Geoffrey Manne
@geoffmanne.bsky.social
President & Founder, International Center for Law & Economics. Visiting Professor of Law, IE Law School (Madrid). Focus on antitrust, telecom, regulation, privacy, data, IP, etc.
Reposted by Geoffrey Manne
There's an absolutely fantastic paper on this by Dirk Auer and @geoffmanne.bsky.social that really deserves its own separate thread, but it "identifies a sharp divergence between the online platforms that authorities want and those that emerge organically." laweconcenter.org/resources/o...
On the Origin of Platforms: An Evolutionary Perspective - International Center for Law & Economics
Abstract Hardly a day goes by without news of some proposed intervention by competition authorities into the digital economy. In recent years, enforcers in both . . .
laweconcenter.org
February 13, 2025 at 7:15 PM
There's an absolutely fantastic paper on this by Dirk Auer and @geoffmanne.bsky.social that really deserves its own separate thread, but it "identifies a sharp divergence between the online platforms that authorities want and those that emerge organically." laweconcenter.org/resources/o...
Read the full post by @briancalbrecht.bsky.social & me here: truthonthemarket.com/2024/12/18/.... And our paper, "Labor Monopsony and Antitrust Enforcement: A Distorting Mirror", w/ Dirk Auer expanding considerably on the points in the post, here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers...
Labor Antitrust: A Solution in Search of Evidence
The growing focus on labor-market power and antitrust enforcement has sparked important debates about both the empirical foundations and practical implementation of these emerging policy priorities. In a recent piece for ProMarket, Eric Posner argues that overwhelming academic evidence supports expanding antitrust scrutiny of labor markets—criticizing, in particular, the skepticism expressed by the Federal Trade ... Labor Antitrust: A Solution in Search of Evidence
truthonthemarket.com
December 19, 2024 at 12:02 AM
Read the full post by @briancalbrecht.bsky.social & me here: truthonthemarket.com/2024/12/18/.... And our paper, "Labor Monopsony and Antitrust Enforcement: A Distorting Mirror", w/ Dirk Auer expanding considerably on the points in the post, here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers...
Labor-market harms should be considered in antitrust enforcement. But effective policy requires sound evidence and practical tools — not premature, economy-wide changes. Sweeping reforms based on limited evidence risk imposing high costs with little benefit.
December 19, 2024 at 12:02 AM
Labor-market harms should be considered in antitrust enforcement. But effective policy requires sound evidence and practical tools — not premature, economy-wide changes. Sweeping reforms based on limited evidence risk imposing high costs with little benefit.
The FTC’s proposed HSR rule changes would have imposed considerable compliance costs, requiring firms to report labor data with little analytical value. Even workplace-safety violations were included — without evidence linking them to market power.
December 19, 2024 at 12:02 AM
The FTC’s proposed HSR rule changes would have imposed considerable compliance costs, requiring firms to report labor data with little analytical value. Even workplace-safety violations were included — without evidence linking them to market power.
Defining relevant labor markets for antitrust is another challenge. Take the FTC’s Kroger/Albertsons case: it defined a market for “union grocery labor,” ignoring competition from non-union jobs and other industries. This narrow definition doesn’t reflect reality.
December 19, 2024 at 12:02 AM
Defining relevant labor markets for antitrust is another challenge. Take the FTC’s Kroger/Albertsons case: it defined a market for “union grocery labor,” ignoring competition from non-union jobs and other industries. This narrow definition doesn’t reflect reality.
Meanwhile, the models & measures used in labor economics weren't developed with antitrust enforcement in mind and may not capture the antitrust-relevant complexities. Holyoak is right to suggest caution, and Posner is wrong to take her to task for doing so.
December 19, 2024 at 12:02 AM
Meanwhile, the models & measures used in labor economics weren't developed with antitrust enforcement in mind and may not capture the antitrust-relevant complexities. Holyoak is right to suggest caution, and Posner is wrong to take her to task for doing so.
In fairness, a recent BLS study finds higher concentration by some measures. But that's the point: at best we really don't know; the evidence certainly isn't overwhelming. www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/20....
December 19, 2024 at 12:02 AM
In fairness, a recent BLS study finds higher concentration by some measures. But that's the point: at best we really don't know; the evidence certainly isn't overwhelming. www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/20....
Beyond these few studies, it's not even clear that labor-market concentration is a significant concern. Labor-market concentration has actually declined over time, as shown by @kevinrinz.bsky.social and others. Claims of pervasive employer dominance are overstated.
December 19, 2024 at 12:02 AM
Beyond these few studies, it's not even clear that labor-market concentration is a significant concern. Labor-market concentration has actually declined over time, as shown by @kevinrinz.bsky.social and others. Claims of pervasive employer dominance are overstated.
The studies cited by Posner — which do indeed constitute the bulk of the direct evidence — show *context-specific* effects, not broad evidence of systemic labor-market harm from mergers. The empirical base linking mergers to wage suppression is remarkably thin.
December 19, 2024 at 12:02 AM
The studies cited by Posner — which do indeed constitute the bulk of the direct evidence — show *context-specific* effects, not broad evidence of systemic labor-market harm from mergers. The empirical base linking mergers to wage suppression is remarkably thin.
@ericposner.bsky.social recently argued there's incontrovertible evidence supporting more antitrust scrutiny of labor markets & criticized Melissa Holyoak's skepticism of labor-related provisions in the FTC’s proposed HSR rules. But is the evidence really so clear? www.promarket.org/2024/10/24/...
Is Labor Antitrust a "Nonexistent" Problem? - ProMarket
In a recent revision of its Premerger Notification Regulation, the FTC removed labor market provisions from the previous draft as Commissioner Melissa Holyoak dismissed them as "a solution in search of a nonexistent problem." Eric Posner argues that her assessment contradicts a substantial body of academic research showing that labor market concentration is indeed a serious concern.
www.promarket.org
December 19, 2024 at 12:02 AM
@ericposner.bsky.social recently argued there's incontrovertible evidence supporting more antitrust scrutiny of labor markets & criticized Melissa Holyoak's skepticism of labor-related provisions in the FTC’s proposed HSR rules. But is the evidence really so clear? www.promarket.org/2024/10/24/...
Final results here: web.cvent.com/event/39143...
December 12, 2024 at 5:44 PM
Final results here: web.cvent.com/event/39143...
