Sectoral mark-ups in U.S. Manufacturing

This study investigates the mark-up on average costs in the U.S. manufacturing industry at the aggregate and two-digit industry levels. We first analyze the behavior of profit margins over seven business cycles between 1958 and 1996 and establish some stylized facts for the cyclical dynamics of mark-ups. Second, we look at the secular movements in margins of profits through a simple trend decomposition of the aggregate and two-digit mark-ups. We find that: (1) the aggregate and the majority of two-digit mark-ups behave pro-cyclically; and (2) the trend in margins of profits in the period is explained by a marked rise in the rate of surplus value and a fall in the composition of capital, indicating labor-saving/capital- using technical change.