Labor share

Global vs. Local: What Drives Changes in Labor’s Share of Income

A new working paper examines the relationship between competition policy and the decline in the labor share across the developed world and...

The Profit Paradox: “What’s Good for Firms Is Not Necessarily Good for the Workers”

In an interview with ProMarket, Jan Eeckhout discusses his new book The Profit Paradox and explains how market power brings down wages,...

The Monopoly Harms That Antitrust Keeps Missing

In his new book Monopolized, journalist David Dayen tells the stories of individuals who have suffered at the hands of monopolists, showing...

Antitrust Law’s Current Stance Toward Workers Violates Its Original Purpose to Balance Power With Powerful Firms

Antitrust law’s present-day bias against democratic cooperation and in favor of top-down corporate control has contributed more broadly to the institutional weakness and perceived...

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...

The Limits of Private Action: What the Past 40 Years Taught Us About the Perils of Unregulated Markets

The two big ideas that animated American public policy since the end of World War II, employer-sponsored social benefits and neoliberalism, are failures. We...

Global Declining Competition

Studies of the evolution of market power since 2000 have focused mostly on publicly traded US firms. This column introduces a new global study...

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...

The “Biggest Puzzle in Economics”: Why the “Superstar Economy” Lacks Any Actual Superstars

A new study finds that the contribution of superstar firms to US productivity growth has decreased by more than 40 percent over the past...

LATEST NEWS

Income Inequality May Worsen the Spread of Infectious Disease

Income inequality may exacerbate the spread of infectious diseases. In a new paper, Jay Bhattacharya, Joydeep Bhattacharya, and Min Kyong Kim examine the relationship between income inequality and the incidence and prevalence of tuberculosis across countries.

The Classic Theory of Albert O. Hirschman Argues Against the US Chamber’s Case for Non-Competes

Drawing on the theory of Albert O. Hirschman’s  Exit, Voice, and Loyalty, Brian Callaci argues non-compete clauses stifle the important channels of communication between employees and businesses necessary for improving firm competitiveness. The evidence also shows that, despite claims from businesses, non-competes harm rather than reward employees for their loyalty. 

AI For the Antitrust Regulator

Cary Coglianese lays out the potential, and the considerations, for antitrust regulators to use machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms.

Creation over Time in Copyright and Patent

On May 18, the United States Supreme Court decided two intellectual property cases with two seemingly different results. A closer look, however, reveals a complimentary concern with the monopolistic power of first movers and how the legal system should enable innovation from second movers over time, writes Randy Picker.

ESG Standards’ Good, Bad and Ugly

The Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State hosted a virtual event discussing the standards, metrics and disclosures of investments focused on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) goals. The following is a transcript of the event.