Merger guidelines for the labor market

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Berger, David; Hasenzagl, Thomas; Herkenhoff, Kyle; Mongey, Simon; Posner, Eric A.
• 署名单位: Duke University; University of Minnesota System; University of Minnesota Twin Cities; Federal Reserve System - USA; University of Chicago
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF MONETARY ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3932
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jmoneco.2025.103785
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: Merger guidelines; labor markets; Oligopsony

摘要

What are the welfare, wage, and output implications of applying merger review guidelines to the labor market? To answer this question, we develop a theory of multi-plant ownership and labor market monopsony. We estimate the model using U.S. Census data and demonstrate the model's ability to replicate empirically documented paths of employment and wages following mergers. We then simulate a representative set of U.S. mergers in order to evaluate merger review thresholds. Assuming mergers generate efficiency gains of 5 percent, our simulations yield welfare losses under the enforcement of the more lenient 2010 merger guidelines and welfare gains under enforcement of the more stringent 2023 and 1982 merger guidelines. Lastly, we estimate the aggregate effects of allowed mergers on output and labor's share of income under each set of merger guidelines.