scholarly journals Minimum Wages and Retirement

ILR Review ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-177
Author(s):  
Mark Borgschulte ◽  
Heepyung Cho
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Labor Supply ◽  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Older Workers ◽  
Employment Outcomes ◽  
Minimum Wages ◽  
Financial Resources ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Wage Increases ◽  
Social Security Beneficiaries

The authors study the effect of the minimum wage on the employment outcomes and Social Security claiming of older US workers from 1983 to 2016. The probability of work at or near the minimum wage increases substantially near retirement, and previous researchers and policies suggest that older workers may be particularly vulnerable to any disemployment effects of the minimum wage. Results show no evidence that the minimum wage causes earlier retirements. Instead, estimates suggest that higher minimum wages increase earnings and may have small positive effects on the labor supply of workers in the key ages of 62 to 70. Consistent with increased earnings and delayed retirement, higher minimum wages decrease the number of Social Security beneficiaries and amount of benefits disbursed. The minimum wage appears to increase financial resources for workers near retirement.

The effect of minimum wages on consumption in Canada

2020 ◽  
pp. 103530462094995
Author(s):  
Young Cheol Jung ◽  
Adian McFarlane ◽  
Anupam Das
Keyword(s):  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
Retail Trade ◽  
Minimum Wages ◽  
The Real ◽  
Distributed Lag ◽  
Distributed Lag Model ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Lag Model ◽  
Wage Increases

We use Canadian data over the period of 1991Q1 to 2019Q2 to examine the effect of higher minimum wages on consumption, measured as the real retail trade sales per adult population. Such an examination is rare in the extant literature and it is timely given the increasing debate concerning the stimulus versus inflationary effects arising from wage polices because of COVID-19 global pandemic. We apply the autoregressive distributed lag model to determine the causal relationship between these variables. We find one long-run cointegrating relationship that runs from the real minimum wage to the real retail trade sales. In addition, we find that a 1% increase in the minimum wage is associated with almost a 0.5% increase in real retail trade sales in the long run. While our findings rest on several statistical assumptions, there is strong evidence in support of the position that minimum wage strengthens aggregate consumer spending, and thereby the standard of living, economic growth and stability. This is a position that differs from the conclusions drawn from mainstream academic and policy debates on the economic usefulness and efficacy of minimum wage increases. JEL Codes: C30, E21, E24

scholarly journals The Econometrics and Economics of the Employment Effects of Minimum Wages: Getting from Known Unknowns to Known Knowns

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Neumark
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Past Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
Minimum Wages ◽  
Definitive Answer ◽  
Employment Effects ◽  
Conflicting Evidence ◽  
Known Unknowns ◽  
Wage Increases

Abstract I discuss the econometrics and the economics of past research on the effects of minimum wages on employment in the United States. My intent is to try to identify key questions raised in the recent literature, and some from the earlier literature, which I think hold the most promise for understanding the conflicting evidence and arriving at a more definitive answer about the employment effects of minimum wages. My secondary goal is to discuss how we can narrow the range of uncertainty about the likely effects of the large minimum wage increases becoming more prevalent in the United States. I discuss some insights from both theory and past evidence that may be informative about the effects of high minimum wages, and try to emphasize what research can be done now and in the near future to provide useful evidence to policymakers on the results of the coming high minimum wage experiment, whether in the United States or in other countries.

scholarly journals The Pass-Through of Minimum Wages into US Retail Prices: Evidence from Supermarket Scanner Data

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-99
Author(s):  
Tobias Renkin ◽  
Claire Montialoux ◽  
Michael Siegenthaler
Keyword(s):  
Minimum Wage ◽  
State Level ◽  
Minimum Wages ◽  
Scanner Data ◽  
Consumer Prices ◽  
Retail Prices ◽  
Minimum Wage Legislation ◽  
Pass Through ◽  
Wage Increases ◽  
Grocery Products

This paper estimates the pass-through of minimum wage increases into the prices of US grocery and drug stores. We use high-frequency scanner data and leverage a large number of state-level increases in minimum wages between 2001 and 2012. We find that a 10% minimum wage hike translates into a 0.36% increase in the prices of grocery products. This magnitude is consistent with a full pass-through of cost increases into consumer prices. We show that price adjustments occur mostly in the three months following the passage of minimum wage legislation rather than after implementation, suggesting that pricing of groceries is forward-looking.

