Minimum Wages and Poverty: Will a $9.50 Federal Minimum Wage Really Help the Working Poor?

Using data drawn from the March Current Population Survey, we find that state and federal minimum wage increases between 2003 and 2007 had no effect on state poverty rates. When we then simulate the effects of a proposed federal minimum wage increase from $7.25 to $9.50 per hour, we find that such an increase will be even more poorly targeted to the working poor than was the last federal increase from $5.15 to $7.25 per hour. Assuming no negative employment effects, only 11.3% of workers who will gain live in poor households, compared to 15.8% from the last increase. When we allow for negative employment effects, we find that the working poor face a disproportionate share of the job losses. Our results suggest that raising the federal minimum wage continues to be an inadequate way to help the working poor.     

Efficiency Wages,Partial Wage Rigidity,and Money Nonneutrality

The efficiency wage theory is generally regarded as a plausible explanation as to why wages do not fall to clear labor markets in the presence of involuntary unemployment. At the current stage of its development, not much is said concerning the role of nominal money and the fluctuations in aggregate employment and output. Adopting the efficiency wage theory, this paper uses the idea of partial rigidity of wages in an attempt to explain why changes in money supply and other demand management policies can cause fluctuations in aggregate employment and output.     

Legal Minimum Wages and Employment Duration

We estimate the effect of minimum wages on employment duration using event history data from the 1988-1994 rounds of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Existing literature takes two alternative tracks: Some studies predict reduced turnover due to rents created by minimum wages, others focus on the expected increase in turnover due to reduced job amenities and imperfect information. We find that for men, the net effect of a minimum wage depends on its magnitude relative to the typical wage in the local labor market. We find some evidence that where the minimum wage is low, separation rates for men hired at the minimum wage are reduced. We also find that as the relative value of the minimum wage rises, separation hazards increase. We interpret these findings as evidence that rents may accrue to minimum wage workers, but that the job matching process is undermined when the minimum wage binds.     

Minimum Wages and the Card-Krueger Paradox

An apparent paradox perceived by Card and Krueger concerning the relationship between minimum wages, employment, and output prices is resolved by revisiting the economics of minimum wages to show that under monopsonistic conditions in the labor market and competitive price-taking in the market for output, increases in both firm-level and industry employment are compatible with increases in output prices.     

The Wage and Employment Dynamics of Minimum Wage Workers

This study uses panel data to examine the wage and employment dynamics of minimum wage workers. Compared with workers earning above the minimum, minimum wage workers are much more likely to be new entrants or to exit the labor market. Changes in industry, occupation, and access to job training are particularly important to improving the wages of minimum wage workers. Many minimum wage workers earn less than their potential wage temporarily because of nonwork circumstances that make higher-paying jobs less attractive.     

Time Flexibility,Women’s Wages,and the Gender Wage Gap

Atlantic Economic Journal - Paid jobs providing more time flexibility may appeal to workers who have primary responsibility as a caregiver for young children or for sick, handicapped, or elderly...     

Higher Wages,Less Gym Time? The Effects of Minimum Wages on Time Use

This study examines the effects of minimum wages on time use. Analyzing data from the American Time Use Survey from 2003 to 2017, I investigate the role of time allocated toward exercise and other health‐enhancing activities as a potential mechanism underlying the link between minimum wages and health. The study finds that a $1 increase in minimum wages is associated with reductions in exercising and total personal health time by 13 and 20 minutes during the week, respectively. This decline in health time is fully reallocated toward additional leisure time. The results are largely driven by males and employed individuals.     

Training,Wages, and the Human Capital Model

Using recent data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, this study examines the predictions of the human capital model concerning the relationship between training, starting wages, and wage growth. As implied by the model, training, particularly employer-financed training, is positively related to wage growth. Company-financed training also appears to be portable across jobs or to have a general component. In addition, there is some evidence that workers pay for initial training through a reduced starting wage. The results provide partial support for the human capital model.     

The Impact of Minimum Wages on Job Training: An Empirical Exploration with Establishment Data

Human capital theory suggests that workers may finance on-the-job training by accepting lower wages during the training period, Minimum wage laws could reduce job training, then, to the extent they prevent low-wage workers from offering sufficient wage cuts to finance training. Empirical findings on the relationship between minimum wages and job training have failed to reach a consensus. Previous research has relied primarily on survey data from individual workers that typically lack both detailed measures of job training and important information about the characteristics of firms. This study addresses the issue of minimum wages and on-the-job training with a unique employer survey. We find no evidence indicating that minimum wages reduce the average hours of training of trained employees and little to suggest that minimum wages reduce the percentage of workers receiving training.     

