National Minimum Wage Research Articles

How do wage setting institutions affect wage rigidity? Evidence from French micro data

We document new empirical findings on the effects of wage setting institutions on wage rigidity using quarterly micro wage data matched with sectoral minimum wages. We first estimate a micro empirical model of wage rigidity that takes into account minimum wage dynamics. We then use a simulation method to investigate the implications of lumpy micro wage adjustment for aggregate wages. Both national and sectoral minimum wages have a large effect on the timing and on the size of wage adjustments. Minimum wage setting institutions contribute to increasing the time it takes to fully absorb a shock to wages by one year, although the resulting wage changes are significantly higher. Minimum wages contribute to amplifying, by a factor of 1.7, the response of wages to past inflation. The elasticities of wages with respect to past inflation, the national minimum wage and sectoral minimum wages are 0.42, 0.17 and 0.16 respectively. Finally, there are significant spillover effects of the national minimum wage on higher wages passing through from sectoral minimum wages.

The Suitability-Feasibility-Acceptability Strategy Integrated with Bayesian BWM-MARCOS Methods to Determine the Optimal Lithium Battery Plant Located in South America

This study aims to help managers develop a proper strategy and policy for their company’s future. After the global COVID-19 pandemic, developed countries decided to change their production and relocate and re-industrialize. The U.S.’s big electronics and automobile companies are not an exception to this rule. The lithium batteries are the main instrument of mobile phone and electric vehicles. The leading lithium battery supplier for the U.S mobile phone companies is China. Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile (in South America) have some of the largest lithium mines in the world; these countries are known as the lithium triangle. Among the 86 million tonnes of lithium resources worldwide, 49.9 million tonnes exist in this area. The researchers in this study surveyed the best country for constructing a battery for companies in the U.S. Because of the growth of electric vehicles and their use of the lithium battery, the world is facing astronomical prices for lithium. To emphasize this issue and help managers create good policy, this study combined multiple methods. The improved suitability-feasibility-acceptability (SFA) strategy is integrated with the Bayesian best-worst method (BBWM) and measurement of alternatives and rankings according to compromise solution (MARCOS) multicriteria methods to determine the best destination. For comparison, based on the SFA strategy, seven criteria are introduced: commercially viable reserves, national minimum wage, corporate income tax, accessibility to mining companies, accessibility to the waterway, population, and political stability index. The Bayesian BWM analysis reveals that the foremost factor is corporate income tax, whereas MARCOS’s findings indicate that Chile is the best country to construct the lithium battery industry. To verify the proposed approach, a comparison analysis also is performed.

Willingness to provide informal care to older adults in Germany: a discrete choice experiment

As the German population is continually aging and the majority of older adults still wish to ‘age in place’, the need for informal care provided by family and friends will correspondingly continue to increase. In addition, while the need for formal (professional) care services is also likely to increase, the supply already does not meet the demand in Germany today. The aim of our study is the elicitation of people’s willingness to provide informal care by means of a discrete choice experiment. The self-complete postal survey was disseminated to a random sample of the German general population in Lower Saxony. Data cleansing resulted in a final sample size of 280 participants. A conditional logit and a latent class model were estimated. All attributes were judged as highly relevant by the respondents. The results revealed that an increase in the care hours per day had the greatest negative impact overall on the willingness to provide informal care in our sample. The marginal willingness-to-accept for 1 h of informal care was €14.54 when having to provide informal care for 8 h in reference to 2 h per day. This value is considerably higher than the national minimum wage of €9.82. A three-class latent class model revealed preference heterogeneity. While a monetary compensation is often discussed to increase the willingness and availability of informal care in a country, our results show that this statement could not be generalized within our entire sample.

Failing to Succeed? The Cambridge School and the Economic Case for the Minimum Wage

The case of the British minimum wage illustrates the interplay of ideas and interests in the making of labour legislation. In the 1980s, the pragmatic and data-driven approach of the Cambridge School, associated with the Department of Applied Economics (DAE), advanced a case for the minimum wage which combined fairness and efficiency justifications. Through collaboration with trade unions and think tanks, the argument was mobilized into an activistled campaign which changed political perceptions of the minimum wage. During the 1990s the campaign looked to have failed, as a more conventional economics informed the passage of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998. In the long run, however, the case made by the Cambridge School has endured, to inform today’s global movement for a living wage. Cambridge School, Department of Applied Economics, National Minimum Wage Act, National Living Wage, Low Pay Commission

