摘要：Labor’s share of GDP in most OECD countries has declined over the last two
decades. Some authors have suggested that these changes are linked to
deregulation of product and labor markets. To examine this we focus on a large
quasi-experiment in the OECD: the privatization of many network industries (e.g.
telecommunications and utilities). We present a model with agency problems,
imperfect product market competition and worker bargaining which makes clear
predictions on how the labor share, employment and wages respond to
privatization and other regulatory changes. We exploit cross-country panel data
on several network industries and find that privatization can account for a
significant proportion of the fall of labor’s share (a fifth overall, but over
half in Britain and France). The impact of privatization has been offset by
falling barriers to entry, which consistent with theory, dampens profit margins.
