Panel Data Estimates of the Production Function and Product and Labor Market Imperfections

60 Pages Posted: 12 May 2008 Last revised: 9 Sep 2022

See all articles by Sabien Dobbelaere

Sabien Dobbelaere

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam - Department of Economics; Tinbergen Institute; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Jacques Mairesse

National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) - Center for Research in Economics and Statistics (CREST); Maastricht University - United Nations and Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Date Written: May 2008

Abstract

Consistent with two models of imperfect competition in the labor market, the efficient bargaining model and the monopsony model, we provide two extensions of a microeconomic version of Hall's framework for estimating price-cost margins. We show that both product and labor market imperfections generate a wedge between factor elasticities in the production function and their corresponding shares in revenue, that can be characterized by a "joint market imperfections parameter". Using an unbalanced panel of 10646 French firms in 38 manufacturing industries over the period 1978-2001, we can classify these industries into six different regimes depending on the type of competition in the product and the labor market. By far the most predominant regime is one of imperfect competition in the product market and efficient bargaining in the labor market (IC-EB), followed by a regime of imperfect competition in the product market and perfect competition or right-to-manage bargaining in the labor market (IC-PR), and by a regime of perfect competition in the product market and monopsony in the labor market (PC- MO). For each of these three predominant regimes, we assess within-regime firm differences in the estimated average price-cost mark-up and rent-sharing or labor supply elasticity parameters, following the Swamy methodology to determine the degree of true firm dispersion. As a way to assess the plausibility of our findings in the case of the dominant regime (IC-EB), we also relate our industry and firm-level estimates of price-cost mark-up and relative extent of rent sharing to industry characteristics and firm-specific variables respectively.

Suggested Citation

Dobbelaere, Sabien and Mairesse, Jacques, Panel Data Estimates of the Production Function and Product and Labor Market Imperfections (May 2008). NBER Working Paper No. w13975, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1131628

Sabien Dobbelaere

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam - Department of Economics ( email )

De Boelelaan 1105
NL- Amsterdam, NL-1081 HV
Netherlands
0031 20 598 28 74 (Phone)

Tinbergen Institute

Keizersgracht 482
NL- Amsterdam, NL-1017 EG
Netherlands

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

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Germany

Jacques Mairesse (Contact Author)

National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) - Center for Research in Economics and Statistics (CREST) ( email )

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Malakoff Cedex, 1 92245
France

Maastricht University - United Nations and Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT)

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Netherlands

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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