tavakoli test the empirical validity of several theories on how M&A may help or harm workers.
How Workers Adapt to the Threat of Local Employer Exploitation
In two recent papers, Matthew E. Kahn and Joseph Tracy examine the outcomes of local labor markets affected by monopsony power. They find that in areas with a high degree of monopsony power, workers earn lower wages but are compensated with lower house prices, at the expense of homeowners. Monopsony markets also experience a “brain drain” over time due to young, educated workers who leave for better opportunities. The rise of work-from-home may accelerate this dynamic by allowing talent to change labor markets without changing residences.
The NCAA Goes After College Athletes’ NIL Money—Here are the Antitrust Implications for Workers and Consumers
Having lost in the Supreme Court on student-athlete academic benefits, the NCAA has signaled a continuing attempt to suppress competition in the rapidly growing...
The Ties that Bind Workers to Firms: No-Poach Agreements, Noncompetes, and Other Ways Firms Create and Exercise Labor Market Power
Collusive no-poach agreements are per se illegal, but noncompete clauses are not. Recent research casts doubt on the rationale for this legal distinction and...
Antitrust Should Be Used as a Targeted Response to Employer Concentration, But It Can’t Do Everything
A large and growing body of research demonstrates that employer concentration affects the wages of many American workers. Antitrust is an important tool in...
Antitrust and the FTC: Franchise Restraints on Worker Mobility
As currently formulated, antitrust’s rule of reason approach is not the best tool to deal with vertical noncompete agreements that limit worker mobility and...
What does NCAA v. Alston Tell Us About Antitrust and Labor Markets?
The Supreme Court's recent ruling against the NCAA and in favor of student-athletes may seem narrow or trivial, but the Court's acknowledgement of the...
Three Steps the Biden Administration Should Take to Tackle America’s Monopoly Problem
The Biden Administration can revive federal antimonopoly enforcement after 40 years of little action, even when faced with congressional opposition. Here’s how.
The new Biden...
