Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/161162 
Year of Publication: 
2017
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 10539
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
The recent fall of labor's share of GDP in numerous countries is well-documented, but its causes are poorly understood. We sketch a "superstar firm" model where industries are increasingly characterized by "winner take most" competition, leading a small number of highly profitable (and low labor share) firms to command growing market share. Building on Autor et al. (2017), we evaluate and confirm two core claims of the superstar firm hypothesis: the concentration of sales among firms within industries has risen across much of the private sector; and industries with larger increases in concentration exhibit a larger decline in labor's share.
Subjects: 
labor share
sales concentration
JEL: 
E24
J31
L11
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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