IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/hwwirp/163.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Potential effects of a statutory minimum wage on the gender pay gap: A simulation-based study for Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Boll, Christina
  • Hüning, Hendrik
  • Leppin, Julian
  • Puckelwald, Johannes

Abstract

In a simulation-based study with data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP), we analyze the effects of the newly introduced statutory minimum wage of 8.50 Euro per working hour in Germany on the gender wage gap. In our first scenario where we abstain from employment effects, the pay differential is reduced by 2.5 percentage points from 19.6 % to 17.1 %, due to a reduction of the sticky-floor effect at the bottom of the wage distribution. In more realistic scenarios where we incorporate minimum wage effects on labor demand, a further reduction of the pay gap by 0.2 pp (1.2 pp) in case of a monopsonistic (neoclassical) labor market is achieved. However, this comes at the cost of job losses by which women are more strongly affected than men. The magnitude of job losses ranges between 0.2 % and 3.0 % of all employees. It is higher in a neoclassical market setting and positively related to the assumed wage elasticity.

Suggested Citation

  • Boll, Christina & Hüning, Hendrik & Leppin, Julian & Puckelwald, Johannes, 2015. "Potential effects of a statutory minimum wage on the gender pay gap: A simulation-based study for Germany," HWWI Research Papers 163, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:hwwirp:163
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/110951/1/827576315.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Felix Fitzroy & Michael Funke, 1998. "Skills, Wages and Employment in East and West Germany," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(5), pages 459-467.
    2. Charles Brown & Curtis Gilroy & Andrew Kohen, 1982. "The Effect of the Minimum Wage on Employment and Unemployment: A Survey," NBER Working Papers 0846, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. repec:zbw:rwirep:0056 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. David Neumark & William L. Wascher, 2008. "Minimum Wages," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262141027, December.
    5. Christina Boll & Julian Leppin, 2015. "Die geschlechtsspezifische Lohnlücke in Deutschland: Umfang, Ursachen und Interpretation," Wirtschaftsdienst, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 95(4), pages 249-254, April.
    6. Oaxaca, Ronald, 1973. "Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 14(3), pages 693-709, October.
    7. Brown, Charles & Gilroy, Curtis & Kohen, Andrew, 1982. "The Effect of the Minimum Wage on Employment and Unemployment," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 20(2), pages 487-528, June.
    8. Bosch, Gerhard & Weinkopf, Claudia, 2014. "Zur Einführung des gesetzlichen Mindestlohns von 8,50 € in Deutschland," Arbeitspapiere 304, Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Düsseldorf.
    9. Thomas K. Bauer & Jochen Kluve & Sandra Schaffner & Christoph M. Schmidt, 2009. "Fiscal Effects of Minimum Wages: An Analysis for Germany," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 10(2), pages 224-242, May.
    10. Alan S. Blinder, 1973. "Wage Discrimination: Reduced Form and Structural Estimates," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 8(4), pages 436-455.
    11. Kai-Uwe Müller & Viktor Steiner, 2013. "Distributional Effects of a Minimum Wage in a Welfare State: The Case of Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 617, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    12. Müller, Kai-Uwe & Steiner, Viktor, 2013. "Distributional effects of a minimum wage in a welfare state: The case of Germany," Discussion Papers 2013/21, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    13. Ronny Freier & Viktor Steiner, 2010. "'Marginal employment' and the demand for heterogeneous labour - elasticity estimates from a multi-factor labour demand model for Germany," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(12), pages 1177-1182.
    14. Hans-Werner Sinn & Christian Holzner & Wolfgang Meister & Wolfgang Ochel & Martin Werding, 2006. "Redesigning the Welfare State," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12596.
    15. Elena Bardasi & Janet Gornick, 2008. "Working for less? Women's part-time wage penalties across countries," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 37-72.