Domestic Workers, the ‘Family Worker’ Exemption from Minimum Wage, and Gendered Devaluation of Women’s Work

Abstract Domestic workers, who work in private households carrying out tasks such as cooking, cleaning, and care for children and the elderly, are overwhelmingly women and often from migrant and/ or ethnic minority backgrounds. This article examines a stark example of domestic workers’ exclusion from labour law protection, regulation 57(3) of the National Minimum Wage Regulations, which exempts employers from paying the minimum wage where a worker lives in their employer’s family home and is treated ‘as a member of the family’ in relation to accommodation, meals, tasks and leisure activities. Drawing on feminist theory on the divisions between ‘productive’ work outside the home versus ‘reproductive’ work within it, it argues that the exemption’s application has reflected gendered devaluation of domestic labour, stemming from its conflation with work normally performed for free by women in the ‘private sphere’ of the home. Focusing on the December 2020 Employment Tribunal (ET) judgment in Puthenveettil v Alexander & ors, which held that the exemption was unlawful and indirectly discriminatory on the grounds of sex, the article provides timely and in-depth analysis of the prospects for challenging the devaluation of domestic work in light of the limitations of legal protections for domestic workers in the UK.

Minimum wage: problems of inequality and social justice

Work associated with low wages, close to the minimum level, creates prerequisites for inequality and the release of a much larger number of employees from the intra-company labor market than for people with competitive earnings. The position is substantiated, according to which the restraint of wage growth is due to the method of achieving economic efficiency and the lack of social justice based on the use of cheap labor, the weakness of the local labor market and the low level of bargaining power, which is characterized by the effect of snobbery. The authors point out that trade unions, as active participants in the social dialogue, do not exert proper influence on political processes in order to establish optimal and reasonable minimum wage rates. The analysis showed that in extremely uncompetitive labor markets, where there are usually low wages, prerequisites for income inequality are formed and minimum wage legislation could help provide a certain compensatory force in support of unorganized workers, as well as achieving social justice. It is proved that employers do not make decisions about hiring in a vacuum, and institutional and political frameworks can play an important role in influencing the formation of demand for labor. In addition, the national minimum wage has not been sufficiently revised and adjusted in recent years, taking into account economic development, institutional and political factors, and may become a "permanent rate" for many low-paid jobs in the absence of collective bargaining and limit the growth of real earnings. The study shows that the minimum wage has the potential to destroy jobs for low-skilled workers and creates an institutional environment of "winners" and "losers" despite the fact that most of the workforce has access only to poor and low-paid jobs, which are characteristic of the Russian model of the labor market with a high level of employment. It is recommended to create effective jobs in the economy based on the institutionalization of education and the growth of professional and qualification growth.

The impact of increasing the United Kingdom national minimum wage on self-reported health.

There is a growing but mixed literature on the health effects of minimum wages. If minimum wage changes have a statistically significant impact on health, this suggests health effects should be incorporated into cost‐benefit analyses to capture wider policy impacts. Whilst most existing UK based literature examines the introduction of a minimum wage, this paper exploits the 2016, 2017 and 2018 UK National Minimum Wage (NMW) increases as natural experiments using a series of difference‐in‐differences models. Short Form‐12 (SF‐12) mental and physical component summary scores are used as dependent variables. In the base case and all sensitivity analyses, the estimated impact of NMW increases on mental and physical health are insignificant. The policy implication is that health effects should not be included in cost‐benefit analyses examining the NMW.

Minimum wage and employment: a gender perspective for Mauritius

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the employment effect of the minimum wage in Mauritius, a country that has recently introduced an economy-wide national minimum wage. As women have low labor force participation rate and higher unemployment rate compared to men, this study sheds light on the impact of the national minimum wage on male and female employment.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual framework based on the labor–leisure model of Blundell et al. (2007) incorporating the minimum wage as an important variable influencing the employment decision of the individual serves as the methodological backdrop of this paper. It applies the difference-in-difference estimation technique and uses micro data from the Continuous Multi-Purpose Household Survey for the period 2017–2019.FindingsThe results show that minimum wage has a significant negative impact on overall employment. With the imposition of the national minimum wage, the probability that an individual, currently earning less than the minimum wage, remains employed is 0.525 lower than that of a worker earning above the minimum wage level. Moreover, using sex-disaggregated data, the analysis demonstrates the negative employment effects of the minimum wage adversely impact women more than men.Originality/valueThis is a first attempt to estimate the effect of the newly introduced national minimum wage on employment in Mauritius. While the effects of a minimum wage vary across different segments of the economy, this study adopts a gender perspective by comparing the impact of the minimum wage on male and female employment.

