Slower Polish growth may upset 2019 budget targets

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Capital Inflows ◽  
Social Spending ◽  
Wage Increase ◽  
Minimum Wage Increase ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Investor Confidence ◽  
Electoral Cycle ◽  
Near Term

Significance With a two-year electoral cycle getting under way, the PiS government may be tempted to increase social spending. The stronger-than-expected economic outturn in the first half of 2018 will support near-term budgetary performance and PiS’s popularity ratings, which continue to exceed other parties’. Impacts Another minimum wage increase in early 2019 and tight labour market conditions could stoke inflationary pressures in the first six months. Investor confidence may be boosted by the government’s improved fiscal position which should help facilitate stronger capital inflows. Poland’s fiscal gap is expected to remain well below the EU’s limit of 3% of GDP in 2018 and 2019.

Welfare implications of minimum wage increase in Nigeria

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (12) ◽  
pp. 2141-2156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taiwo Aderemi ◽  
Fidelis Ogwumike
Keyword(s):  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Computable General Equilibrium ◽  
Wage Gap ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Consumer Price Index ◽  
Wage Increase ◽  
Minimum Wage Increase ◽  
Skilled Workers ◽  
Wage Policy ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The primary motive of a minimum wage policy is to provide a wage floor for poorly paid workers and improve their welfare. In Nigeria, real minimum wage declined by 60 per cent between 1974 and 2011, thus reducing the welfare of workers. The wage gap between low skilled and high skilled workers have also widened over the years in favour of the latter. There are concerns that the series of minimum wage increase in Nigeria may not be welfare-enhancing. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach This study examined the welfare effects of minimum wage increase in Nigeria using a computable general equilibrium model. The model was calibrated using a 2006 Social Accounting Matrix and four sets of scenarios (20, 35, 50 and 140 per cent wage increases), were simulated. Findings The findings show that employers substituted other labour categories for minimum wage workers. This increases the wage rates of other labour. The consumer price index also increased as firms partly pass-on increased labour cost to consumers. Generally, the simulations show that minimum wage policies worsen the welfare of its intended beneficiaries, due to negative impact on prices and employment. Originality/value This study deviates from existing studies on minimum wage in Nigeria, by providing a proper disaggregation of the labour market that represents the Nigerian economy. In this regard, the informal sector was accommodated and the potential impact of the minimum wage on this sector determined. It also adopted the equivalent variation welfare measure which incorporates price and consumption effects in measuring welfare.

Minimum wages effects on low-skilled workers in less developed regions of China

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 455-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Wang ◽  
Morley Gunderson
Keyword(s):  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Comparison Group ◽  
Minimum Wages ◽  
Labour Markets ◽  
Employment Effect ◽  
Double Difference ◽  
Wage Increase ◽  
Minimum Wage Increase ◽  
Skilled Workers ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to estimate the causal effect of minimum wages on the employment of low-skilled workers in less developed regions of China. Design/methodology/approach Based on data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey, a double-difference (DD) methodology is used to compare the employment of low-skilled individuals before and after a minimum wage increase in their provinces with a comparison group of individuals in provinces that did not have a minimum wage increase. Also, a triple-difference methodology (DDD) is used that also includes an additional control group of highly educated workers as a within-province internal comparison group that should not be affected by a minimum wage increase. Findings No evidence of an adverse employment effect is found in any of the 36 different estimates, consistent with recent US evidence that uses a similar DD methodology. Research limitations/implications The data are not national representative; rather heavily weighted towards the less developed Central, Western and parts of the Eastern Regions of China. This may partially explain the absence of the theoretically expected adverse employment effect. Other related reasons are discussed, including: lack of enforcement in those less developed regions; a large presence of state-owned enterprises in the regions where employment security clause remains intact; the relatively less developed labour markets in the regions including where employers may behave in a monopsony fashion in their labour markets; shock effects; and cost offsets from reduced fringe benefits and increases in the pace of work. This paper was unable to disentangle the separate effect of these possible factors. Originality/value This is one of the few studies on minimum wages in China to focus on low-skilled workers in less developed regions, to use individuals as the unit of observation rather than aggregates, and to provide causal estimates based on DD and DDD methodologies.

scholarly journals The impact of a minimum wage change on the distribution of wages and household income

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Redmond ◽  
Karina Doorley ◽  
Seamus McGuinness
Keyword(s):  
Income Distribution ◽  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Wage Inequality ◽  
Household Income ◽  
Spillover Effects ◽  
Wage Distribution ◽  
Wage Increase ◽  
Minimum Wage Increase ◽  
Wage Change ◽  
The Impact

Abstract We use distribution regression analysis to study the impact of a 6% increase in the Irish minimum wage on the distribution of hourly wages and household income. Wage inequality, measured by the ratio of wages in the 90th and 10th percentiles and the 75th and 25th percentiles, decreased by approximately 8 and 4%, respectively. The results point towards wage spillover effects up to the 30th percentile of the wage distribution. We show that minimum wage workers are spread throughout the household income distribution and are often located in high-income households. Therefore, while we observe strong effects on the wage distribution, the impact of a minimum wage increase on the household income distribution is quite limited.

Lowering wage inequality with the minimum wage increase in Slovenia

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 306
Author(s):  
Suzana Laporšek ◽  
Milan Vodopivec ◽  
Matija Vodopivec
Keyword(s):  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Wage Inequality ◽  
Wage Increase ◽  
Minimum Wage Increase
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document