Concentration in US Labor Markets: Evidence from Online Vacancy Data

37 Pages Posted: 9 Mar 2018 Last revised: 7 Feb 2019

See all articles by José Azar

José Azar

University of Navarra, IESE Business School; CEPR; ECGI

Ioana Elena Marinescu

University of Pennsylvania - School of Social Policy & Practice; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Marshall Steinbaum

University of Utah Department of Economics

Bledi Taska

Lightcast

Multiple version iconThere are 3 versions of this paper

Date Written: August 10, 2018

Abstract

Using data on the near-universe of online US job vacancies collected by Burning Glass Technologies in 2016, we calculate labor market concentration using the Herfindahl-Hirschman index (HHI) for each commuting zone by 6-digit SOC occupation. The average market has an HHI of 4,378, or the equivalent of 2.3 recruiting employers. 60% of labor markets are highly concentrated (above 2,500 HHI) according to the DOJ/FTC guidelines. Highly concentrated markets account for 20% of employment. For manufacturing industries, we show that labor market concentration is distinct from product market concentration, and is negatively correlated with wages in each industry's top occupation.

Keywords: Monopsony, Oligopsony, Labor Markets, Competition Policy

JEL Classification: J21, J23, J42, K21, L11

Suggested Citation

Azar, José and Marinescu, Ioana Elena and Steinbaum, Marshall and Taska, Bledi, Concentration in US Labor Markets: Evidence from Online Vacancy Data (August 10, 2018). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3133344 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3133344

José Azar

University of Navarra, IESE Business School ( email )

Avenida Pearson 21
Barcelona, 08034
Spain

CEPR ( email )

London
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://https://sites.google.com/site/joseazar/

ECGI ( email )

c/o the Royal Academies of Belgium
Rue Ducale 1 Hertogsstraat
1000 Brussels
Belgium

Ioana Elena Marinescu (Contact Author)

University of Pennsylvania - School of Social Policy & Practice ( email )

3701 Locust Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6214
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Marshall Steinbaum

University of Utah Department of Economics ( email )

1645 Central Campus Dr.
Salt Lake City, UT 84112
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://faculty.utah.edu/u6024209-Marshall_Steinbaum/hm/index.hml

Bledi Taska

Lightcast ( email )

Boston, MA 02110
United States

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