The Quest for Fairness in Australian Minimum Wages

2011 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 662-680 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Healy
Keyword(s):  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Real Wage ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Minimum Wages ◽  
National System ◽  
Relative Wages ◽  
Rate Of Increase ◽  
Worthy Goal ◽  
Wage Increases ◽  
Over Time

The attainment of ‘fairness’ is widely regarded as a worthy goal of setting minimum wages, but opinions differ sharply over how to achieve it. This article examines how interpretations of fairness shaped the minimum wage decisions of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission between 1997 and 2005. It explores the Commission's approaches to three aspects of fairness in minimum wages: first, eligibility for increases; second, the form of increase; and third, the rate of increase over time. The Australian Industrial Relations Commission consistently gave minimum wage increases that were expressed in dollar values and applied to all federal awards. Its decisions delivered real wage increases for the lowest paid, but led to falls in real and relative wages for the majority of award-reliant workers. Fair Work Australia, the authority now responsible for setting minimum wages in the national system, appears apprehensive about parts of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission's legacy and has foreshadowed a different approach, particularly with respect to the form of adjustment.

scholarly journals Minimum Wage Systems: An Asia Pacific Perspective

1970 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Barry ◽  
Peter Brosnan
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Minimum Wages ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Asia Pacific Region ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
The Many

Modern minimum wage systems have operated for more than a century. Some Pacific countries were among the pioneers in establishing minimum wages. This paper discusses the many aims that minimus wages are designed to achieve. These include promoting social justice, alleviating poverty, promoting economic development, setting benchmarks for other wages and social security payments, and controlling inflation. The Asia Pacific region has only a small number of countries with adequate minimum wage systems. There are many deficiencies in the various systems. They often do not cover all workers, are often set at unrealistically low levels, or are enforced inadequately. The paper discusses the causes of these deficiencies and the consequences of them for those who rely on minimum wages.

scholarly journals Minimum Wages, Morality, and Efficiency: A Choice Experiment

2019 ◽  
Vol 109 ◽  
pp. 176-181
Author(s):  
Conor Lennon ◽  
Jose Fernandez ◽  
Stephan Gohmann ◽  
Keith Teltser
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Choice Experiment ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Employment Outcomes ◽  
Minimum Wages ◽  
Point Reduction ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Moral Assessment

We use a choice experiment to examine public support for minimum wages. We first elicit respondents' moral assessment of two labor market systems: one with a minimum wage and one without. Then, we present four pairs of hypothetical employment outcomes and ask respondents to “vote.” Our estimates suggest that the average respondent requires a 4.65 percentage point reduction in unemployment before they would support a system without a minimum wage. We also find that equity matters; respondents are 11.1 percentage points less likely to support a minimum wage if it disproportionately affects minorities and females.

State Responses to Federal Inaction and Growing Inequality

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
William W. Franko ◽  
Christopher Witko
Keyword(s):  
Federal Government ◽  
Minimum Wage ◽  
State Government ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Aggregate Data ◽  
The State ◽  
Minimum Wages ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Wage Increases ◽  
State Responses

In this chapter the authors return to aggregate data to examine how the state minimum wage has responded to a growing awareness of inequality and other state political factors. The minimum wage was initially pursued by the states a number of years before the federal government adopted a minimum wage in the 1930s. However, the minimum wage law is still jointly controlled by the states and the federal government, allowing us to directly examine how federal inaction in raising the minimum wage spurs state minimum wage increases. The results show that federal inaction, a public awareness of growing inequality, and state government liberalism are significant predictors of increases in state minimum wages. The minimum wage is more likely to be increased in states with the initiative, even sometimes in states that are usually considered to be relatively conservative.

scholarly journals Social security and endogenous demographic change: child support and retirement policies*

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Giam Pietro Cipriani ◽  
Tamara Fioroni
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Labor Supply ◽  
Older Workers ◽  
Child Support ◽  
Optimal Allocation ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Social Optimum ◽  
Fertility Decisions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Endogenous Retirement

Abstract This paper studies retirement and child support policies in a small, open, overlapping-generations economy with PAYG social security and endogenous retirement and fertility decisions. It demonstrates that neither fertility nor retirement choices necessarily coincide with socially optimal allocation, because agents do not take into account the externalities of fertility and the elderly labor supply in the economy as a whole. It shows that governments can realize the first-best allocation by introducing a child allowance scheme and a subsidy to incentivize the labor supply of older workers. As an alternative to subsidizing the elderly labor supply, we show that the first-best allocation can also be achieved by controlling the retirement age. Finally, the model is simulated in order to study whether the policies devoted to realizing the social optimum in a market economy could be a Pareto improvement.

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