Corporate Restructuring and the Consolidation of US Industry.

This study examines the impact of corporate restructuring measured at the industry level on industry concentration in 695 four-digit U.S. industries in the basic, manufacturing, and services sectors between 1981 and 1989. The results show a modest increase in median industrial concentration in sample industries between 1981 and 1989. The authors find no evidence that selloffs of assets at the industry level through horizontal mergers, acquisitions, and interfirm asset sales increased U.S. industrial concentration during the 1980s. Copyright 1996 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.