Final answer:
Corporate concentration increases inequality through winner-take-all markets, leading to wage disparities, significant market power of a few corporations enhancing wealth accumulation at the top, and global resource concentration that affects economic opportunities in poorer nations.
Step-by-step explanation:
Corporate concentration can contribute to increasing inequality in several specific ways. One instance is through the growth of winner-take-all markets, where high-skilled individuals such as top CEOs, doctors, and other professionals are in global demand, leading to their earning disproportionately more in comparison to low-skilled workers. This widens the wage disparity, as highlighted by the rise in the earnings ratio of workers with a college degree relative to those with only a high school diploma, which increased from 1.59 times in 1995 to 1.67 times in 2010.
Another specific example is the increasing market share concentration in certain industries, as depicted by the four-firm concentration ratio and the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI). High concentration ratios in industries such as wireless communications, automobiles, computers, and airlines suggest that a few firms hold significant market power. This can lead to less competition, higher prices for consumers, and greater income and wealth accumulation at the top, exacerbating inequality.
Last but not least, global inequality sees the concentration of resources within certain nations, affecting the economic opportunities and prosperity of individuals in poorer countries. This economic disparity is starkly illustrated by a report noting the richest 85 people in the world possessed more wealth than the combined poorest 3.5 billion.