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Merger activity and wage levels in U.S. manufacturing

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Abstract

This study uses micro data from the 1981 March Current Population Survey and incorporates industry merger information from the 1979 FTC Large Mergers and Acquisitions Series to examine the relationship between merger activity and wage levels in U.S. manufacturing. These data sources provide the opportunity to control the wage effect of workers’ differing personal qualities and to allow the investigation of wage levels in five merger categories. The findings suggest that in 1980, employees that work in industries composed of firms formed by horizontal, vertical, and product extension mergers received significantly higher wages than other workers. These results indicate that workers should benefit financially from the recent increase in the number of mergers, other than pure conglomerates.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rutgers University, 07102, Newark, NJ

    James Peoples

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  1. James Peoples
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Additional information

The author thanks William Jones, Peter Loeb, and Leo Troy for their valuable suggestions. The author is also grateful to the Rutgers University Research Council for support of this project.

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Peoples, J. Merger activity and wage levels in U.S. manufacturing. Journal of Labor Research 10, 183–196 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02685263

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