IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/iab/iabzaf/v42i1p085-092.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Anmerkungen zur Mindestlohndebatte : Elastizitäten, Strukturparameter und Topfschlagen (Commenting on the minimum wage debate : elasticities, structural parameters and groping in the dark)

Author

Listed:
  • Fitzenberger, Bernd

    (IFS ; IZA ; ZEW)

Abstract

"The introduction of minimum wages has already been discussed intensively in Germany. This comment is written from the viewpoint of an empirical labor economist. There are two objectives of this paper. First, the paper refers to some aspects of economic theory which have so far not been adequately discussed in the current debate in Germany although they provide important explanatory patterns for key labour market phenomena. The second objective is the discussion of relevant empirical approaches and results. Opponents of a minimum wage and advocates of a moderate minimum wage in Germany offer convincing theoretical arguments for their positions. In contrast, the empirical basis of the debate in Germany is, unfortunately, still very weak. A positive exception is the study by König and Möller (2007). In the light of the current status of the debate, I can not advocate the introduction of a minimum wage, no matter how moderate. However, I think that there are conceivable circumstances under which it would make sense to introduce a moderate minimum wage. The obligation to deliver convincing empirical evidence for the existence of such circumstances has to be delivered by the advocates of the minimum wage." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Suggested Citation

  • Fitzenberger, Bernd, 2009. "Anmerkungen zur Mindestlohndebatte : Elastizitäten, Strukturparameter und Topfschlagen (Commenting on the minimum wage debate : elasticities, structural parameters and groping in the dark)," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 42(1), pages 85-92.
  • Handle: RePEc:iab:iabzaf:v:42:i:1:p:085-092
    DOI: 10.1007/s12651-009-0004-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12651-009-0004-z
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12651-009-0004-z?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. Neumark, David & Wascher, William L., 2007. "Minimum Wages and Employment," Foundations and Trends(R) in Microeconomics, now publishers, vol. 3(1–2), pages 1-182, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Adam, Antonis & Moutos, Thomas, 2011. "A politico-economic analysis of minimum wages and wage subsidies," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 110(3), pages 171-173, March.
    2. Caroline Danielson & Deborah Reed & Qian Li & Jay Liao, "undated". "Sanctions and Time Limits in California's Welfare Program," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 09550879b2754a38b32e03488, Mathematica Policy Research.
    3. Jenny Kragl & Anja Schöttner, 2014. "Wage Floors, Imperfect Performance Measures, And Optimal Job Design," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 55(2), pages 525-550, May.
    4. Maria Marimpi & Pierre Koning, 2018. "Youth minimum wages and youth employment," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-18, December.
    5. Marianna Kudlyak & Murat Tasci & Didem Tuzemen, 2019. "Minimum Wage Increases and Vacancies," Working Papers 19-30R, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, revised 21 Apr 2022.
    6. Ronald Backmann & Thomas K. Bauer & Jochen Kluve & Sandra Schaffner & Christoph M. Schmidt, 2008. "Mindestlöhne in Deutschland - Beschäftigungswirkungen und fiskalische Effekte," RWI Materialien, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, pages 56, 05.
    7. Luis Medrano-Adán & Vicente Salas-Fumás & J. Sanchez-Asin, 2015. "Heterogeneous entrepreneurs from occupational choices in economies with minimum wages," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 597-619, March.
    8. Mark D. Brenner, 2004. "The Economic Impact of Living Wage Ordinances," Working Papers wp80, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    9. Dinkelman, Taryn & Ranchhod, Vimal, 2012. "Evidence on the impact of minimum wage laws in an informal sector: Domestic workers in South Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 27-45.
    10. Lemos Sara, 2005. "Political Variables as Instruments for the Minimum Wage," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 4(1), pages 1-33, December.
    11. Pia M. Orrenius & Madeline Zavodny, 2008. "The Effect of Minimum Wages on Immigrants' Employment and Earnings," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 61(4), pages 544-563, July.
    12. Orsetta Causa & Alain de Serres & Nicolas Ruiz, 2015. "Can pro-growth policies lift all boats?: An analysis based on household disposable income," OECD Journal: Economic Studies, OECD Publishing, vol. 2015(1), pages 227-268.
    13. David Neumark, 2019. "The Econometrics and Economics of the Employment Effects of Minimum Wages: Getting from Known Unknowns to Known Knowns," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 20(3), pages 293-329, August.
    14. Eva Militaru & Madalina Ecaterina Popescu & Amalia Cristescu & Maria Denisa Vasilescu, 2019. "Assessing Minimum Wage Policy Implications upon Income Inequalities. The Case of Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-20, May.
    15. Shirley, Peter, 2018. "The response of commuting patterns to cross-border policy differentials: Evidence from the American Community Survey," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 1-16.
    16. John Addison & McKinley Blackburn & Chad Cotti, 2015. "On the robustness of minimum wage effects: geographically-disparate trends and job growth equations," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-16, December.
    17. Kragl, Jenny & Schöttner, Anja, 2011. "Wage floors and optimal job design," Bonn Econ Discussion Papers 01/2011, University of Bonn, Bonn Graduate School of Economics (BGSE).
    18. Richard V. Burkhauser & Kosali I. Simon, 2008. "Who Gets What From Employer Pay or Play Mandates?," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 11(1), pages 75-102, March.
    19. Johan Stennek, 2020. "Why Unions Reduce Wage Inequality: A Theory of Domino Effects," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 122(3), pages 1045-1072, July.
    20. Natalia Mishagina & Claude Montmarquette, 2018. "The Demand for Economic Policies, Beliefs, and Willingness-to-Pay: The Case of the Minimum Wage Policy in Quebec," CIRANO Project Reports 2018rp-14, CIRANO.

    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:iab:iabzaf:v:42:i:1:p:085-092. 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: IAB, Geschäftsbereich Wissenschaftliche Fachinformation und Bibliothek (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iabbbde.html .

    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.