Descripción del proyecto
Mantener el poder de mercado bajo control
Algunas empresas logran aumentar el precio de venta de sus productos o servicios de forma muy rentable y eficaz, sin que sus clientes se vayan a la competencia. En economía esto se conoce como poder de mercado. El proyecto MARKET POWER, financiado con fondos europeos, evaluará las causas y consecuencias macroeconómicas de este fenómeno. Investigará el dinamismo del mercado laboral, el declive de las nuevas empresas emergentes y el estancamiento de los salarios en los puestos menos cualificados, teniendo en cuenta un reciente aumento del poder de mercado. El proyecto distinguirá entre las causas que se derivan inherentemente de la estructura del mercado (aplicación de las normas antimonopolio y fusiones) y aquellas asociadas a los cambios tecnológicos, tales como los bienes intangibles y las externalidades de las redes. Los resultados arrojarán luz sobre cómo podemos mantener el poder de mercado bajo control para afrontar sus consecuencias macroeconómicas.
Objetivo
In the last four decades, there have been a number of significant secular trends in the advanced economies around the world. Wage inequality has risen sharply, and most of the wage gains have been appropriated by the top 1%. In addition, labor market dynamism and new startups have declined, the labor share of total output has fallen, low skilled wages have stagnated, and there has been reallocation of production from small to superstar firms. During the same four decades, there has also been a sharp secular increase in market power. Firms set higher prices, profit rates are higher, and scale economies are up.
In this proposal, I address the question whether these secular trends are related. Specifically, I ask whether the rise of market power has caused these profound macroeconomic changes. The objective is to uncover economic mechanisms that help understand this fundamental transformation and the implications for efficiency and welfare.
I propose to investigate both the causes of the rise in market power and its macroeconomic consequences. I distinguish between causes that stem inherently from the market structure (such as antitrust enforcement and Mergers & Acquisitions) and those that result from technological change (economies of scale, intangible assets, and network externalities). Methodologically, this research proposal aims to contribute to the literature on three fronts: 1. the measurement of markups, 2. to derive theoretical results linking market power and macroeconomic consequences, 3. to estimate and quantitatively evaluate these models. The close link between the macroeconomic consequences and the causes of market power renders this a research proposal at the intersection of macro/labor, industrial organization and law & economics. The objective is to inform the policy debate: how to keep market power under control in order to remediate its macroeconomic consequences that were hitherto considered independent.
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ERC-ADG - Advanced GrantInstitución de acogida
08002 Barcelona
España