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Turning a ‘Blind Eye’? Compliance with Minimum Wage Standards and Employment

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  • Andrea Garnero
  • Claudio Lucifora
Abstract
Turning a ‘blind eye’ to non‐compliance with minimum wage standards is sometimes presented as a pragmatic way to accommodate higher wages while not harming employment opportunities for workers employed in marginal firms. In this paper, we model firms' wage and employment decisions, and show that there may be a trade‐off between non‐compliance and employment. The main predictions of the model are tested empirically using data from the Italian labour force survey. We find evidence of a positive employment non‐compliance effect, though elasticities are smaller than typically thought as employers internalize the expected costs of non‐compliance. We also show that employment effects are larger at low levels of non‐compliance (when the risk of being referred to court is very low). The implications for policy and the role of regulators in monitoring and sanctioning non‐compliance are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrea Garnero & Claudio Lucifora, 2022. "Turning a ‘Blind Eye’? Compliance with Minimum Wage Standards and Employment," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(356), pages 884-907, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:econom:v:89:y:2022:i:356:p:884-907
    DOI: 10.1111/ecca.12421
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    Cited by:

    1. Gavoille, Nicolas & Zasova, Anna, 2023. "What we pay in the shadows: Labor tax evasion, minimum wage hike and employment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    2. Bossler, Mario & Liang, Ying & Schank, Thorsten, 2024. "The Devil Is in the Details: Heterogeneous Effects of the German Minimum Wage on Working Hours and Minijobs," IZA Discussion Papers 16964, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Jeffrey Clemens & Michael R. Strain, 2023. "Does Wage Theft Vary by Demographic Group? Evidence from Minimum Wage Increases," NBER Working Papers 31818, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Adamopoulou, Effrosyni & Villanueva, Ernesto, 2022. "Wage determination and the bite of collective contracts in Italy and Spain," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J52 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Dispute Resolution: Strikes, Arbitration, and Mediation
    • J83 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Workers' Rights

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