2019年经济学人 市场支配力 (2)

 

Case closed? Not so fast. Those who doubt that competition has weakened attribute such findings to the rise of "superstar" firms.

结案了？没那么快。那些怀疑竞争被削弱的人将这些发现归因于“超级明星”公司的增长。

They argue that economic activity is becoming concentrated in the best firms because of technology, network effects and globalisation.

他们认为由于科技、网络影响和全球化，最佳公司中的经济活动变得越来越集中。

This "winnertakes-most" pattern could explain rising average markups, if pricey but brilliant products are capturing more market share,

如果价高但出色的产品获得了更多的市场份额，

or if superstar firms are unusually reliant on spending on intangible assets that is not included as a cost in gross margins¹.

或是超级明星公司异常依赖于无法算入毛利成本的无形资产，那么这种“赢家通吃”的模式可以解释上涨的平均利润。

Given the growing importance of intellectual property and brand value to obvious superstars such as Apple and Google, this objection is worth taking seriously.

考虑到知识产权和品牌价值对超级明星公司，如苹果和谷歌不断增长的重要性，这一异议值得认真对待。

The IMF study confirms that in most places a small share of firms are responsible for rising markups,

IMF研究证明，在大部分地方，公司的小份额能够影响利润的上涨，

which have soared among the best and are flat among the rest.

利润可以增长至名列前茅且与剩下的持平。

The 10% of firms with the highest markups are 50% more profitable than their peers, more than 30% more productive and rely more on intangibles.

10%的高利润公司比同类公司利润高50%，且生产能力高30%，也更加依赖于无形资产。

The fund did not find that rising markups slowed innovation, at least using the (admittedly dubious) proxy² of patent registrations³.

IMF并没有发现增长的利润拖慢了创新，它们至少使用了（无可否认）专利注册的代理权。

Yet market power that grows organically is still market power.

然而有组织性地增长的市场支配力仍然是市场支配力。

The fund found evidence of some of the pernicious consequences of less competition.

IMF发现了一些低竞争力恶性后果的证据。

Higher markups are associated with less investment in physical capital—

其预计高利润和有形资本投资下降有关—

enough to have lopped a percentage point off GDP in the average advanced economy, it estimates.

这足以将平均发达经济体的GDP削减一个百分点。

Top firms with higher markups pay a smaller share of the economic value they create to workers.

高利润的顶尖公司向员工们支付的经济价值份额更少。

And the fund warns that market power could yet put a brake on innovation, should incumbent⁴ firms get too cosy⁵.

并且IMF警告称市场支配力会削弱创新，在位企业是否应该太过安逸。

That might happen if regulators are slow to respond to structural⁶ shifts in the economy,

如果监管者对经济中的结构变化反应迟钝，

or too lax in policing mergers⁸ that allow incumbents⁹ to pick off potential competitors.

或者对在位公司除掉潜在竞争者的合并监管中太过松懈，那么这是有可能发生的。

The fund found that mergers and acquisitions were, on average, followed by significantly higher markups by the firms involved.

IMF发现平均来看，公司利润显著增加后，合并和收购会紧跟其后。

Economists¹⁰ are sometimes accused of having "physics envy"— that is, of coveting¹¹ the precision of the hard sciences.

有时经济学家被指责“物理嫉妒”—即垂涎硬科学的精密度。

But if economics has a law worthy¹² of the name, it is that firms prefer to merge⁷ than to compete.

但是如果经济学家拥有一条名副其实的法律，那么公司更愿意合并而非竞争。

1 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

2 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

3 registrations   

n.登记( registration的名词复数 )；登记项目；登记（或注册、挂号）人数；（管风琴）音栓配合（法）

参考例句：

• In addition to the check-in procedures, the room clerks are customarily responsible for recording advance registrations. 除了办理住宿手续外，客房登记员按惯例还负责预约登记。 来自辞典例句
• Be the Elekta expert for products registrations in China. 成为在中国注册产品的医科达公司专家。 来自互联网

4 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

5 cosy   

adj.温暖而舒适的，安逸的

参考例句：

• We spent a cosy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。
• It was so warm and cosy in bed that Simon didn't want to get out.床上温暖而又舒适，西蒙简直不想下床了。

6 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

7 merge   

v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体

参考例句：

• I can merge my two small businesses into a large one.我可以将我的两家小商店合并为一家大商行。
• The directors have decided to merge the two small firms together.董事们已决定把这两家小商号归并起来。

8 mergers   

n.（两个公司的）合并( merger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Mergers fall into three categories: horizontal, vertical, and conglomerate. 合并分为以下三种：横向合并，纵向合并和混合合并。 来自辞典例句
• Many recent mergers are concentrated within specific industries, particularly in retailing, airlines and communications. 现代许多合并企业集中进行某些特定业务，在零售业、民航和通讯业中更是如此。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

9 incumbents   

教区牧师( incumbent的名词复数 )； 教会中的任职者

参考例句：

• In general, incumbents have a 94 percent chance of being reelected. 通常现任官员有94%的几率会再次当选。
• This arangement yields a wonderful gain to incumbents. 这种安排为在职人员提供了意外的得益。

10 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 coveting   

v.贪求，觊觎( covet的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• We begin by coveting what we see every day. 垂涎的开始是我们每天看见的东西。 来自互联网
• We coveting what we see every day. 之所以如此，是因为我们垂涎每日所见的一些东西。 来自互联网

12 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。