Socio-demographic predictors of food security among rural households in Langai district in Plateau-Nigeria: a cross-sectional study

household food insecurity is a critical social determinant of health globally. There is a rising global prevalence of food insecurity which affects households' access to food of adequate quantity and quality. This study assessed the level of food security and its socio-demographic determinants among rural households. this is a cross-sectional community survey among 201 rural households in Langai district representing a total population of 1,284. Reported food security was assessed using Food Consumption Scores and Coping Strategy Index. Data were analysed with SPSS 21. Analysis was done to assess the level of food-security associated factors. Multivariable analysis was done to assess determinants of food security. P-value <0.05 is considered significant. forty-three percent of all households have a total income greater than the national minimum wage. Overall, 21.4% are quality-food insecure (FCS), 6.5% have severe coping behaviour (CSI-food insecure) and 34.8% are highly economically vulnerable to food insecurity. Significant predictors of household food security include women earning than the basic monthly wage (AOR: 4.29 [95%CI: 1.34-13.71]; p=0.014); those without marital partners (AOR: 4.91 [95%CI: 1.01-23.90]; p=0.049); smaller household size (≤ 5) (AOR: 2.69 [95%CI: 1.16-6.24]; p=0.021); and those not receiving financial support (AOR: 2.68 [95%CI: 1.17-6.13]; p=0.020). almost a quarter of all households' experience food insecurity with more than one-third being highly vulnerable to food insecurity. Efforts should be made to cushion the effect of global food insecurity among vulnerable populations and improve livelihood through improved agricultural practices to have sustainable and equitable food security.

Prevalence and risk factors of diarrheal diseases in Sierra Leone, 2019: a cross-sectional study.

Introduction:many studies have shown that unimproved water sources, inadequate sanitation facilities and poor hygiene are the main causes of diarrheal diseases, especially in developing countries. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and risk factors associated with diarrheal diseases in Sierra Leone.Methods:a cross-sectional study was conducted in March 2019. We used a questionnaire to collect data from study participants. Descriptive statistical analysis was followed to determine frequencies and percentages. Univariate analysis was used to find any association between dependent variable and independent variables. Independent variables that had an association in univariate were included in the multivariate model.Results:we surveyed 1,002 households (516 in rural and 486 in urban), and 2,311 respondents in four districts. The main source of income was farming 437 (43.6%). A total of 49 (54.2%) households earned below the national minimum wage per month. Females represented 61.9% of respondents. A total of 242 (32.2%) households had one to five household members and 229 (30.5%) households had more than ten members. Around 88.9% of households in urban, and 42.2% rural areas use improved water sources. The prevalence of diarrheal diseases was 12.3%. Multivariate analysis showed that using of unimproved water sources (aOR=1.9; 95% CI, 1.01 to 3.63, p=0.045), and large family size (aOR= 2.5; 95% CI, 1.18 to 5.35, p=0.017) were associated with diarrheal disease.Conclusion:we concluded that the risk factors associated with diarrheal diseases included unimproved water sources and large family size. More efforts required to improve water resources, adequate sanitation, and hygiene, particularly in rural areas.

Minimum wage and tolerance for inequality

We suggest that people advocate for equality also because they fear income losses below a given reference point. Stabilizing their baseline income can make workers more tolerant of inequality. We present evidence of this attitude in the UK by exploiting the introduction of the National Minimum Wage (NMW), which institutionally set a baseline pay reducing the risk of income losses for British workers at the bottom of the income distribution. Based on data from the British Household Panel Survey, we show that workers that benefited from the NMW program became relatively more tolerant of inequality and more likely to vote for the Conservative party.

Social and fiscal impacts of statutory minimum wages in EU countries: a microsimulation analysis with EUROMOD

Abstract This paper analyzes the effects of hypothetical MW (HMW) increases on social and fiscal outcomes in 21 European Union (EU) countries with a statutory national MW (NMW) based on a microsimulation approach using EUROMOD. The methodological challenges related to the use of available EU household survey data are described, along with the choices made to address these challenges. The paper assesses hypothetical scenarios in which countries with a statutory NMW increase their minimum wage (MW) to various reference values, set in relation to the gross national median and average wage. The model simulations suggest that MW increases can significantly reduce in-work poverty, wage inequality, and the gender pay gap, while generally improving the public budget balance. The implied wage increases for the beneficiaries are substantial, while the implied increases in the aggregate wage bill are generally modest. Extensions explore possible effects on employment and labor supply at the intensive margin.

CARREIRA E REMUNERAÇÃO DO MAGISTÉRIO ESTADUAL DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL

Abstract This text analyzes the career and remuneration of teachers, working in the state education network of Rio Grande do Sul, based on data from 2010 to 2019. The analysis is based on theoretical and normative elements related to the professionalization and valorization of teachers, as well as others, of contextual nature, of the state government finances. It presents a characterization of the composition of the teaching staff, its allocation at different stages in the career and the dynamics of salaries according to the career plan. The devaluation of the state teachers is showed in the increase in the hiring of temporary teachers, in the non-execution of promotions, in the noncompliance with the payment of the national professional minimum wage, and the deferring of full paychecks through the strategy of paying salaries in installments.

Does the Employment Effect of National Minimum Wage Vary by Non-Employment Rate? A Regression Discontinuity Approach

Does the Employment Effect of National Minimum Wage Vary by Non-Employment Rate? A Regression Discontinuity Approach

Economic burden of obstetric fistula among patients in the National Obstetric Fistula Centre, Nigeria

Background: Obstetric fistula (OF) continues to be a major health problem in developing countries such as Nigeria. It is a communication between the vagina and bladder/rectum following prolonged obstructed labor that leads to urine/and fecal leakage per vaginam. There is a paucity of information on cost of accessing care by women with OF. Objective: The study was to evaluate the cost implications of accessing care and treatment among women with OF in the National Obstetric Fistula Centre, Ningi Bauchi, state. Materials and Methods: A prevalence-based cost-of-illness approach was employed in this study to estimate the cost of fistula treatment from the patients' perspective. Data on costs of health-care utilization of services rendered to the patients in the facility and indirect costs were estimated. The data were analyzed with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS V21). Results: A total of 75 women participated in the study. The total costs incurred by all the 75 patients amounted to Nigerian Naira (NGN) 8211640.00 (USD 26923.41). The average cost of accessing care for fistula per patient was NGN109488.50 (USD 358.98). Direct cost accounted for 5751740.00 (USD 18858.16), whereas the indirect cost was 2785600.00 (USD9133.11). There was a significant difference in cost of care between patients that were teenagers compared to those who were not (P = 0.04) and the type of treatment (P &lt; 0.001). Conclusions: The cost of illness of OF is high in the studied area, and the patients are from the low socioeconomic background. Both the direct and indirect costs were high relative to the national minimum wage in Nigeria. The age of the patients and the type of treatment received by the patient accounted for the differences in cost of illness between the patients.

Socio-Economic Systems Response to Upwelling Variability in Small-Scale Fisheries: The Case of a Beach Seine Fishery in Ghana

The paper examines how variability in sea surface temperature and upwelling influenced fish catch in a small-scale beach seine fishery for nearly two years (covering two major seasons, a minor season and an off season), and how socio-cultural agreement on profit sharing further dictated disproportionate disparities in income of boat or net owners (considered as “employers”) and their fishing crew (“employees”). In this fishery, half of the total profit is allocated to the net owner and the remaining half shared among the crew. The year with higher sea surface temperature and weak upwelling intensity recorded lower fish catch and lower profits, which further worsened the economic plight of the fishermen. Crew earned less than Ghana’s national monthly minimum wage of GH¢ 120.96 (≈US$65.0) in 2012, and GH¢ 141.48 (≈US$75.8) in 2013 for most months in the two years. A net owner generally had more than 25 times the earning of a crew. Results are discussed within the broader contexts of socio-economic plight of small-scale fishers in the face of climate-induced weakening upwelling intensity and declining fish catches. Policy interventions for ensuring economic safety nets for small-scale fishermen in the country including a pension scheme for the fishers are proposed.

Analysing the Politics of Nigeria's 2019 National Minimum Wage: Towards a Public Policy.

