What does this research mean for the field?

Higher regulatory burden increases compliance labor spending, which acts as a mechanism driving industry consolidation and anticompetitive market dynamics. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To examine whether regulatory burden influences market structure and industry concentration through the mechanism of compliance labor spending.

August 30, 2026Statistics and Public PolicyOpen Access

US Regulatory Burden, Compliance Spending, and Market Structure

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Authors

CEChase C. EnglundUnited States Department of the Treasury

Discussion

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Implication

Cross-sectional study finds compliance labor spending tracks regulatory burden and drives consolidation across US industries, suggesting regulations inadvertently foster market concentration.

Key Points

To examine whether regulatory burden influences market structure and industry concentration through the mechanism of compliance labor spending.
Extracted labor and industry data from the U.S. Census Bureau across most major sectors of the US economy.
Evaluated correlations between federal and state regulatory burdens, relative compliance labor costs, and market concentration metrics across hundreds of industry categories.
Higher conventional metrics of state and federal regulatory burden positively correlate with elevated proportions of spending on compliance labor.
Increased compliance labor spending across industry categories associates with greater market consolidation and larger revenue shares held by leading firms.

Cite This Study

Chase C. Englund (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a93f0b06c1a8fb52e79d09c https://doi.org/10.1080/2330443x.2026.2722944

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August 30, 2026Statistics and Public PolicyOpen Access

US Regulatory Burden, Compliance Spending, and Market Structure

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Authors

CEChase C. EnglundUnited States Department of the Treasury

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Cross-sectional study finds compliance labor spending tracks regulatory burden and drives consolidation across US industries, suggesting regulations inadvertently foster market concentration.

Key Points

To examine whether regulatory burden influences market structure and industry concentration through the mechanism of compliance labor spending.
Extracted labor and industry data from the U.S. Census Bureau across most major sectors of the US economy.
Evaluated correlations between federal and state regulatory burdens, relative compliance labor costs, and market concentration metrics across hundreds of industry categories.
Higher conventional metrics of state and federal regulatory burden positively correlate with elevated proportions of spending on compliance labor.
Increased compliance labor spending across industry categories associates with greater market consolidation and larger revenue shares held by leading firms.

Cite This Study

Chase C. Englund (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a93f0b06c1a8fb52e79d09c https://doi.org/10.1080/2330443x.2026.2722944

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