    16. Shapiro, Carl & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1984. "Equilibrium Unemployment as a Worker Discipline Device," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(3), pages 433-444, June.
    17. Gert G. Wagner & Joachim R. Frick & Jürgen Schupp, 2007. "The German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) – Scope, Evolution and Enhancements," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 127(1), pages 139-169.
    18. Bachmann, Ronald & Bauer, Thomas K. & Kluve, Jochen & Schaffner, Sandra & Schmidt, Christoph M., 2008. "Mindestlöhne in Deutschland: Beschäftigungswirkungen und fiskalische Effekte," RWI Materialien 43, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung.
    19. Christina Boll, 2011. "Mind the gap—German motherhood risks in figures and game theory issues," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 8(4), pages 363-382, December.
    20. Lichter, Andreas & Peichl, Andreas & Siegloch, Sebastian, 2015. "The own-wage elasticity of labor demand: A meta-regression analysis," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 94-119.
    21. Steffen Henzel & Kira Engelhardt, 2014. "Labour Market Effects of a Nationwide Minimum Wage in Germany – a Sensitivity Analysis," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 67(10), pages 23-29, May.
    22. Becker, Gary S., 1971. "The Economics of Discrimination," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 2, number 9780226041162, September.
    23. Karl Brenke & Kai-Uwe Müller, 2013. "Gesetzlicher Mindestlohn: kein verteilungspolitisches Allheilmittel," DIW Wochenbericht, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 80(39), pages 3-17.
    24. Kemal Kizilca & João Cerejeira & Miguel Portela & Carla Sá, 2010. "Minimum wage, fringe benefits, overtime payments and the gender wage gap," NIPE Working Papers 34/2010, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
    25. Christina Boll & Julian Sebastian Leppin, 2014. "Overeducation among Graduates - an Overlooked Facet of the Gender Pay Gap?: Evidence from East and West Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 627, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    26. Arni, Patrick & Eichhorst, Werner & Pestel, Nico & Spermann, Alexander & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 2014. "Kein Mindestlohn ohne unabhängige wissenschaftliche Evaluation," IZA Standpunkte 65, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    27. Marcel Thum & Joachim Ragnitz, 2007. "On the introduction of minimum wages: empirical relevance of the low wage sector," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 60(10), pages 33-35, May.
    28. Joachim Ragnitz & Marcel Thum, 2007. "Zur Einführung von Mindestlöhnen: empirische Relevanz des Niedriglohnsektors," ifo Dresden berichtet, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 14(03), pages 36-39, June.
    29. Thomas K. Bauer & Jochen Kluve & Sandra Schaffner & Christoph M. Schmidt, 2009. "Fiscal Effects of Minimum Wages: An Analysis for Germany," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 10(2), pages 224-242, May.
    30. Jacqueline O'Reilly & Silke Bothfeld, 2002. "What happens after working part time? Integration, maintenance or exclusionary transitions in Britain and western Germany," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 26(4), pages 409-439, July.
    31. Jacobi, Lena & Schaffner, Sandra, 2008. "Does Marginal Employment Substitute Regular Employment? – A Heterogeneous Dynamic Labor Demand Approach for Germany," Ruhr Economic Papers 56, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    32. Joachim Ragnitz & Marcel Thum, 2008. "Employment effects of minimum wages - an explanation of calculations presented by the Ifo Institute," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 61(01), pages 16-20, January.
    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. Caliendo, Marco & Wittbrodt, Linda, 2022. "Did the minimum wage reduce the gender wage gap in Germany?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    2. Boll Christina & Wolf André & Rossen Anja, 2017. "The EU Gender Earnings Gap: Job Segregation and Working Time as Driving Factors," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 237(5), pages 407-452, October.
    3. Aksoy, Cevat Giray & Özcan, Berkay & Philipp, Julia, 2021. "Robots and the gender pay gap in Europe," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    4. Majchrowska, Aleksandra & Strawiński, Paweł, 2018. "Impact of minimum wage increase on gender wage gap: Case of Poland," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 174-185.

