Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Effects Of The Minimum Wage On U.S. Labor Markets, Dawn M. Otterby

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The first section of this research investigates the impacts of the minimum wage on regional labor markets in the United States. Using ten years of county-level data, we examine the relationship between the minimum wage and several key components of the labor market. Following past research, employment variables are used to measure labor supply, but—as an extension to the literature—job postings data are included to measure labor demand. Consistent with previous studies, we find a positive relationship between labor force participation and a county’s minimum wage. We do not find a statistically significant relationship between job postings and the minimum …

America Without A Minimum Wage: Why The Federal Minimum Wage Should Be Abolished, Zachary Cary

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

Minimum wage policy may be the greatest economic policy issue where the common man has a strong opinion. Nearly every person has a view of how minimum wage policy should be enacted, whether it be in raising the federal minimum wage, changing the scope of authority in the federal government, or another policy. However, in discussing any kind of policy, the key details of the policy must be discussed in the framework of both how it would be affected and how it would impact its stakeholders. In this policy analysis, the Iron Triangle of Public Policy – the key executive …

The Effect Of The Minimum Wage On Crime, Abbie Natkin

Economics Honors Projects

Evidence shows that education, labor market conditions for ex-offenders, and wages influence crime rates. The relationship between wages and crime specifically, has interesting potential policy implications, especially in arguments for increasing the minimum wage. Economists speculate that increasing the minimum wage may help reduce crime by increasing wages and thus increasing the opportunity cost of committing crime, making it riskier and less necessary for people to supplement their incomes through illegal avenues. Using crime data from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports and minimum wage data from Vaghul & Zipperer (2016), I employ a two-way fixed effects framework to analyze the …

Minimum Wage As A Tool For Combatting Renter Burdens, Jack Hanson

Stevenson Center for Community and Economic Development—Student Research

There is a severe shortage of affordable housing in the United States. In 2011, the number of low-cost rental units (units renting for $800 or less per month) stood around 23.5 million, but by 2017, this number dropped to 19.5 million, roughly a 17% decrease (Joint Center for Housing Studies, 2020). The result is that in 2020, only 37 affordable units exist for every 100 of the nation’s 10.8 million extremely low-income renters (those earning 30% or less of the area median income) (National Low Income Housing Coalition, 2021). One contributing factor is that higher-income households are beginning to rent …

Labor Market Policies In A Roy-Rosen Bargaining Economy, Hugo Jales, Zhengfei Yu

Center for Policy Research

We study the effects of labor market policies using a bargaining model featuring compensating differentials (Rosen, 1986) and self-selection (Roy, 1951). The framework allows us to create a taxonomy of formal and informal employment. We use the model to estimate the effects of the minimum wage for the Brazilian economy using the “PNAD" dataset for the years 2001-2005. Our results suggest that, although the minimum wage generates unemployment and reallocation of labor to the informal sector, the policy might be desirable if the employment losses are concentrated in jobs characterized by low surplus.

How Does An Increase In The Minimum Wage Affect High School Enrollment?, Esther Swehla

Economics Honors Projects

In this paper, I explore how the probability of a student being in different combinations of enrolled/not enrolled and employed/unemployed/not in the labor force is affected by an increase in the minimum wage. I use binomial logistic regression, and experiment with both state and county level of observation and fixed effects. I also use year fixed effects. I find that when either the nominal or real minimum wage increases, the probability of a student being employed and enrolled increases, while the probability of being in any of the other groups decreases. However, these changes are not substantial. I determine that …

Measuring Health Outcomes Of Uncovered Employment: A Study Of Income, Social Mobility, Equality, And Health Indicators In An Under-Looked Segment Of The Labor Force, Zakariya Kmir

Undergraduate Economic Review

Economists have strongly supported the idea that unemployment causes many undesirable health outcomes. However, how does belonging to a different sector of employment tied closely to changes in minimum wage and inflation relate to overall health? To properly understand the numerical significance of health disparities in the uncovered sector of employment, this research is targeted at quantifying the relationship between the insured and non-insured within the uncovered sector. By substantiating the existence of severe health disparities as a function of the labor force dynamic, this research subsequently estimates the amount of inefficiency and negative health outcomes in the US economy …

From The Fair Labor Standards Act To Individual State Minimum Wages: Measuring State Minimum Wages And Economic Performance, Adam Charles Carafotes