Rural-Urban Wage Differentials,Unemployment, and Efficiency Wages: An Open Economy Policy Analysis

This paper analyzes the desirability of various policies designed to counteract the distorting nature of an equilibrium rural-urban wage differential in a small, open, two-sector economy with urban unemployment. A dual labor market model with an efficiency wage in the urban sector and urban unemployment is analyzed for the distributional and national output effects of an urban wage subsidy, an urban production subsidy, and a tariff on the urban good. While a small subsidy or tariff raises the value of national output, redistribution effects may limit the viability of intervention. However, subsidies can also be Pareto improving policies.     

最低工资文献综述

最低工资制度是国家通过立法的形式干预工资分配的一种制度,该制度设计是为了保障低收入劳动者,但是在实施中却引来了很多的争论。对此经济学家们分别从理论和实证的角度对实施最低工资的后果进行了分析。文章尝试对这些不同的观点进行梳理,以期能对最低工资的研究提供参考。     

最低工资标准与中国制造业企业引资行为

文章基于Heckman模型,采用1998～2007年中国工业企业数据库与283个城市最低工资匹配数据,运用倍差法实证检验了城市最低工资标准对企业引资(FDI)行为的影响。研究发现,最低工资标准对企业FDI决策和FDI数量均具有显著的抑制作用,在进行一系列稳健性检验后该结论依然成立。其中,最低工资标准对外资、劳动密集型以及东部地区企业FDI的抑制作用较为明显,对企业引进港澳台地区资本的影响有限,且最低工资标准的动态效应呈"倒U"型变化趋势。此外,最低工资标准通过成本效应抑制了企业的FDI,通过生产率效应促进企业的FDI,但前者作用效果更大。最低工资标准显著提升了地区FDI的质量;并通过改善各城市资源配置对FDI规模具有正向影响。     

The Determinants of China's Minimum Wage Rates

We use a highly disaggregated panel of macro data and minimum wages at the county level to investigate the processes behind minimum wage adjustments in China. Relying on random effects models, spatial econometrics techniques, and multilevel analyses, we document that a comparatively small number of economic variables – including the local price level and GDP per capita – are important determinants of minimum wage rates. Interactions between adjacent counties and counties of the same administrative type, and centralized mechanisms, particularly at the provincial level, also play an important role in explaining the variance in minimum wage rates across counties. Finally, we show that China's provinces are the key players for setting minimum wage rates and that, when they do so, they are not uniform in the way they weigh different economic variables.     

上海市最低工资标准的合理性——基于最低工资收入者角度的实证分析

最低工资制度是世界各国普遍采用的劳动保障制度,其目的在于维护劳动者取得劳动报酬的合法权利,保障劳动者尤其是低收入劳动者及其家庭成员的基本生活。文章依据相关法规政策规定的最低工资标准制定时需要考虑的因素,从保障低收入劳动者基本生活需要的角度,应用统计性描述方法对1993-2012年上海市最低工资与职工平均工资、人均GDP、最低社会保障线、人均消费性支出等进行分析。分析结果发现上海市最低工资与职工月平均工资的比远低于40%~60%的国际标准,与人均GDP的比值低于全国平均水平,表明上海市最低工资标准偏低,需要进一步改进或完善相关政策。     

最低工资制度对劳动力市场影响的实证分析

本文对最低工资理论模型进行了拓展分析,并以深圳为案例分析了最低工资制度对区域就业的影响。在跨区域劳动力流动的情况下,区域劳动力市场均衡工资趋近最低工资标准,并且不会导致区域就业量的下降。     

最低工资标准、工资支付能力与中小企业创新产出——基于浙江的调查

最低工资标准的提高可能会增加企业的劳动力成本而挤压其创新资源的投入,也可能通过倒逼企业创新或改善创新预期收益而增加创新产出.文章基于浙江省企业创新障碍调查数据,利用Weibull潜变量模型方法分组对比发现,工资支付能力不同的企业的创新产出存在显著差异;次序logit模型检验发现最低工资标准对工资支付能力较弱的中小企业的创新产出有显著的负面影响,表现为挤出效应;而对工资支付能力较强的中小企业的专利申请数量有正面影响,对创新利润占比没有显著影响.     

最低工资制讨论中的几个热点问题

到2004年底,我国31个省(自治区、直辖市)全部建立了最低工资制度。目前,国家对最低工资标准与职工平均工资水平的比例关系没有统一的规定,国际上也不存在单独根据社会平均工资一定比例确定最低工资标准的所谓“社会平均工资法”,判断一个地区最低工资标准是否合理,要全面综合考虑。我国各地区工资标准差距客观存在,根本原因是我国经济发展不平衡。