IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ajecsc/v68y2009i5p1063-1084.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Smith and Living Wages: Arguments in Support of a Mandated Living Wage

Author

Listed:
  • Betsy Jane Clary

Abstract

Adam Smith was a proponent of living wages for labor for reasons of growth and for reasons of equity. There is ample evidence in the body of Smith's work to support the thesis that Smith would support public policies that might ensure the achievement of a living wage. The argument rests, in part, on the conclusion that Smith had reservations concerning the ability of the economy to experience sufficient growth and the ability of growth, if achieved, to secure living wages. This article argues that, given Smith's views about justice and given Smith's ideas, as part of the Scottish Enlightenment, of how the rules of justice evolve, a living wage law could be one of the general rules of which Smith could approve.

Suggested Citation

  • Betsy Jane Clary, 2009. "Smith and Living Wages: Arguments in Support of a Mandated Living Wage," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(5), pages 1063-1084, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ajecsc:v:68:y:2009:i:5:p:1063-1084
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1536-7150.2009.00653.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1536-7150.2009.00653.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1536-7150.2009.00653.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Smith, Adam, 1759. "The Theory of Moral Sentiments," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number smith1759.
    2. Evensky,Jerry, 2005. "Adam Smith's Moral Philosophy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521852470.
    3. Smith, Adam, 1776. "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number smith1776.
    4. Winch, Donald, 1983. "Science and the Legislator: Adam Smith and After," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 93(371), pages 501-520, September.
    5. Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez, 2003. "Income Inequality in the United States, 1913–1998," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(1), pages 1-41.
    6. Winch Donald, 1997. "Adam Smith’s Problems and Ours," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 44(4), pages 384-402, September.
    7. Edd S. Noell, 2006. "Smith and a Living Wage: Competition, Economic Compulsion, and the Scholastic Legacy," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 38(1), pages 151-174, Spring.
    8. Warren J. Samuels & Steven G. Medema, 2005. "Freeing Smith from the “Free Market”: On the Misperception of Adam Smith on the Economic Role of Government," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 37(2), pages 219-226, Summer.
    9. Witztum, Amos, 1997. "Distributive Considerations in Smith's Conception of Economic Justice," Economics and Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(2), pages 241-259, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Thorsten Schulten & Torsten Müller, 2019. "What’s in a name? From minimum wages to living wages in Europe," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 25(3), pages 267-284, August.
    2. Andrea Werner & Ming Lim, 2016. "The Ethics of the Living Wage: A Review and Research Agenda," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 137(3), pages 433-447, September.
    3. Bruce E. Kaufman, 2016. "Adam Smith’s Economics and the Modern Minimum Wage Debate:The Large Distance Separating Kirkcaldy from Chicago," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 29-52, March.
    4. Mair, Simon & Druckman, Angela & Jackson, Tim, 2019. "Higher Wages for Sustainable Development? Employment and Carbon Effects of Paying a Living Wage in Global Apparel Supply Chains," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 11-23.
    5. Yandi Yusnandar & B.S. Nazamuddin & Raja Masbar & Abd. Jamal, 2020. "Determinants of labor force participation and its impact on the standard of living of working age individuals in Indonesia, a gender perspective," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(2), pages 989-1001.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Charles M. A. Clark, 2021. "Editor’s Introduction: Economics and the Option for the Poor," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 80(4), pages 1051-1059, September.
    2. Richard M. Robinson, 2018. "Friendships of Virtue, Pursuit of the Moral Community, and the Ends of Business," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(1), pages 85-100, August.
    3. Daniel B Klein, 2022. "Gratefulness, resentfulness, and some modern slogans," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(1), pages 135-143, February.
    4. Harvey James, 2006. "Sustainable agriculture and free market economics: Finding common ground in Adam Smith," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 23(4), pages 427-438, December.
    5. Saez, Emmanuel & Stantcheva, Stefanie, 2018. "A simpler theory of optimal capital taxation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 120-142.
    6. Avner Offer, 2012. "Self-interest, Sympathy and the Invisible Hand : From Adam Smith to Market Liberalism," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 1(2), pages 1-1, December.
    7. Daniel B Klein & Caroline Breashears, 2022. "By the same author: Presenting Adam Smith's works as a whole," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3), pages 528-540, October.
    8. Bruce E. Kaufman, 2016. "Adam Smith’s Economics and the Modern Minimum Wage Debate:The Large Distance Separating Kirkcaldy from Chicago," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 29-52, March.
    9. Lockwood, Benjamin B. & Weinzierl, Matthew, 2016. "Positive and normative judgments implicit in U.S. tax policy, and the costs of unequal growth and recessions," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 30-47.
    10. (Xiao-Tian) Wang, X.T. & Ong, Lay See & Tan, Jolene H., 2015. "Sense and sensibility of ownership: Type of ownership experience and valuation of goods," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 171-177.
    11. Kluver, Jesse & Frazier, Rebecca & Haidt, Jonathan, 2014. "Behavioral ethics for Homo economicus, Homo heuristicus, and Homo duplex," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 123(2), pages 150-158.
    12. Michael Munger, 2020. "Moral community and moral order: Buchanan’s theory of obligation," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 183(3), pages 509-521, June.
    13. Yang, Lili, 2021. "Social equity and equity in higher education: A comparison of the liberal Anglo-American and Chinese political cultures," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    14. John Foster, 2021. "The US consumption function: a new perspective," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 31(3), pages 773-798, July.
    15. Peter J. Boettke & Daniel J. D'Amico, 2010. "Corridors, Coordination, and the Entrepreneurial Theory of the Market Process," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 25(Spring 20), pages 87-96.
    16. Amit Bhaduri, 2000. "Nationalism and Economic Policy in the Era of Globalization," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2000-188, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    17. Hayes, William M. & Lynne, Gary D., 2004. "Towards a centerpiece for ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 287-301, July.
    18. Paganelli, Maria Pia & Simon, Fabrizio & Assistant, JHET, 2020. "Crime and Punishment: Adam Smith’s Theory of Sentimental Law and Economics," OSF Preprints x82yh, Center for Open Science.
    19. Scott A. Beaulier, 2010. "Without Private Property, There Can Be No Rational Economic Calculation," Chapters, in: Peter J. Boettke (ed.), Handbook on Contemporary Austrian Economics, chapter 6, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    20. Robert B. Ekelund Jr & Edward O. Price III, 2012. "The Economics of Edwin Chadwick," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14915.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:ajecsc:v:68:y:2009:i:5:p:1063-1084. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0002-9246 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.