[20220406]LSB10725_劳动力市场中的反垄断问题.pdf

CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebar Antitrust Issues in Labor Markets April 6, 2022 The typical antitrust case involves sellers in a product market. For example, rival manufacturers might conspire to fix the price of memory chips. A tobacco giant may monopolize the cigarette industry. The merger of two large agriculture firms might threaten to significantly reduce competition in the markets for various seed products. The potential harm in each case is similar. Cartels and monopolists raise prices by restricting output, while concentrated markets are often susceptible to coordinated conduct and unilateral price hikes. As a result, production that would have taken place in a competitive market does not occura “deadweight loss.” Noncompetitive product markets also lead to wealth transfers from consumers to producers, which some commentators have cited as a contributor to economic inequality. While most antitrust cases concern sellers in product markets, comparable problems arise in employment markets, where firms often exercise market power as buyers of labor. For example, rival tech companies might enter into no-poach arrangeme