IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/lec/leecon/05-6.html

How Do Alternative Minimum Wage Variables Compare?

Author

Listed:
  • Sara Lemos

Abstract

Several minimum wage variables have been suggested in the literature. Such a variety of variables makes it difficult to compare the associated estimates across studies. One problem is that these estimates are not always calibrated to represent the effect of a 10% increase in the minimum wage. Another problem is that these estimates measure the effect of the minimum wage on the employment of different groups of workers. In this paper we critically compare employment effect estimates using five minimum wage variables common in the literature: real minimum wage, “Kaitz index”, “fraction affected”, “fraction at” and “ fraction below” the minimum wage. Our principal finding is that the sign of this effect is robust across minimum wage variables, but its magnitude and significance are sensitive to the minimum wage variable used.

Suggested Citation

  • Sara Lemos, 2005. "How Do Alternative Minimum Wage Variables Compare?," Discussion Papers in Economics 05/6, Division of Economics, School of Business, University of Leicester.
    • Handle: RePEc:lec:leecon:05/6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.le.ac.uk/economics/research/RePEc/lec/leecon/dp05-6.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Borjas, George J. & Freeman, Richard B. (ed.), 1992. "Immigration and the Work Force," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226066332.
    2. Mark B. Stewart, 2002. "Estimating the Impact of the Minimum Wage Using Geographical Wage Variation," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 64(supplemen), pages 583-605, December.
    3. Alida Castillo-Freeman & Richard B. Freeman, 1992. "When the Minimum Wage Really Bites: The Effect of the U.S.-Level Minimum on Puerto Rico," NBER Chapters, in: Immigration and the Work Force: Economic Consequences for the United States and Source Areas, pages 177-212, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. George J. Borjas & Richard B. Freeman, 1992. "Immigration and the Work Force: Economic Consequences for the United States and Source Areas," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number borj92-1, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Lemos, Sara, 2009. "Minimum wage effects in a developing country," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 224-237, April.
    2. Richards B. Freeman, 2007. "Migracje w procesie globalizacji," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 1-2, pages 99-129.
    3. Sara lemos, 2004. "The Effects of the Minimum Wage in the Private and Public Sectors in Brazil," Discussion Papers in Economics 04/12, Division of Economics, School of Business, University of Leicester.
    4. 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.
    5. Corrado Giulietti, 2014. "Is the Minimum Wage a Pull Factor for Immigrants?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 67(3_suppl), pages 649-674, May.
    6. Paqueo, Vicente B. & Orbeta, Aniceto Jr. C. & Lanzona, Leonardo, 2016. "The Impact of Legal Minimum Wages on Employment, Income, and Poverty Incidence in the Philippines," Discussion Papers DP 2016-54, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
    7. Sara Lemos, 2004. "A Menu Of Minimum Wage Variables For Evaluating Wages and Employment Effects: Evidence From Brazil," Labor and Demography 0403009, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Schiff, Maurice, 1996. "South-North migration and trade : a survey," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1696, The World Bank.
    9. Neumark, David & Munguía Corella, Luis Felipe, 2021. "Do minimum wages reduce employment in developing countries? A survey and exploration of conflicting evidence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    10. Haroon Bhorat & Tara Caetano & Benjamin Jourdan & Ravi Kanbur & Christopher Rooney & Benjamin Stanwix & Ingrid Woolard, 2016. "Investigating the Feasibility of a National Minimum Wage for South Africa," Working Papers 201601, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    11. 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.
    12. Sara Lemos, 2004. "Are Wage and Employment Effects Robust to Alternative Minimum Wage Variables?," Discussion Papers in Economics 04/4, Division of Economics, School of Business, University of Leicester.
    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.
    14. Corrado Giulietti, 2015. "Do minimum wages induce immigration?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 151-151, May.
    15. Sara lemos, 2004. "The Effects of the Minimum Wage in the Formal and Informal Sectors in Brazil," Discussion Papers in Economics 04/8, Division of Economics, School of Business, University of Leicester.
    16. David Neumark & William Wascher, 2006. "Minimum Wages and Employment: A Review of Evidence from the New Minimum Wage Research," Working Papers 060708, University of California-Irvine, Department of Economics, revised Jan 2007.
    17. David C. Maré & Steven Stillman, 2010. "The Impact of Immigration on the Geographic Mobility of New Zealanders," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 86(273), pages 247-259, June.
    18. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Viola von Berlepsch, 2012. "When migrants rule: the legacy of mass migration on economic development in the US," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1216, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Aug 2012.
    19. Abdurrahman Aydemir & George J. Borjas, 2011. "Attenuation Bias in Measuring the Wage Impact of Immigration," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 29(1), pages 69-113, January.
    20. Zak, Paul J. & Feng, Yi & Kugler, Jacek, 2002. "Immigration, fertility, and growth," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 547-576, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:lec:leecon:05/6. 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: Abbie Sleath (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/deleiuk.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.