This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

A Minimum Wage can be Welfare-Improving and Employment-Enhancing

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Robin Boadway () (Queen's University)
Katherine Cuff (Queen's University)

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

We examine whether minimum wages can fulfill a useful role as part of an optimal nonlinear income tax scheme. In this setting, governments cannot observe household abilities, only their incomes. Redistributing according to income, the government is constrained by a set of incentive constraints. Firms, on the other hand, are able to identify abilities of workers. To exploit that, the government imposes a minimum wage. This will preclude firms from offering a job to anyone below the minimum wage. The use of the minimum wage policy combined with the institutional features of typical welfare systems allows the incentive constraints to be severed at the ability level associated with the minimum wage. If such a scheme can be enforced, the government can increase the amount of redistribution from those working to those not working. Moreover, the optimal minimum wage may actually lower the number of unemployed.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help file. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www.econ.queensu.ca/working_papers/papers/qed_wp_980.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function: First version 1999
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by Queen's University, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers with number 980.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML, plain text, BibTeX, RIS (EndNote), ReDIF
Length: 40 pages
Date of creation: Feb 1999
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:qed:wpaper:980

Contact details of provider:
Postal: Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6
Phone: (613) 533-2250
Fax: (613) 533-6668
Email:
Web page: http://www.econ.queensu.ca/
More information through EDIRC

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Mark Babcock).

Related research
Keywords: Minimum Wage Optimal Income Tax Unemployment

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy

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. David Neumark & William Wascher, 1995. "The Effects of Minimum Wages on Teenage Employment and Enrollment: Evidence from Matched CPS Surveys," NBER Working Papers 5092, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Cahuc, Pierre & Michel, Philippe, 1996. "Minimum wage unemployment and growth," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(7), pages 1463-1482, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Robin Boadway & Katherine Cuff & Maurice Marchand, 1999. "Optimal Income Taxation With Quasi-Linear Preferences Revisited," Working Papers 984, Queen's University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Cremer, Helmuth & Gahvari, Firouz, 1996. "Tax evasion and the optimum general income tax," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2), pages 235-249, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Robin Boadway & Katherine Cuff, 1999. "Monitoring Job Search as an Instrument for Targeting Transfers," Working Papers 982, Queen's University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Guesnerie, Roger & Roberts, Kevin, 1987. "Minimum wage legislation as a second best policy," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-2), pages 490-498. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Lollivier, Stefan & Rochet, Jean-Charles, 1983. "Bunching and second-order conditions: A note on optimal tax theory," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 392-400, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Ebert, Udo, 1992. "A reexamination of the optimal nonlinear income tax," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 47-73, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Marhuenda, Francisco & Ortuno-Ortin, Ignacio, 1997. " Tax Enforcement Problems," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 99(1), pages 61-72, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Mirrlees, James A, 1971. "An Exploration in the Theory of Optimum Income Taxation," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 38(114), pages 175-208, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Boadway, Robin & Marchand, Maurice & Sato, Motohiro, 1998. " Subsidies versus Public Provision of Private Goods as Instruments for Redistribution," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 100(3), pages 545-64, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  12. Weymark, John A., 1986. "A reduced-form optimal nonlinear income tax problem," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 199-217, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Rebitzer, James B. & Taylor, Lowell J., 1995. "The consequences of minimum wage laws Some new theoretical ideas," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 245-255, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  14. Boadway, Robin & Marchand, Maurice, 1995. "The Use of Public Expenditures for Redistributive Purposes," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 47(1), pages 45-59, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  15. Swinnerton, Kenneth A, 1996. "Minimum Wages in an Equilibrium Search Model with Diminishing Returns to Labor in Production," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(2), pages 340-55, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

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. Cahuc, Pierre & Laroque, Guy, 2007. "Optimal Taxation and Monopsonistic Labour Market: Does Monopsony Justify the Minimum Wage?," CEPR Discussion Papers 6416, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Arantza Gorostiage & Juan F. Rubio-Ramírez, 2004. "Optimal Minimum Wage in a Competitive Economy," DFAEII Working Papers 200407, University of the Basque Country - Department of Foundations of Economic Analysis II. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Robin Boadway, 1998. "Redistributing Smarter: Self-Selection, Targeting and Non-Conventional Policy Instruments," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 24(3), pages 365-369, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Willem Molle, 2002. "Globalization, Regionalism and Labour Markets: Should We Recast the Foundations of the EU Regime in Matters of Regional (Rural and Urban) Development?," Regional Studies, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 36(2), pages 161-172, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Etienne Lehmann & Mathias Hungerbühler, 2007. "On the Optimality of a Minimum Wage: New Insights from Optimal Tax Theory," IZA Discussion Papers 2957, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  6. Stephen Coate, 1999. "An Efficiency Approach to the Evaluation of Policy Changes," NBER Working Papers 7316, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? A tutorial is available.

This page was last updated on 2008-7-17.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.