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Product Market Competition, Returns to Skill, and Wage Inequality

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  • Maria Guadalupe
Abstract
This article examines the effect of product market competition on firms’ willingness to pay for workers of different skills. Using a panel of UK workers and two different quasi-natural experiments, I show that returns to skill within an industry increase with competition. I also investigate the mechanisms behind this relationship: in addition to the indirect effects that operate through union bargaining and skill-biased technical change, there is evidence for a direct effect of competition beyond those channels. I provide an explanation for this finding based on the relationship between competition and the sensitivity of profits to cost reductions.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria Guadalupe, 2007. "Product Market Competition, Returns to Skill, and Wage Inequality," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 25(3), pages 439-474.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlabec:v:25:y:2007:p:439-474
    DOI: 10.1086/513299
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J33 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Compensation Packages; Payment Methods
    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure
    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory

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