Data and Code for: Employer Consolidation and Wages: Evidence from Hospitals

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Elena Prager, Northwestern University; Matt Schmitt, University of California-Los Angeles

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
  Data 09/17/2020 01:25:PM
  Programs 09/17/2020 01:25:PM
  Results 09/17/2020 01:25:PM
MASTER.do text/x-stata-syntax 2 KB 09/17/2020 09:25:AM
README.pdf application/pdf 670 KB 12/02/2020 02:56:PM

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary We test whether wage growth slows following employer consolidation by examining hospital mergers. We find evidence of reduced wage growth in cases where both (i) the increase in concentration induced by the merger is large and (ii) workers’ skills are industry-specific. In all other cases, we fail to reject zero wage effects. We consider alternative explanations and find that the observed patterns are unlikely to be explained by merger-related changes besides labor market power. Wage growth slowdowns are attenuated in markets with strong labor unions, and wage growth does not decline after out-of-market mergers that leave local employer concentration unchanged. 

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms corporate mergers; monopsony; hospitals; labor market power
JEL Classification:  View help for JEL Classification
      I11 Analysis of Health Care Markets
      J31 Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
      J42 Monopsony; Segmented Labor Markets
      L41 Monopolization; Horizontal Anticompetitive Practices
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage USA
Universe:  View help for Universe US hospitals
Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) administrative records data; aggregate data

Methodology

Unit(s) of Observation:  View help for Unit(s) of Observation hospitals

Related Publications

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Published Versions

V1 [2021-01-28]

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Dublin Core

DDI 2.5

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