Senior Projects Spring 2017

This project will analyze the historical foundation of the minimum wage in the United States prior to the first federal wage enactment in 1938 to the current federal wage as well as individual state wages. This paper will offer a historical overview along with economic ideology in determining appropriate minimum wage floors on state and federal levels of the economy. The question of raising either state or federal minimum wages has drawn great importance in the eyes of our country and in the eyes of economic thinkers, policymakers, and individuals. The minimum wage has been the backbone for working individuals …

Impact Of A Higher Minimum Wage On Enrollment Of Snap, Victoria Perez-Zetune

Gettysburg Economic Review

This paper investigates the effect that minimum wage policy has on enrollment in public assistance programs, specifically the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, SNAP. If raising the minimum wage decreases enrollment in SNAP, this could uncover a method to reduce spending without eliminating programs. Using a time-demeaned model to account for fixed effects, I take advantage of the variation in the minimum wage in the 50 states between 1998 and 2014. I estimated that on average an increase in minimum wage in a prior year results in a decrease in SNAP participation by 3.95%.

Determining The Effect Of The Minimum Wage On Income Inequality, Benjamin S. Litwin

Student Publications

Many recent studies have shown a significant increase to income inequality since the 1980s. One of the proposed methods for fixing this trend is to increase the minimum wage, since this policy would help those at the low end of the income spectrum to see economic growth. To analyze the effectiveness of this policy, we studied data from countries that are part of the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation. By forming an econometric model to account for many factors that affect income inequality in nations around the world, including the real value of the minimum wage, we can determine …

Do Living Wages Alter The Effect Of The Minimum Wage On Income Inequality?, Benjamin S. Litwin

Gettysburg Economic Review

Anker (2006) proposed a new methodology for calculating the living wage in countries around the world. By looking at OECD nations between 2000-2010, we look to see if countries with a national minimum wage higher than this living wage value see a notable difference in the effect of the minimum wage on income inequality. Our results show that countries with the minimum wage higher than the living wage value do see lower inequality, although there is a key value of the minimum wage, at which countries start to see disemployment effects that increase inequality.

Putting A Human Face On The Minimum Wage, Christopher R. Fee

English Faculty Publications

What is a “livable wage,” and should we strive to raise wages for American workers?

There are lots of conflicting studies and reports. The Congressional Budget Office projects that an increase in the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour would eliminate 500,000 jobs while raising the incomes of nearly 17 million Americans.

Even prominent economists like David Card and David Neumark diametrically disagree on the likely consequences of raising the minimum wage, and their studies of results in New Jersey have consistently yielded conflicting results for decades. [excerpt]

Employment-Based Health Insurance And The Minimum Wage, Laura Bucila

Economics Department Working Papers

This paper provides new estimates of the effects of increased federal and state minimum wages on the employment-based health insurance coverage of low-wage workers. I use March Current Population Surveys collected from IPUMS, for 1988 to 2005. Previous studies have found no significant evidence that increased minimum wages reduce fringe benefit receipt (Beeson Royalty 2000, Simon and Kaestner 2003). In contrast to these studies, I use a difference-in-difference approach and I define treatment groups as being individuals in the lowest 1 and 2 deciles of the hourly wage distribution. Little evidence was found for the federal minimum wage increase of …

Employment-Based Health Insurance And The Minimum Wage, Laura Bucila

All Dissertations

This dissertation contains a detailed picture of the employment-based health insurance coverage in the past twenty years, and it provides new estimates of the effects of increased federal and state minimum wages on the coverage of low-wage workers by this type of health insurance. I use March Current Population Surveys collected from IPUMS, for 1988 to 2005. Previous studies have found no significant evidence that increased minimum wages reduce fringe benefit receipt (Beeson Royalty 2000; Simon and Kaestner 2003). In contrast to these studies, I use a difference-in-difference approach and I define treatment groups as being individuals in the lowest …

How Government Reduces Employment, Murray L. Weidenbaum

Murray Weidenbaum Publications

Murray Weidenbaum shows how the federal government conducts many activities that affect the ability of the private sector to create jobs.

How Government Reduces Employment, Murray L. Weidenbaum

Murray Weidenbaum Publications

Government mandates contribute to reducing the ability of the private sector to create jobs. But ways need to be developed that can offset this.