Global integration ≠ global concentration

Abstract

There is a widespread belief that increases in the cross-border integration of markets are associated with increases in global concentration along various dimensions. This article reviews the available evidence and presents new data, indicating that increasing global integration has not been accompanied by general increases in four types of global concentration measures: industry seller concentration, cross-industry superconcentration, national/regional hegemony, and geographic concentration. The article also uses the automobile industry to illustrate a bias toward believing concentration is increasing even when it is not and to discuss possible reasons. © 2006 Oxford University Press.