Minimum wages and employment

by Neumark, David

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Title Statements

Full title :Minimum wages and employment / David Neumark, William L. Wascher.

Summary

We review the burgeoning literature on the employment effects of minimum wages - in the United States and in other countries - that was spurred by the new minimum wage research beginning in the early 1990s. Our review indicates that there is a wide range of existing estimates and, accordingly, a lack of consensus about the overall effects on low-wage employment of an increase in the minimum wage. However, the oft-stated assertion that recent research fails to support the conclusion that the minimum wage reduces employment of low-skilled workers is clearly incorrect. A sizable majority of the studies surveyed in this monograph give a relatively consistent (although not always statistically significant) indication of negative employment effects of minimum wages. In addition, among the papers we view as providing the most credible evidence, almost all point to negative employment effects, both for the United States as well as for many other countries. Two other important conclusions emerge from our review. First, we see very few - if any - studies that provide convincing evidence of positive employment effects of minimum wages, especially from those studies that focus on the broader groups (rather than a narrow industry) for which the competitive model generally predicts disemployment effects. Second, the studies that focus on the least-skilled groups that are likely most directly affected by minimum wage increases provide relatively overwhelming evidence of stronger disemployment effects for these groups.

Edition Statements

Publication Date:2007.

Publication Statements

Publisher(s):Now Publishers
Place of Publication:Boston
Language:eng
Publication Date:2007.

The Physical Object

Description:1 online resource (1 volume)

Edition Identifiers

ISBN:9781601980137, 1601980132
oclc:ocn166269575
LC Classification:HF
Dewey Decimal:331.23

Abstract -- Introduction -- Origins of the new minimum wage research -- Findings on employment effects on less-skilled U.S. workers from the first wave of the new minimum wage research -- Panel data studies -- The case study approach -- Issues raised in subsequent research -- The appropriate measure of the minimum wage -- Lagged effects of the minimum wage -- Interactions between employment and school enrollment -- Other specification issues relevant to the state-level panel data approach -- Reactions to the initial round of state case studies -- Hours versus employment effects -- More recent evidence on employment effects -- Studies limited to the most recent (1996 and 1997) federal minimum wage increases -- Studies focused on recent state minimum wage increases -- Studies of recent city minimum wages -- Revisiting aggregate time-series estimates of the effects of the federal minimum wage -- Efforts to identify the effects of the minimum wage on the workers most directly affected -- Other issues and approaches -- International evidence -- Industrialized countries -- Developing countries -- Conclusions and discussion -- Acknowledgements -- References -- Updates.

Subjects

BUSINESS & ECONOMICS -- Labor Electronic books emploi Emploi -- Prévision employing Employment (Economic theory) Employment forecasting Minimum wage -- Research POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Labor & Industrial… Salaires minimums -- Recherche