Rising Corporate Concentration and the Monopolistic Milieu

Rising Corporate Concentration and Monopolistic Economic Milieu

The economic hardships experienced during the COVID pandemic such as inflation, price instability, disruption of supply chains, and goods shortages appear to have revealed the negative implications of rising corporate concentration and monopolies. The Herfindahl–Hirschman index (HHI) indicates a sharp rise of concentration in more than 75% of US industries, with similarly high concentrations observable in other free economies worldwide. This may be traced to the unique combination of neoliberal policies, sloppy enforcement of antitrust laws, and corporate control over innovations blocking entry to new players. This has left many markets in the grip of monopolistic corporate entities, unmindful of its negative consequences for the public good. The session invites papers, empirical and conceptual, focusing on the association between corporate consolidation in different sectors of economy and its implications for a host of stakeholders across societies.