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The Local Aggregate Effects of Minimum Wage Increases

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  • Daniel Cooper
  • María José Luengo-Prado
  • Jonathan A. Parker

Abstract

Using variation in minimum wages across cities and controlling for differences in business-cycle factors and long-run local economic trends, we find that following minimum wage increases, both prices and nominal spending rise modestly. These gains are larger for certain sub-categories of goods such as food away from home and in locations where low-wage workers are a larger share of employment. Further, minimum wage increases are associated with reduced total debt among households with low credit scores, higher auto debt, and increased access to credit.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Cooper & María José Luengo-Prado & Jonathan A. Parker, 2019. "The Local Aggregate Effects of Minimum Wage Increases," NBER Working Papers 25761, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25761
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    Cited by:

    1. Dow, Wiiliam H & Godoey, Anna & Lowenstein, Christopher A & Reich, Michael, 2019. "Can Economic Policies Reduce Deaths of Despair? Working Paper #104-19," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt14f015df, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    2. Michael Reich, 2021. "The Economics Of A $15 Federal Minimum Wage By 2025," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(4), pages 1297-1305, September.
    3. Ahsan, Ishmam, 2021. "Minimum Wage and Sectoral Price Inflation," MPRA Paper 117350, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised May 2023.
    4. Young Cheol Jung & Adian McFarlane & Anupam Das, 2021. "The effect of minimum wages on consumption in Canada," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 32(1), pages 65-89, March.
    5. William H. Dow & Anna Godøy & Christopher A. Lowenstein & Michael Reich, 2019. "Can Economic Policies Reduce Deaths of Despair?," NBER Working Papers 25787, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Bai, Xue & Chatterjee, Arpita & Krishna, Kala & Ma, Hong, 2021. "Trade and minimum wages in general equilibrium: Theory and evidence," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    7. Wursten, Jesse & Reich, Michael, 2023. "Racial inequality in frictional labor markets: Evidence from minimum wages," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    8. Yamagishi, Atsushi, 2021. "Minimum wages and housing rents: Theory and evidence," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    9. Dow, William H. & Godøy, Anna & Lowenstein, Christopher & Reich, Michael, 2020. "Can Labor Market Policies Reduce Deaths of Despair?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • E20 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General
    • J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy

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