AEA Papers and Proceedings
ISSN 2574-0768 (Print) | ISSN 2574-0776 (Online)
Rising Markups, Rising Prices?
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 113,
May 2023
(pp. 279–83)
Abstract
The rise in markups and market power documented by De Loecker, Eeckhout, and Unger (2020) has recently generated much discussion in economics. We measure the correlation between the change in firm level markups and the change in industry level prices as measured by the Producer Price Index and find little to no relationship both for 1980–2018 and 2018–present. While a "false negative" result due to mismeasurement is possible, it also raises the possibility that firms have not passed along declines in marginal costs to consumers or that there have been significant changes in scale elasticities.Citation
Conlon, Christopher, Nathan H. Miller, Tsolmon Otgon, and Yi Yao. 2023. "Rising Markups, Rising Prices?" AEA Papers and Proceedings, 113: 279–83. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20231098Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D22 Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
- D24 Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
- D43 Market Structure, Pricing, and Design: Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
- G32 Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
- L13 Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets