Actually, yeah, I was just to talk a bit about something like that.
A standard retort I hear from the right constantly, is that if employees don't like their labor conditions, they should go start their own company or find another job. This, like many economic zingers, is a pretty flippant (and ignorant) dismissal of a real problem in labor markets: monopsony power. There isn't perfect competition in the labor market. There are large frictions to seeking a new job or starting a company. And this is possible to observe:
Silicon Valley wage collusion would not be possible in a world where there weren't limited purchasers for high-skill tech labor. And yet, we didn't see every employee leaving to create their own startup. The benefits of starting your own company and setting your own wage do not seem to outweigh the costs of being unemployed for most people.
And this effect does matter in low-skill labor too. It costs money to move, it costs money and effort to search for work*. These frictions just exist, otherwise, a pay cut under traditional assumptions would imply many people would instantly quit. But, most don't, at most you'll see an increase in the
rate of quittings, but again, frictions keep the average worker around long enough for the marginal costs to decrease for employers. And, simply, most people don't have the ability to set wages, employers do. In fact, it's predicted that two mechanisms are effective at reducing the inefficiencies produced by employers abusing monopsony power in the markets: unions and minimum wage increases, which artificially boost wages to account for such frictions.
The validity of monopsony power in labor markets has been disputed, honest work by good economists has suggested there isn't such an effect in some markets. However, the traditional model of labor markets presumed by macro econ is
not working, because it's been believed that the real reason for inefficiencies in the labor market are search costs, but that model has failed to predict hiring practices since the recession.
*desite the internet increasing the ability of potential employers and employees to interact, the jobs market hasn't become more efficient at reducing unemployment. Some economists suggest that's due to macro effects keeping employment down. Thoughts?