Corporate market power has been on the rise in recent decades, but a new IMF study shows the pandemic has strengthened price markups for dominant firms and increased the concentration of revenues among the biggest players in sectors such as technology and pharma.

Financial markets

Romain Duval on Rising Market Power

KRISTALINA GEORGIEVA

March 18, 2021

The rise in mergers and acquisitions by dominant firms has contributed to rising market power and declining competition. (iStock by Getty Images/Gearstd)

In This Episode

Corporate market power has been on the rise in recent decades, but a new IMF study shows the pandemic has strengthened price markups for dominant firms and increased the concentration of revenues among the biggest players in sectors such as technology and pharma. The Brookings Institution and Bruegel hosted a conversation with Kristalina Georgieva, IMF Managing Director, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice President of the European Commission, to talk about the research and discuss policy responses. In this podcast, lead author Romain Duval says a further rise in corporate market power would stifle innovation, hold back wage growth, and be a drag on the economic recovery.  Transcript

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KRISTALINA GEORGIEVA is the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

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