Abstract

The authors address the question of how a minimum wage increase affects the wages of low-wage workers relative to the wage the worker would have if there had been no minimum wage increase. The authors’ method allows for the effect to depend not only on the initial wage of the worker but also nonlinearly on the size of the minimum wage increase. Results indicate that low-wage workers who experience a small increase in the minimum wage tend to have lower wage growth than if there had been no minimum wage increase. A large increase to the minimum wage not only increases the wages of those workers who previously earned less than the new minimum wage but also spills over to workers with moderately higher wages. Finally, the authors find little evidence of heterogeneity in the effect by age, gender, income, and race.

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.