This paper analyses the politics that characterised the Nigeria 2019 national minimum wage negotiations and implementation, which so far is the most prolonged in Nigeria’s history. Workers' welfare is the responsibility of governments across the world through fixing and regulation of the national minimum wage. But in Nigeria, this has been problematic, and the entire process is characterised by industrial actions undertaken to compel the government to commit to wage negotiations and implementation. The paper argues that the absence of functional standing machinery with a focus on labour economics, deciding the condition and time for a minimum wage review is seen as the main bane in government–labour frequent face-off in Nigeria, which has negatively impacted on harmonious industrial relations. Writing from the analytical point of view, the paper finds that industrial actions have become one action too many because of government's political approach to labour demands. Deciphered in the foregoing is that the current system of government–labour negotiation for new national minimum wage cannot guarantee workers’ welfare in Nigeria. Thus, for the Nigeria government to address this perennial minimum wage problem and be seen as fulfilling its obligation to the International Labour Organisation, it must urgently put in place an acceptable mechanism for fixing and regulating the national minimum wage in Nigeria to cushion the effect of the hike in petroleum products on which the national economy largely depends.

Burdens and predictors of the Burden experienced by Family Caregivers of Patients with Oral and Maxillofacial Tumours.

Aim:There is a dearth of knowledge on the burden of family caregivers of patients with maxillofacial tumours in Nigeria. This burden may be influenced by racial peculiarities and the disease entity of the patient. The aim of this study is to assess and document the burdens and predictors of burdens experienced by family caregivers of patients with oral maxillofacial tumours presenting at a tertiary health facility in South Western Nigeria.Materials and Methods:A descriptive cross-sectional study that included 110 consenting family caregivers of patients diagnosed with oral and maxillofacial tumours. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect information on their sociodemographic characteristics and caregiving burden using the Zarit burden interview tool. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics with Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 21.0.Result:The most frequent group of caregivers was patients’ children (32.0%), aged 30–39 years (28.2%), females (54.5%), with secondary education (41.8%), and traders (38.2%), who earned less than national minimum wage (55.5%). Majority (42.7%) experienced mild-to-moderate burden; coping strategy was mainly prayers (76.4%), while the greatest need expressed was financial assistance (93.6%). The significant predictors of caregiver burden were the presence of pain (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 2.961; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.165–7.526; P = 0.023) and severe clinical condition (AOR = 3.342; 95% CI = 1.133–9.853; P = 0.029).Conclusion:The most common category of the burden of family caregivers of patients with maxillofacial tumours was the mild-to-moderate category, and the most significant predictors were the presence of pain and severity of clinical condition. The greatest need expressed was financial assistance. Therefore, an emphasis on adequate pain control and alternate sources of funding may appreciably relieve the burden of family caregivers of patients with maxillofacial tumours.

Adverse working conditions and immigrants' physical health and depression outcomes: a longitudinal study in Greece.

Τhe study examines whether adverse working conditions for immigrants in Greece bear an association with deteriorated physical health and increased levels of depression during 2018 and 2019. A panel dataset resulted from the collaboration with centers providing free Greek language courses to immigrant population groups. Random Effects models assess the determinants of physical health and depression. Findings indicate that workers with no written contract of employment, receiving hourly wages lower than the national hourly minimum wages, and experiencing insults and/or threats in their present job experience worse physical health and increased levels of depression. Moreover, the study found that the inexistence of workplace contracts, underpayment, and verbal abuse in the workplace may coexist. An increased risk of underpayment and verbal abuse reveals itself when workers do not have a contract of employment and vice versa. Immigrant workers without a job contract might experience a high degree of workplace precariousness and exclusion from health benefits and insurance. Immigrant workers receiving a wage lower than the corresponding minimum potentially do not secure a living income, resulting in unmet needs and low investments in health. Workplace abuse might correspond with vulnerability related to humiliating treatment. These conditions can negatively impact workers' physical health and foster depression. Policies should promote written employment contracts and ensure a mechanism for workers to register violations of fair practices.

The twilight of neoliberalism in the USA?

The US economic expansion which began in 2009 was unusually prolonged but relatively weak. Profitability and investment strengthened between 2010 and 2015 but then began to falter. After Trump took office in 2017 there was a minor recovery in investment but the proceeds of major tax cuts were overwhelmingly used to finance payouts to share owners. Unemployment fell steadily from 2010 but with a shift towards lower-paid jobs. Median wages increased from around 2014, but while those for women had risen steadily since the 1980s, those for men only recuperated to their 1980 level in 2018. By contrast, top incomes soared. The impact of the COVID-19 epidemic was partly cushioned by huge government spending programmes, but unemployment among less-skilled workers increased strongly, while the massive monetary response led to an unprecedented bonanza for the rich. The Biden government's first major initiative extended unemployment benefits and promoted a national response to the health emergency, but failed to secure an increase in the national minimum wage to $15 an hour.