IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/wbecrv/v11y1997i1p119-43.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of Labor Market Regulations

Author

Listed:
  • Squire, Lyn
  • Suthiwart-Narueput, Sethaput

Abstract

This article investigates the impact of labor market regulations in a setting with incomplete compliance. It takes as its starting point the limited evidence regarding the distortionary costs of labor market regulations and argues that there may exist natural limits to the efficiency losses engendered by such regulations. The article reviews some stylized facts regarding labor market behavior, presents an analytical model that may explain such behavior, and provides a checklist for assessing the distortionary impact of regulations such as minimum wages. Copyright 1997 by Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Squire, Lyn & Suthiwart-Narueput, Sethaput, 1997. "The Impact of Labor Market Regulations," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 11(1), pages 119-143, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:wbecrv:v:11:y:1997:i:1:p:119-43
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gelb, A & Knight, John B & Sabot, R H, 1991. "Public Sector Employment, Rent Seeking and Economic Growth," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 101(408), pages 1186-1199, September.
    2. Alida Castillo Freeman & Richard B. Freeman, 1991. "Minimum Wages in Puerto Rico: Textbook Case of a Wage Floor?," NBER Working Papers 3759, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    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. Richard B. Freeman, 2009. "Labor Regulations, Unions, and Social Protection in Developing Countries: Market distortions or Efficient Institutions?," NBER Working Papers 14789, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. César Calderón & Alberto Chong & Rodrigo Valdés, 2004. "Normativa del mercado laboral y desigualdad del ingreso: elementos de juicio de un grupo de países," Research Department Publications 4376, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    3. Rémi Bazillier & Nicolas Sirven, 2006. "Les normes fondamentales du travail contribuent-elles à réduire les inégalités ?," Revue Française d'Économie, Programme National Persée, vol. 21(2), pages 111-146.
    4. César Calderón & Alberto Chong & Rodrigo O. Valdés, 2005. "Labor Market Regulations and Income Inequality: Evidence for a Panel of Countries," Central Banking, Analysis, and Economic Policies Book Series, in: Jorge Restrepo & Andrea Tokman R. & Norman Loayza (Series Editor) & Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel (Series Edi (ed.),Labor Markets and Institutions, edition 1, volume 8, chapter 7, pages 221-279, Central Bank of Chile.
    5. Derk Bienen, 2002. "Mindestlohnreformen in Südamerika – ökonomische Rechtfertigung und praktische Umsetzung," Ibero America Institute for Econ. Research (IAI) Discussion Papers 090, Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research.
    6. Ganserer, Angelika, 2021. "Non-compliance with temporary agency work regulations: Initial evidence from Germany," ZEW Discussion Papers 21-057, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    7. 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.
    8. Yerrabati, Sridevi, 2022. "Does vulnerable employment alleviate poverty in developing countries?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    9. Wong, Sara A., 2019. "Minimum wage impacts on wages and hours worked of low-income workers in Ecuador," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 77-99.
    10. Jan J. Rutkowski & Stefano Scarpetta, 2005. "Enhancing Job Opportunities : Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7408, December.
    11. Yana van der Meulen Rodgers & Gunseli Berik, 2006. "Asia's Race to Capture Post-MFA Markets: A Snapshot of Labor Standards, Compliance, and Impacts on Competitiveness," Working Paper Series, Department of Economics, University of Utah 2006_02, University of Utah, Department of Economics.
    12. Alan B. Krueger, 1996. "Observations on International Labor Standards and Trade," NBER Working Papers 5632, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Badaoui, Eliane & Walsh, Frank, 2022. "Productivity, non-compliance and the minimum wage," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    14. Weller, Jürgen, 2007. "La flexibilidad del mercado de trabajo en América Latina y el Caribe. Aspectos del debate, alguna evidencia y políticas," Macroeconomía del Desarrollo 5429, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    15. Kashif Mansoor & Donal O'Neill, 2020. "Minimum Wage Compliance and Household Welfare: An analysis of over 1500 Minimum Wages," Economics Department Working Paper Series n301-20.pdf, Department of Economics, National University of Ireland - Maynooth.
    16. Freeman, Richard B., 2010. "Labor Regulations, Unions, and Social Protection in Developing Countries," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Dani Rodrik & Mark Rosenzweig (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 4657-4702, Elsevier.
    17. Calderon, Cesar & Chong, Alberto & Leon, Gianmarco, 2007. "Institutional enforcement, labor-market rigidities, and economic performance," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 38-49, March.
    18. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pb:p:2859-2939 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Drusilla Brown & Alan Deardorff & Robert Stern, 1998. "Trade and Labor Standards," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 171-194, April.
    20. Alvaro Forteza & Martín Rama, 2000. "Labor Market "Rigidity" and the Success of Economic Reforms Across more than One Hundred Countries," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 0600, Department of Economics - dECON.
    21. Dessing, Maryke, 2004. "Implications for minimum-wage policies of an S-shaped labor-supply curve," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 543-568, April.
    22. repec:pri:rpdevs:dinkelman_ranchhod_minwages_0710 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Rama,Martin G., 1998. "Wage misalignment in CFA countries: are labor market policies to blame?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1873, The World Bank.
    24. Alvaro Forteza & Martin Rama, 2006. "Labor Market 'Rigidity' and the Success of Economic Reforms Across More Than 100 Countries," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(1), pages 75-105.
    25. Mansoor, Kashif & O'Neill, Donal, 2021. "Minimum wage compliance and household welfare: An analysis of over 1500 minimum wages in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).

