73-vol. 37, no. 1, january-june, 2022
Articles

The relationship between labor market concentration and wages in Mexico

Ana Cristina Oseguera Sauri
El Colegio de México

Published 2022-02-10

Keywords

  • Concentración en el mercado laboral,
  • competencia imperfecta,
  • salarios,
  • monopsonio,
  • productividad

How to Cite

Oseguera Sauri, A. C. (2022). The relationship between labor market concentration and wages in Mexico. Estudios Económicos De El Colegio De México, 37(1), 45–102. https://doi.org/10.24201/ee.v37i1.426

Metrics

Abstract

This paper presents a panel data estimation of the relationship between labor marker concentration and wages. Labor market concentration is measured using the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) of employment. In the formal sector, results show that an increase of one standard deviation (3,566 points) of the HHI is associated with an increase in wages of between 2.1% and 2.9%. This elasticity depends on labor productivity. In the informal sector, results show that an increase of one standard deviation (3,242 points) of the HHI is associated with an increase in wages of between 4.5% and 6%. This elasticity depends on capital intensity.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

  1. Ashenfelter, O.C., H. Farber y M.R. Ransom. 2010. Modern models of monopsony in labor markets: A brief survey, IZA Discussion Paper No. 1525. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1599013
  2. Autor, D., D. Dorn, L. Katz, C. Patterson y J. Van Reenen. 2020. The fall of the labor share and the rise of superstar firms, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 135(2), 645–709. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjaa004
  3. Azar, J., E. Huet-Vaughn, I.E. Marinescu, B. Taska y T. Von Watcher. 2019a. Minimum wage employment effects and labor market concentration, CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP14239. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3386/w26101
  4. Azar, J.A., I.E. Marinescu y M.I. Steinbaum. 2019b. Measuring labor market power two ways, AEA Papers and Proceedings, 109: 317-321. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1257/pandp.20191068
  5. Azar, J.A., I.E. Marinescu y M.I. Steinbaum. 2020a. Labor market concentration, Journal of Human Resources, published ahead of print. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.monopsony.1218-9914R1
  6. Azar, J.A., I.E. Marinescu, M.I. Steinbaum y B. Taska. 2020b. Concentration in US labor markets: Evidence from online vacancy data, Labour Economics, 66: 101886. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2020.101886
  7. Barkai, S. 2020. Declining labor and capital shares, Journal of Finance, 75(5): 2421-2463. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jofi.12909
  8. Bassanini, A., C. Batut y E. Caroli. 2019. Labor market concentration and stayers' wages: Evidence from France. Working Paper No. 6/2019, Laboratoire d'Economie de Dauphine. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3506243
  9. Benmelech, E., N. Bergman y H. Kim. 2020. Strong employers and weak employees: How does employer concentration affect wages?, Journal of Human Resources, published ahead of print. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.monopsony.0119-10007R1
  10. Bouchot, J. 2018. The implications of a rise in the minimum wage on the Mexican labour market, Tesis doctoral, University of Birmingham.
  11. Brooks, W.J., J.P. Kaboski, A.L. Yao y W. Qian. 2021. Exploitation of labor? Classical monopsony power and labor's share, Journal of Development Economics, 150: 102627. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2021.102627
  12. Card, D., A.R. Cardoso, J. Heining y P. Kline. 2018. Firms and labor market inequality: Evidence and some theory, Journal of Labor Economics, 36(S1): 13-70. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/694153
  13. CEA. 2016. Labor market monopsony: Trends, consequences, and policy responses, Council of Economic Advisers Issue Brief, October 2016, https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/page/files/20161025_monopsony_labor_mrkt_cea.pdf.
  14. COFECE. 2015. Criterios técnicos para el cálculo y aplicación de un índice cuantitativo para medir la concentración del mercado, https://www.dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle.php?codigo=5392185&fecha=14/05/2015.
  15. Dube, A., J. Jacobs, S. Naidu y S. Suri. 2020. Monopsony in online labor markets, American Economic Review: Insights, 2(1): 33-46. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1257/aeri.20180150
  16. Falch, T. 2010. The elasticity of labor supply at the establishment level, Journal of Labor Economics, 28(2): 237-266. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/649905
  17. Hempfill, S. y N.L. Rose. 2018. Mergers that harm sellers, Yale Law Journal, 127(7): 2078-2109.
  18. Hershbein, B., C. Macaluso y C. Yeh. 2019. Concentration in U.S. local labor markets: Evidence from vacancy and employment data, 2019 Meeting Papers No. 1336, Society for Economic Dynamics.
  19. Ibarra, C.A. y J. Ros. 2019. The decline of the labour share in Mexico: 1990-2015, World Development, 122: 570-584. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.06.014
  20. INEGI. 2005. Metodología de los Censos Económicos 2004, México, Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía.
  21. INEGI. 2010. Metodología de los Censos Económicos 2009, México, Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía.
  22. INEGI. 2013. Sistema de Clasificación Industrial de América del Norte, México SCIAN 2013, México, Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía.
