Labor Monopsony and Antitrust Enforcement: A Distorting Mirror

antitrust laws, proving such harms is challenging, especially under the prevailing consumer welfare standard.The consumer welfare standard becomes challenging to apply when a merger may harm workers but benefit consumers downstream.Weighing these cross-market effects raises unresolved questions about the proper balance between consumer and producer surplus.Moreover, the unique features of labor markets-such as the importance of firm-specific investments in human capital-pose challenges for market definition and the assessment of competitive effects.Traditional concentration measures and econometric tools used in product markets may not readily translate to the labor context.