Mergers, Foreign Competition, and Jobs: Evidence from the U.S. Appliance Industry

Arbeitspapier

Policy choices often entail trade-offs between workers and consumers. I assess how foreign competition changes the consumer welfare and domestic employment effects of a merger. I construct a model accounting for demand responses, endogenous product portfolios, and employment. I apply this model to the acquisition of Maytag by Whirlpool in the household appliance industry. I compare the observed acquisition to one with a foreign buyer. While a Whirlpool acquisition decreased consumer welfare by $250 million, it led to 1,300 fewer domestic jobs lost. Jobs need to be worth above $220,000 annually for domestic employment effects to offset consumer harm.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Discussion Paper ; No. 378

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Economic Impacts of Globalization: Microeconomic Impacts ; Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets ; Antitrust Issues and Policies: General

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Montag, Felix
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München und Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Collaborative Research Center Transregio 190 - Rationality and Competition
• (where): München und Berlin
• (when): 2023

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/282070
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:41 AM CET