IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ngi/dpaper/22-08.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Intended and Unintended Impacts of Minimum Wage Change: The Pivotal Role of Migration in the Philippines

Author

Listed:
  • Deborah Kim Sy

    (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo, Japan)

  • Nobuhiro Hosoe

    (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo, Japan)

Abstract

Minimum wage is used as a support for low-wage workers, but it is expected to increase unemployment and cause deterioration of the welfare of the unemployed. While earlier studies identify negative side effects of minimum wage, that may not be the case in the Philippines, where many workers migrate and send home large remittances. This study uses a computable general equilibrium model to examine the impacts of an increase in the domestic minimum wage on unemployment, migration, and output, as well as on welfare and inequality, in the Philippines. Our simulation results show that a minimum wage increase would indeed reduce domestic labor demand and prompt many unemployed workers to migrate out, leaving relatively few unemployed at home. While an increased volume of remittances would improve household welfare, it would also have some unintended effects, such as currency appreciation; decreased domestic production in labor-intensive and export-oriented industries; greater income disparity; and tax base erosion.

Suggested Citation

  • Deborah Kim Sy & Nobuhiro Hosoe, 2022. "Intended and Unintended Impacts of Minimum Wage Change: The Pivotal Role of Migration in the Philippines," GRIPS Discussion Papers 22-08, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.
  • Handle: RePEc:ngi:dpaper:22-08
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://grips.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=1893&item_no=1&attribute_id=20&file_no=1
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Henrik Kleven & Camille Landais & Mathilde Muñoz & Stefanie Stantcheva, 2020. "Taxation and Migration: Evidence and Policy Implications," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(2), pages 119-142, Spring.
    2. David Card, 1992. "Using Regional Variation in Wages to Measure the Effects of the Federal Minimum Wage," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 46(1), pages 22-37, October.
    3. Hossain, Sharif M. & Hosoe, Nobuhiro, 2020. "Welfare and equity impacts of cross-border factor mobility in Bangladesh: A general equilibrium analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 172-184.
    4. David Card, 1992. "Using Regional Variation in Wages to Measure the Effects of the Federal Minimum Wage," Working Papers 680, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    5. Emmanuel K. K. Lartey & Federico S. Mandelman & Pablo A. Acosta, 2012. "Remittances, Exchange Rate Regimes and the Dutch Disease: A Panel Data Analysis," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(2), pages 377-395, May.
    6. Bayangos, Veronica & Jansen, Karel, 2011. "Remittances and Competitiveness: The Case of the Philippines," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 1834-1846.
    7. repec:fth:prinin:300 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. John Schmitt, 2015. "Explaining the Small Employment Effects of the Minimum Wage in the United States," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 547-581, October.
    9. David McKenzie & Caroline Theoharides & Dean Yang, 2014. "Distortions in the International Migrant Labor Market: Evidence from Filipino Migration and Wage Responses to Destination Country Economic Shocks," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 6(2), pages 49-75, April.
    10. Gerardo P. Sicat, 2004. "Reforming the Philippine Labor Market," UP School of Economics Discussion Papers 200404, University of the Philippines School of Economics.
    11. Gerardo P. Sicat, 2004. "Reforming the Philippine Labor Market," Philippine Review of Economics, University of the Philippines School of Economics and Philippine Economic Society, vol. 41(2), pages 1-36, 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. Sy, Deborah Kim & Hosoe, Nobuhiro, 2023. "Consequences of a minimum wage increase in a migrant-sending country," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1057-1066.
    2. Sy, Deborah Kim & Hosoe, Nobuhiro, 2022. "Intended and Unintended Impacts of Minimum Wage Change: A Computable General Equilibrium Model Analysis with Cross-border Labor Mobility in the Philippines," Conference papers 333454, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    3. Neumark David, 2019. "The Econometrics and Economics of the Employment Effects of Minimum Wages: Getting from Known Unknowns to Known Knowns," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 20(3), pages 293-329, August.
    4. David Neumark & Peter Shirley, 2022. "Myth or measurement: What does the new minimum wage research say about minimum wages and job loss in the United States?," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(4), pages 384-417, October.
    5. Florin Vadean & Stephen Allan, 2021. "The Effects of Minimum Wage Policy on the Long‐Term Care Sector in England," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 59(2), pages 307-334, June.
    6. José Azar & Emiliano Huet-Vaughn & Ioana Marinescu & Bledi Taska & Till von Wachter, 2019. "Minimum Wage Employment Effects and Labor Market Concentration," NBER Working Papers 26101, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Carrieri, Vincenzo & Madio, Leonardo & Principe, Francesco, 2019. "Light cannabis and organized crime: Evidence from (unintended) liberalization in Italy," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 63-76.
    8. Christos Genakos & Mario Pagliero, 2022. "Competition and Pass-Through: Evidence from Isolated Markets," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 35-57, October.
    9. Lemos Sara, 2005. "Political Variables as Instruments for the Minimum Wage," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 4(1), pages 1-33, December.
    10. Bonin Holger & Isphording Ingo E. & Krause-Pilatus Annabelle & Pestel Nico & Rinne Ulf & Lichter Andreas, 2020. "The German Statutory Minimum Wage and Its Effects on Regional Employment and Unemployment," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 240(2-3), pages 295-319, April.
    11. János Köllö, 2010. "Hungary: The Consequences of Doubling the Minimum Wage," Chapters, in: Daniel Vaughan-Whitehead (ed.), The Minimum Wage Revisited in the Enlarged EU, chapter 8, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Daron Acemoglu & Tuomas Pekkarinen & Kjell G. Salvanes & Matti Sarvimäki, 2021. "The Making of Social Democracy: The Economic and Electoral Consequences of Norway’s 1936 Folk School Reform," NBER Working Papers 29095, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Lonnie Stevans & David Sessions, 2001. "Minimum Wage Policy and Poverty in the United States," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(1), pages 65-75.
    14. 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.
    15. Massimo Bordignon & Matteo Gamalerio & Gilberto Turati, 2013. "Decentralization, Vertical Fiscal Imbalance, and Political Selection," DISCE - Working Papers del Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza def002, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).
    16. Thomas Goda & Alejandro Torres, 2013. "Overvaluation of the real exchange rate and the Dutch Disease: the Colombian case," Documentos de Trabajo de Valor Público 10930, Universidad EAFIT.
    17. Menon, Nidhiya & Rodgers, Yana van der Meulen, 2018. "Child labor and the minimum wage: Evidence from India," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 480-494.
    18. Edo, Anthony & Rapoport, Hillel, 2019. "Minimum wages and the labor market effects of immigration," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    19. Zsófia L. Bárány, 2016. "The Minimum Wage and Inequality: The Effects of Education and Technology," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(1), pages 237-274.
    20. Greenstone, Michael & Gayer, Ted, 2009. "Quasi-experimental and experimental approaches to environmental economics," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 57(1), pages 21-44, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Minimum wage; International Migration; Remittances; Income Inequality;
    All these keywords.

    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:ngi:dpaper:22-08. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/gripsjp.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.