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The Effect of the Minimum Wage on Prices

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Author Info
Lemos, Sara () (University of Leicester and IZA Bonn)

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Abstract

It is well established in the international literature that minimum wage increases compress the wages distribution. Firms respond to these higher labour costs by reducing employment, reducing profits, or raising prices. While there are hundreds of studies on the employment effect of the minimum wage, there is less than a handful studies on its profit effects, and only a couple of dozen studies on its price effects. Not only is the literature scanty on the minimum wage price effects, but also it lacks a survey on that. This survey represents an important contribution to the literature because it summarizes and critically compares over twenty price effect studies, providing a benchmark in the literature. This survey further contributes to the literature by offering an input to the recent debate over the direction of employment effects of the minimum wage. With employment and profits not significantly affected, higher prices is an obvious response to a minimum wage increase. Moreover, this survey also contributes to the literature by extending the current understanding on the minimum wage as a policy against inequality and poverty. If the minimum wage does not cause disemployment but causes inflation, it might hurt rather than aid the poor, who disproportionately suffer from inflation.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 1072.

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Length: 20 pages
Date of creation: Mar 2004
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Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1072

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Related research
Keywords: minimum wage; wage effect; employment effect; price effect informal sector; cost shock;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Daniel Aaronson & Eric French, 2003. "Product market evidence on the employment effects of the minimum wage," Working Paper Series WP-03-17, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. [Downloadable!]
  2. Layard, Richard & Nickell, Stephen, 1986. "Unemployment in Britain," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 53(210(S)), pages S121-69, Supplemen. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Jon Frye & Robert J. Gordon, 1981. "Government Intervention in the Inflation Process: The Econometrics of "Self-Inflicted Wounds"," NBER Working Papers 0550, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Timothy J. Besley & Harvey S. Rosen, 1998. "Sales Taxes and Prices: An Empirical Analysis," NBER Working Papers 6667, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Layard, P. R. G. & Nickell, S. J., 1985. "Unemployment, real wages, and aggregate demand in Europe, Japan and the United States," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 143-202, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Daniel Aaronson, 2001. "Price Pass-Through And The Minimum Wage," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(1), pages 158-169, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Laurence J. Kotlikoff & Lawrence H. Summers, 1988. "Tax Incidence," NBER Working Papers 1864, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
    • Kotlikoff, Laurence J. & Summers, Lawrence H., 1987. "Tax incidence," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 16, pages 1043-1092 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Edward M. Gramlich, 1976. "Impact of Minimum Wages on Other Wages, Employment, and Family Incomes," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 7(1976-2), pages 409-462. [Downloadable!]
  9. Lawrence Katz & Alan Krueger, 1992. "The Effect of the Minimum Wage on the Fast Food Industry," Working Papers 678, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section.. [Downloadable!]
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  10. Brown, Charles, 1999. "Minimum wages, employment, and the distribution of income," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 32, pages 2101-2163 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Jiawen Yang, 1997. "Exchange Rate Pass-Through In U.S. Manufacturing Industries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 79(1), pages 95-104, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg & Michael M. Knetter, 1997. "Goods Prices and Exchange Rates: What Have We Learned?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(3), pages 1243-1272, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Gali, Jordi & Gertler, Mark & Lopez-Salido, J. David, 2001. "European inflation dynamics," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(7), pages 1237-1270. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. Gron, Anne & Swenson, Deborah L, 1996. "Incomplete Exchange-Rate Pass-Through and Imperfect Competition: The Effect of Local Production," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(2), pages 71-76, May.
  15. Lee, Chinkook & O'Roark, Brian, 1999. "The Impact of Minimum Wage Increases on Food and Kindred Products Prices: An Analysis of Price Pass-Through," Technical Bulletins 33553, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. [Downloadable!]
  16. Douglas Staiger & James H. Stock & Mark W. Watson, 1996. "How Precise are Estimates of the Natural Rate of Unemployment?," NBER Working Papers 5477, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  17. repec:fth:prinin:298 is not listed on IDEAS
  18. Stephen Machin & Alan Manning & Lupin Rahman, 2003. "Where the Minimum Wage Bites Hard: Introduction of Minimum Wages to a Low Wage Sector," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 1(1), pages 154-180, 03. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Robert J. Gordon, 1975. "The Impact of Aggregate Demand on Prices," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 6(1975-3), pages 613-670. [Downloadable!]
  20. Marvin Goodfriend & Robert G. King, 1998. "The new neoclassical synthesis and the role of monetary policy," Working Paper 98-05, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. [Downloadable!]
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  21. Robert J. Gordon, 1980. "A Consistent Characterization of a Near-Century of Price Behavior," NBER Working Papers 0455, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  22. Laurence Ball & N. Gregory Mankiw & David Romer, 1988. "The New Keynsesian Economics and the Output-Inflation Trade-off," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 19(1988-1), pages 1-82. [Downloadable!]
  23. Jaewoo Lee, 1997. "The Response Of Exchange Rate Pass-Through To Market Concentration In A Small Economy: The Evidence From Korea," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 79(1), pages 142-145, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Sara Lemos, 2005. "Minimum Wage Effects on Wages, Employment and Prices: Implications for Poverty Alleviation in Brazil," Discussion Papers in Economics 05/15, Department of Economics, University of Leicester. [Downloadable!]
  2. Sara Lemos, 2006. "A Survey of the Effects of the Minimum Wage on Prices," Discussion Papers in Economics 06/9, Department of Economics, University of Leicester. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Sara Lemos, 2006. "Anticipated effects of the minimum wage on prices," Applied Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 38(3), pages 325-337, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
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