From Good to Bad Concentration? U.S. Industries over the Past 30 Years

Matias Covarrubias, Germán Gutiérrez, Thomas Philippon

Chapter in NBER book NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2019, volume 34 (2020), Martin S. Eichenbaum, Erik Hurst, and Jonathan A. Parker, editors (p. 1 - 46)
Conference held April 11-12, 2019
Published in March 2020 by University of Chicago Press
© 2020 by the National Bureau of Economic Research
in Macroeconomics Annual Book Series

We study the evolution of profits, investment and market shares in US industries over the past 40 years. During the 1990s, and at low levels of initial concentration, we find evidence of efficient concentration driven by tougher price competition, intangible investment, and increasing productivity of leaders. After 2000, however, the evidence suggests inefficient concentration, decreasing competition and increasing barriers to entry, as leaders become more entrenched and concentration is associated with lower investment, higher prices and lower productivity growth.

You may be able to access the full text of this document via the Document Object Identifier.

Supplementary materials for this chapter:

• Replication files
• Appendix

Acknowledgments

Machine-readable bibliographic record - MARC, RIS, BibTeX

Document Object Identifier (DOI): 10.1086/707169