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Infrastructure Investment and Labor Monopsony Power

Author

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  • Kaboski, Joseph
  • Brooks, Wyatt
  • Kondo, Illenin
  • Li, Yao Amber
  • Qian, Wei
Abstract
In this paper we study whether or not transportation infrastructure disrupts local monopsony power in labor markets using an expansion of the national highway system in India. Using panel data on manufacturing firms, we find that monopsony power in labor markets is reduced among firms near newly constructed highways relative to firms that remain far from highways. We estimate that the highways reduce labor markdowns significantly. We use changes in the composition of inputs to identify these effects separately from the reduction of output markups that occurs simultaneously. The impacts of highway construction are therefore pro-competitive in both output and input markets, and act to increase the share of income that labor receives by 1.8--2.3 percentage points.

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  • Kaboski, Joseph & Brooks, Wyatt & Kondo, Illenin & Li, Yao Amber & Qian, Wei, 2021. "Infrastructure Investment and Labor Monopsony Power," CEPR Discussion Papers 16291, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:16291
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    Cited by:

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    2. Bossavie, Laurent & Cho, Yoonyoung & Heath, Rachel, 2023. "The effects of international scrutiny on manufacturing workers: Evidence from the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    3. Alejandro Estefan & Roberto Gerhard & Joseph P. Kaboski & Illenin O. Kondo & Wei Qian, 2024. "Outsourcing Policy and Worker Outcomes: Causal Evidence from a Mexican Ban," NBER Working Papers 32024, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Chau, Nancy H. & Kanbur, Ravi & Soundararajan, Vidhya, 2022. "Employer Power and Employment in Developing Countries," Applied Economics and Policy Working Paper Series 324053, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    5. Passmore, Reid & Watkins, Kari E. & Guensler, Randall, 2021. "BikewaySim Technology Transfer: City of Atlanta, Georgia," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt23n9389j, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    6. Schiavone, Ansel, 2023. "Labor market concentration and labor share dynamics for US regional industries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    7. Chen Yeh & Claudia Macaluso & Brad Hershbein, 2022. "Monopsony in the US Labor Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(7), pages 2099-2138, July.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J0 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General
    • J42 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Monopsony; Segmented Labor Markets
    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure

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