  23. INEGI. 2015. Censos Económicos 2014, Metodología, México, Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía.
  24. INEGI. 2019. Sistema Automatizado de Información Censal (SAIC), https://www.inegi.org.mx/contenidos/app/saic/saic_historico_metodologico_ce2019_23_10.pdf.
  25. Jarosch, G., J.S. Nimczik e I. Sorkin. 2019. Granular search, market structure, and wages, NBER Working Paper No. 26239. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3386/w26239
  26. Kaldor, N. 1961. Capital accumulation and economic growth, en F.A. Lutz y D.C. Hague (eds.), The Theory of Capital, Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-08452-4_10
  27. Kehrig, M. y N. Vincent. 2021. The micro-level anatomy of the labor share decline, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 136(2), 1031–1087. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjab002
  28. Kleiner, M.M. y K.W. Park. 2010. Battles among licensed occupations: Analyzing government regulations on labor market outcomes for dentists and hygienists, NBER Working Paper No. 16560. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3386/w16560
  29. Krueger, A.B. y E.A. Posner. 2018. A proposal for protecting low-income workers from monopsony and collusion, Policy Proposal No. 2018-05, The Hamilton Project.
  30. Levy, S. 2018. Esfuerzos mal recompensados: la elusiva búsqueda de la prosperidad en México, Washington D.C., Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo.
  31. Lipsius, B. 2018. Labor market concentration does not explain the falling labor share, Manuscrito Inédito. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3279007
  32. Lopez-Acevedo, G. 2003. Wages and productivity in Mexican manufacturing, Policy Research Working Paper No. 2964, World Bank. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-2964
  33. Maloney, W.F. 2009. Mexican labor markets: Protection, productivity, and power, en S. Levy y M. Walton (eds.), No Growth Without Equity? Inequality, Interests, and Competition in Mexico, Washington D.C., Palgrave Macmillan-World Bank.
  34. Manning, A. 2005. Monopsony in Motion: Imperfect Competition in Labor Markets, Nueva Jersey, Princeton University Press.
  35. Manning, A. 2011. Imperfect competition in the labor market, en O.C. Ashenfelter y D. Card (eds.), Handbook of Labor Economics, Vol 4(B), 976-1041, Elsevier.
  36. Marinescu, I.E. y E.A. Posner. 2018. A proposal to enhance antitrust protection against labor market monopsony, Roosevelt Institute Working Paper, s/n. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3317575
  37. Marinescu, I.E. y H.J. Hovenkamp. 2018. Anticompetitive mergers in labor markets, Research Paper Series No. 18-8, University of Pennsylvania Institute for Law and Economics. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3124483
  38. Marinescu, I.E., I. Ouss y L.D. Pape. 2021. Wages, hires, and labor market concentration, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 184(C): 506-605. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2021.01.033
  39. Matsudaira, J.D. 2014. Monopsony in the low-wage labor market? Evidence from minimum nurse staffing regulations, The Review of Economics and Statistics 96(1): 92-102. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1162/REST_a_00361
  40. Naidu, S., E.A. Posner y E.G. Weyl. 2018. Antitrust remedies for labor market power, Research Paper No. 850, University of Chicago Coase-Sandor Institute for Law & Economics. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3129221
  41. OCDE, CIAT y BID. 2016. Impuestos Sobre los Salarios en América Latina y el Caribe, OECD Publishing.
  42. Prager, E. y M. Schmitt. 2018. Employer consolidation and wages: Evidence from hospitals, American Economic Review, 111(2): 397-427. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.20190690
  43. Qiu, Y. y A. Sojourner. 2019. Labor-market concentration and labor compensation, IZA Discussion Paper No. 12089. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3323204
  44. Ransom, M.R. y D.P. Sims. 2010. Estimating the firm's labor supply curve in a “new monopsony” framework: Schoolteachers in Missouri, Journal of Labor Economics, 28(2): 331-355. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/649904
  45. Rinz, K. 2018. Labor market concentration, earnings inequality, and earnings mobility, CARRA Working Paper Series No. 2018-10.
  46. Rossi-Hansberg, E., P.D. Sarte y N. Trachter. 2020. Diverging trends in national and local concentration, en M. Eichenbaum y E. Hurst (eds.), NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2020, Vol. 35, University of Chicago Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/712317
  47. SEDATU, CONAPO e INEGI. 2018. Delimitación de las Zonas Metropolitanas de México 2015, México, Secretaría de Desarrollo Agrario, Territorial y Urbano - Consejo Nacional de Población - Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía.
  48. Staiger, D., J. Spetz y C. Phibbs. 2010. Is there monopsony in the labor market? Evidence from a natural experiment, Journal of Labor Economics, 28(2): 211-236. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/652734
  49. Webber, D.A. 2015. Firm market power and the earnings distribution, Labour Economics, 35(C): 123-134. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2015.05.003
  50. Wilmers, N. 2018. Wage stagnation and buyer power: How buyer-supplier relations affect U.S. workers' wages, 1978 to 2014, American Sociological Review, 83(2): 213-242. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122418762441