Citation

Discussion Paper Details

Please find the details for DP13333 in an easy to copy and paste format below:

Full Details

Title: The Micro-Level Anatomy of the Labor Share Decline

Author(s): Matthias Kehrig and Nicolas Vincent

Publication Date: November 2018

Keyword(s): firm size distribution, Labor Share, productivity and Relative Prices

Programme Area(s): Industrial Organization, Labour Economics, Macroeconomics and Growth and Monetary Economics and Fluctuations

Abstract: The aggregate labor share in U.S. manufacturing declined from 62 percentage points (ppt) in 1967 to 41 ppt in 2012. The labor share of the typical U.S. manufacturing establishment, in contrast, rose by over 3 ppt during the same period. Using micro-level data, we document a number of striking facts: (1) there has been a dramatic reallocation of value added to "hyper- productive" (HP) low-labor share establishments, with much more limited reallocation of inputs; (2) HP establishments have only temporarily lower labor shares that rebound after five to eight years to the level of their peers; (3) selection into HP status has become increasingly correlated with past size; (4) low labor shares are driven by high revenue total factor productivity (TFPR), not low wages; (5) employment has become less responsive to positive TFPR shocks over time; and (6) HP establishments enjoy a product price premium relative to their peers that causes their high (revenue) productivity, pointing to a significant role for demand-side forces. Counterfactual exercises indicate that selection along size is the primary driver of the fall in the aggregate labor share, with a smaller role for the decline in responsiveness.

For full details and related downloads, please visit: https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=13333

Bibliographic Reference

Kehrig, M and Vincent, N. 2018. 'The Micro-Level Anatomy of the Labor Share Decline'. London, Centre for Economic Policy Research. https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=13333