    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. Oren M. Levin-Waldman, 1998. "Exploring the Politics of the Minimum Wage," Macroeconomics 9805010, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Bethencourt, Carlos & Perera-Tallo, Fernando, 2020. "Human Capital, Economic Growth, and Public Expenditure," ADBI Working Papers 1066, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    3. Derk Bienen, 2002. "Mindestlohnreformen in Südamerika – ökonomische Rechtfertigung und praktische Umsetzung," Ibero America Institute for Econ. Research (IAI) Discussion Papers 090, Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research.
    4. Kai A. Konrad & Sebastian G. Kessing, 2008. "Time Consistency and Bureaucratic Budget Competition," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(525), pages 1-15, January.
    5. Robinson, James A. & Torvik, Ragnar & Verdier, Thierry, 2006. "Political foundations of the resource curse," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(2), pages 447-468, April.
    6. P R Agénor, 2005. "The Analytics of Segmented Labor Markets," Centre for Growth and Business Cycle Research Discussion Paper Series 52, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    7. Oren M. Levin-Waldman, "undated". "Automatic Adjustment of the Minimum Wage, Linking the Minimum Wage to Productivity," Economics Public Policy Brief Archive ppb_42, Levy Economics Institute.
    8. Machin, Stephen & Manning, Alan & Rahman, Lupin, 2002. "Where the minimum wage bites hard: the introduction of the UK national minimum wage to a low wage sector," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 20070, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Alatas, Vivi & Cameron, Lisa, 2003. "The impact of minimum wages on employment in a low income country : an evaluation using the difference-differences approach," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2985, The World Bank.
    10. Garibaldi, Pietro & Gomes, Pedro & Sopraseuth, Thepthida, 2021. "Public employment redux," Journal of Government and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(C).
    11. Yiping Huang & Jian Chang & Prema-Chandra Athukorala & Sisira Jayasuriya, 2013. "Economic Policy Shifts in Sri Lanka: The Post-Conflict Development Challenge," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 12(2), pages 1-28, Summer.
    12. Banerji, Arup & Campos, J. Edgardo & Sabot, Richard H., 1995. "The political economy of formal sector pay and employment in developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1435, The World Bank.
    13. Gregory, Terry & Zierahn, Ulrich, 2022. "When the minimum wage really bites hard: The negative spillover effect on high-skilled workers," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    14. Oren M. Levin-Waldman, 1998. "Linking the Minimum Wage to Productivity," Macroeconomics 9802015, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Oren M. Levin-Waldman, "undated". "Do Institutions Affect the Wage Structure? Right-to-Work Laws, Unionization, and the Minimum Wage," Economics Public Policy Brief Archive ppb_57, Levy Economics Institute.
    16. Gonzalo Castex H., 2012. "Aumento del Salario Mínimo y sus Efectos sobre el Mercado Laboral," Notas de Investigación Journal Economía Chilena (The Chilean Economy), Central Bank of Chile, vol. 15(2), pages 117-129, August.
    17. Patricia Jones, 1998. "The impact of minimum wage legislation in developing countries where coverage is incomplete," CSAE Working Paper Series 1998-02, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    18. Roland Hodler, 2007. "Rent seeking and aid effectiveness," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 14(5), pages 525-541, October.
    19. Roland Hodler, 2004. "Redistribution to Rent Seekers, Foreign Aid and Economic Growth," Diskussionsschriften dp0406, Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft.
    20. W. Robert Reed, 2009. "The Determinants Of U.S. State Economic Growth: A Less Extreme Bounds Analysis," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 47(4), pages 685-700, October.

    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:oup:wbecrv:v:11:y:1997:i:1:p:119-43. 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: Oxford University Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/wrldbus.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.