An increasing body of empirical evidence is documenting trends toward rising concentration, profits, and markups in many industries around the world since the 1980s. Two major criticisms of these studies is that concentration and market shares are poorly measured at the national industry level...

This paper looks at how market concentration is measured, whether it is increasing, and if so, whether other indicators (output, prices, mark-ups and profits) are consistent with a story of falling competitive intensity. It also explores whether any market power that has been built has endured...