    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. Boll, Christina & Hüning, Hendrik & Leppin, Julian & Puckelwald, Johannes, 2015. "Potenzielle Auswirkungen des Mindestlohnes auf den Gender Pay Gap in Deutschland: Eine Simulationsstudie," HWWI Policy Papers 89, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI).
    2. Knabe Andreas & Schöb Ronnie & Thum Marcel, 2014. "Der flächendeckende Mindestlohn," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 15(2), pages 133-157, June.
    3. Schmid, Ramona, 2023. "Mind the Gap: Effects of the National Minimum Wage on the Gender Wage Gap in Germany," VfS Annual Conference 2023 (Regensburg): Growth and the "sociale Frage" 277646, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    4. Heise, Arne, 2018. "Reconciling Facts with Fiction, or: A Theoretical Speculation of why the Minimum Wage has no Discernible Effect on Employment," MPRA Paper 92483, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Schmid, Ramona, 2022. "Mind the gap: Effects of the national minimum wage on the gender wage gap in Germany," Hohenheim Discussion Papers in Business, Economics and Social Sciences 06-2022, University of Hohenheim, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences.
    6. Martin Popp, 2023. "How elastic is labor demand? A meta-analysis for the German labor market," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 57(1), pages 1-21, December.
    7. Arni, Patrick & Eichhorst, Werner & Pestel, Nico & Spermann, Alexander & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 2014. "Kein Mindestlohn ohne unabhängige wissenschaftliche Evaluation," IZA Standpunkte 65, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Müller, Kai-Uwe & Steiner, Viktor, 2011. "Beschäftigungswirkungen von Lohnsubventionen und Mindestlöhnen - Zur Reform des Niedriglohnsektors in Deutschland," Discussion Papers 2011/4, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    9. Bosch, Gerhard & Weinkopf, Claudia, 2014. "Zur Einführung des gesetzlichen Mindestlohns von 8,50 € in Deutschland," Arbeitspapiere 304, Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Düsseldorf.
    10. Mario Bossler & Martin Popp, 2022. "Labor Demand on a Tight Leash," Papers 2203.05593, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2024.
    11. Schmitz, Sebastian, 2017. "The effects of Germany's new minimum wage on employment and welfare dependency," Discussion Papers 2017/21, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    12. Kriehn, Claudia, 2014. "Konsequenzen des Mindestlohns für Arbeitgeber und Arbeitnehmer in der Landwirtschaft: Hypothesen und Datenlage," Thünen Working Papers 37, Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute, Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries.
    13. Alan Manning, 2021. "The Elusive Employment Effect of the Minimum Wage," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 3-26, Winter.
    14. Christina Boll & Malte Jahn & Andreas Lagemann, 2017. "The gender lifetime earnings gap—exploring gendered pay from the life course perspective," Journal of Income Distribution, Ad libros publications inc., vol. 25(1), pages 1-53, March.
    15. Arne Heise & Toralf Pusch, 2020. "Introducing minimum wages in Germany employment effects in a post Keynesian perspective," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 30(5), pages 1515-1532, November.
    16. Koch, Andreas & Kirchmann, Andrea & Reiner, Marcel & Scheu, Tobias & Boockmann, Bernhard & Bonin, Holger, 2018. "Verhaltensmuster von Betrieben und Beschäftigten im Zuge der Einführung des gesetzlichen Mindestlohns," IZA Research Reports 84, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Peichl, Andreas & Siegloch, Sebastian, 2012. "Accounting for labor demand effects in structural labor supply models," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 129-138.
    18. Christina Boll & Julian Sebastian Leppin, 2016. "Differential Overeducation in East and West Germany: Extending Frank's Theory on Economic Returns Changes the Picture of Disadvantaged Women," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 30(4), pages 455-504, December.
    19. Bauer Thomas K. & Kluve Jochen & Schmidt Christoph M. & Schaffner Sandra, 2009. "Fiscal Effects of Minimum Wages: An Analysis for Germany," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 10(2), pages 224-242, May.
    20. Shi Li & Xinxin Ma, 2015. "Impact of minimum wage on gender wage gaps in urban China," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-22, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    minimum wage; labor demand; wage elasticity; gender pay gap; monopsony;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

    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:zbw:hwwirp:163. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/hwwiide.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.