OECD countries: Is the skewing of income distribution a labour market or a product market mechanism?

Since the late 1990s, there has been a marked skewing of income distribution at the expense of employees in OECD countries. But this could be: A labour market mechanism, due to the decline in employees’ bargaining power that has led to a smaller rise in real wages than in productivity ; A goods and services market mechanism, due to the appearance of companies that have dominant positions that can increase their profit margins. In the first case, the trend break was slower growth in nominal and real wages and unit labour costs, i.e. a change in wage formation; in the second case, the trend break was faster price growth, i.e. a change in price formation. Statistical analysis shows us that the skewing of income distribution is rather a labour market mechanism.