Skip to main content
Log in

Regulation, market power, and labor earnings: Evidence from the cable television industry

  • Published:
Journal of Labor Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

    We’re sorry, something doesn't seem to be working properly.

    Please try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, please contact support so we can address the problem.

Abstract

Labor economists have suggested that employee earnings may be relatively higher in firms possessing market power, such as that which may stem from government regula-tion of prices or entry of firms. We test this hypothesis, which previously has been inves-tigated in the context of industries such as trucking and air transportation, using earnings data for the cable television industry. Our empirical findings suggest that cable TV employees capture some of the benefits producers receive from regulations restricting competition.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ashenfelter, Orley and George Johnson. “Unionism, Relative Wages, and Labor Quality in U.S. Manufacturing Industries.ℍ International Economic Review 13 (October 1972): 488–507.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beil, Richard O., Jr., Thomas P. Dazzio, Jr., Robert B. Ekelund, Jr., and John D. Jackson. “Competition and the Price of Municipal Cable Television Services: An Empirical Study.ℍ Journal of Regulatory Economics 6 (1993): 401–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boudreaux, Donald J. and Robert B. Ekelund, Jr. “Cable Regulation.ℍ Cato Journal 14 (Spring/Summer 1994): 87–107.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, Charles and James Medoff. “The Employer-Size Wage Effect.ℍ Journal of Political Economy 97 (October 1989): 1027–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dalton, James A. and Edward J. Ford, Jr. “Concentration and Labor Earnings in Manufacturing and Utilities.ℍ Industrial and Labor Relations Review 31 (October 1977): 45–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ehrenberg, Ronald G. The Regulatory Process and Labor Earnings. New York: Academic Press, 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  • — and Robert S. Smith. Modern Labor Economics: Theory and Public Policy. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haworth, Charles T. and David W. Rasmussen. “Human Capital and Inter-Industry Wages in Manufacturing.ℍ Review of Economics and Statistics 51 (August 1969): 341–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haworth, Charles T. and Carol J. Reuther. “Industrial Concentration and Inter-Industry Wage Determination.ℍ Review of Economics and Statistics 60 (February 1978): 85–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hendricks, Wallace. “Deregulation and Labor Earnings.ℍ Journal of Labor Research 15 (Summer 1994): 207–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. “Regulation and Labor Earnings.ℍ Bell Journal of Economics 8 (Autumn 1977): 483–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heywood, John S. “Labor Quality and the Concentration-Earnings Hypothesis.ℍ Review of Economics and Statistics 68 (May 1986): 342–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirsch, Barry T. “Trucking Regulation Unionization and Labor Earnings: 1973-85.ℍ Journal of Human Resources 23 (Summer 1988): 296–319.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levin, Standord L. and John B. Meisel. “Cable Television and Competition: Theory, Evidence, and Policy.ℍ Telecommunications Policy (December 1991): 519-28.

  • Long, James E. and Albert N. Link. “The Impact of Market Structure on Wages, Fringe Benefits, and Turnover.ℍ Industrial and Labor Relations Review 36 (January 1983): 239–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Masters, Stanley H. “Wages and Plant Size: An Interindustry Analysis.ℍ Review of Economics and Statistics 51 (August 1969): 341–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayo, John W. and Yasuji Otsuka. “Demand, Pricing, and Regulation: Evidence from the Cable TV Industry.ℍ Rand Journal of Economics 22 (Autumn 1991): 396–410.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merline, John. “How to Get Better TV at Lower Prices.ℍ Consumers' Research 73 (May 1990): 10–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, Thomas G. “The Beneficiaries of Trucking Regulation.ℍ Journal of Law and Economics 21 (October 1978): 327–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • “Most Federal Price Controls on Cable TV to End March 31.ℍ Opelika-Auburn News, February 10, 1999.

  • Television Digest. Television and Cable Factbook: Cable. Vols. 56 and 61. Washington, D.C.: (1989, 1993).

  • U.S. Department of Commerce. 1992 Census of Transportation, Communications, and Utilities, Subject Series, Miscellaneous Subjects. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce, August 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. Statistical Abstract of the United States. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Department of Labor. Employment and Wages Annual Averages 1992 and 1993. Bulletin 2449. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Labor, October 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiss, Leonard W. “Concentration and Labor Earnings.ℍ American Economic Review 56 (March 1966): 96–112.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Crofton, S., Laband, D. & Long, J. Regulation, market power, and labor earnings: Evidence from the cable television industry. J Labor Res 21, 669–675 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12122-000-1039-7

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12122-000-1039-7

Keywords

Navigation