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The Origins and Early Impact of the Minimum Wage in Agriculture

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  • Robin Gowers
  • Timothy J. Hatton

Abstract

This paper examines the effects on wages and employment of the minimum wage in agriculture in the United Kingdom during the interwar period. We find that the impact of regulation was to raise the wage for agricultural labourers by 13% when it was (re)introduced in 1924, by 15% in the late 1920s, and by more than 20% in the 1930s. The effect on farm employment was to reduce it by about 54,000 (6.5%) in 1929 up to a peak of 97,000 (13.3%) in 1937. The minimum wage lifted many families of farm labourers who remained employed out of poverty, but it significantly lowered the incomes of farmers, particularly during the 1930s.
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Suggested Citation

  • Robin Gowers & Timothy J. Hatton, 1997. "The Origins and Early Impact of the Minimum Wage in Agriculture," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 50(1), pages 82-103, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ehsrev:v:50:y:1997:i:1:p:82-103
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/1468-0289.00046
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    Cited by:

    1. Lindsay Trant & Christy Anderson Brekken & Larry Lev & Lauren Gwin, 2018. "Implications of the 2016 Oregon Minimum Wage Increase for Direct Market Farmers, Farmworkers, and Communities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-18, January.
    2. Vink, N & Tregurtha, N, 2003. "A Theoretical Perspective On A Minimum Wage In South African Agriculture," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 42(1).
    3. Maoyong Fan & Anita Alves Pena, 2019. "Do minimum wage laws affect those who are not covered? Evidence from agricultural and non-agricultural workers," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(10), pages 1-20, October.
    4. Richard Dickens & Stephen Machin & Alan Manning & David Metcalf & Jonathan Wadsworth & Stephen Woodland, 1995. "The Effect Of Minimum Wages On Uk Agriculture," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 1-19, January.
    5. Vera Bitsch & Stefan Mair & Marta M. Borucinska & Christiane A. Schettler, 2017. "Introduction of a Nationwide Minimum Wage: Challenges to Agribusinesses in Germany," Economia agro-alimentare, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 19(1), pages 13-34.
    6. Anita Alves Pena, 2013. "Do Minimum Wage Laws Affect People Who Are Not Covered? Evidence from Documented and Undocumented, Hourly and Piece Rate Workers in U.S. Agriculture," Upjohn Working Papers 13-194, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    7. Reg HAMILTON & Matt NICHOL, 2023. "One hundred years of dynamic minimum wage regulation: Lessons from Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 162(3), pages 407-429, September.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J43 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Agricultural Labor Markets
    • N34 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: 1913-
    • N44 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: 1913-

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