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Employment and distribution effects of the minimum wage

Author

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  • Slonimczyk, Fabián
  • Skott, Peter
Abstract
This paper analyzes the effects of the minimum wage on wage inequality, relative employment and over-education. We show that over-education can be generated endogenously and that an increase in the minimum wage can raise both total and low-skill employment, and produce a fall in inequality. Evidence from the US suggests that these theoretical results are empirically relevant. The over-education rate has been increasing and our regression analysis suggests that the decrease in the minimum wage may have led to a deterioration of the employment and relative wage of low-skill workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Slonimczyk, Fabián & Skott, Peter, 2012. "Employment and distribution effects of the minimum wage," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 245-264.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:84:y:2012:i:1:p:245-264
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2012.03.005
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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Does the minimum wage raise employment?
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2010-05-21 19:28:00
    2. Small truths about the minimum wage
      by chris dillow in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2010-11-13 18:26:47
    3. The low pay problem
      by chris dillow in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2012-10-29 19:17:05

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    Cited by:

    1. Oren M. Levin-Waldman, 2017. "Is Inequality Designed or Preordained?," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(2), pages 21582440177, April.
    2. Rizov, Marian & Croucher, Richard & Lange, Thomas, 2016. "The UK national minimum wage's impact on productivity," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 27(4), pages 819-835.
    3. Peter Skott, 2013. "Increasing Inequality and Financial Instability," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 45(4), pages 478-488, December.
    4. Fabián Slonimczyk, 2013. "Earnings inequality and skill mismatch in the U.S.: 1973–2002," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 11(2), pages 163-194, June.
    5. Peter Skott, 2011. "Heterodox macro after the crisis," UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers 2011-23, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics.
    6. Ebo Botchway & Kofi Fred Asiedu, 2020. "Ownership type and earnings gap decomposition: Evidence from the Ghanaian labor market," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 32(4), pages 619-631, December.
    7. Salverda, Wiemer & Checchi, Daniele, 2014. "Labour-Market Institutions and the Dispersion of Wage Earnings," IZA Discussion Papers 8220, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Dr. Nickolaos Giovanis, 2018. "Determining Factors of Minimum Wage in the Member States of the OECD," Sumerianz Journal of Business Management and Marketing, Sumerianz Publication, vol. 1(4), pages 93-101, 12-2018.
    9. Alessandra Brito & Miguel Foguel & Celia Kerstenetzky, 2017. "The contribution of minimum wage valorization policy to the decline in household income inequality in Brazil: A decomposition approach," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(4), pages 540-575, October.
    10. Dutt, Amitava Krishna & Veneziani, Roberto, 2020. "A Classical Model Of Education, Growth, And Distribution," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(5), pages 1186-1221, July.
    11. Dr. Nickolaos Giovanis, 2019. "“Determining Factors of Minimum Wage in the Member States of the OECDâ€," Sumerianz Journal of Business Management and Marketing, Sumerianz Publication, vol. 2(1), pages 6-14, 01-2019.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Minimum wage; Earnings inequality; Monopsony; Efficiency wage; Over-education;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts
    • J42 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Monopsony; Segmented Labor Markets

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