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A Note On Measuring The Depth Of Minimum Wage Violation

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  • Bhorat, Haroon
  • Kanbur, Ravi
  • Mayet, Natasha

Abstract

In the empirical literature on minimum wage enforcement, the standard approach is to measure the number of violations, not their depth. In this paper we present a family of violation indices which, by analogy with poverty indices, can emphasize the depth of violation to different degrees. The standard measure is a special case of this family of indices, but other members of the family highlight the depth of violation. We present an application to South Africa to show that the depth of violation matters, and is not captured by the standard measure in actual situations.

Suggested Citation

  • Bhorat, Haroon & Kanbur, Ravi & Mayet, Natasha, 2011. "A Note On Measuring The Depth Of Minimum Wage Violation," Working Papers 126533, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:cudawp:126533
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.126533
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    12. Rodgers, Dennis & Beall, Jo & Kanbur, Ravi, 2011. "LATIN AMERICAN URBAN DEVELOPMENT INTO THE 21ST CENTURY: Towards a Renewed Perspective on the City," Working Papers 126532, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
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    Cited by:

    1. Haroon Bhorat & Ravi Kanbur & Natasha Mayet, 2013. "The impact of sectoral minimum wage laws on employment, wages, and hours of work in South Africa," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 2(1), pages 1-27, December.
    2. Andrés Ham, 2015. "Minimum wage violations in Honduras," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-19, December.
    3. Ham, Andrés, 2018. "The Consequences of Legal Minimum Wages in Honduras," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 135-157.
    4. Tony Fang & Carl Lin, 2015. "Minimum wages and employment in China," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-30, December.
    5. Ernest Dautovic & Harald Hau & Yi Huang, 2017. "The Consumption Response to Minimum Wages: Evidence from Chinese Households," IHEID Working Papers 01-2017, Economics Section, The Graduate Institute of International Studies.
    6. Clemens, Jeffrey & Strain, Michael R., 2022. "Understanding “Wage Theft”: Evasion and avoidance responses to minimum wage increases," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    7. Haroo Bhorat & Ravi Kanbur & Benjamin Stanwix, 2019. "Compliance with labor laws in developing countries," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 1-80, June.
    8. Pablo Blanchard & Paula Carrasco & Rodrigo Ceni & Cecilia Parada & Sofía Santín, 2021. "Distributive and displacement effects of a coordinated wage bargaining scheme," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 21-26, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    9. Karolina GORAUS‐TAŃSKA & Piotr LEWANDOWSKI, 2019. "Minimum wage violation in central and eastern Europe," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 158(2), pages 297-336, June.
    10. Haroon Bhorat, 2014. "Compliance with minimum wage laws in developing countries," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 1-80, August.
    11. Bhorat, Haroon & Kanbur, Ravi & Mayet, Natasha, 2011. "The Determinants Of Minimum Wage Violation In South Africa," Working Papers 126535, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    12. Andrea Garnero, 2018. "The dog that barks doesn’t bite: coverage and compliance of sectoral minimum wages in Italy," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-24, December.
    13. Mario Bossler & Ursula Jaenichen & Simeon Schächtele, 2022. "How effective are enforcement measures for compliance with the minimum wage? Evidence from Germany," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(2), pages 943-971, May.
    14. 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).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labor and Human Capital; Public Economics;

    JEL classification:

    • J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa

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