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.

Minimum Wages and Supporting Wage Growth

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Nolan
Keyword(s):  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Real Wage ◽  
Wage Growth ◽  
Minimum Wages ◽  
Central Question ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Household Incomes ◽  
Rich Countries ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Over Time

This chapter addresses the central question of how governments can seek to underpin real wage growth for working households over time. It looks first at the role that minimum wages can play in supporting wages and household incomes in the middle as well as lower parts of the distribution. This is investigated through a simulation exercise looking at the impact of a substantial increase in the minimum wage in the UK, bringing out the broader lessons to be learned for rich countries. A variety of other routes through which policy might seek to support wage growth are then set out and discussed.

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.

Wage pressures may arrest future development in Mexico

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Future Development ◽  
Real Wage ◽  
Political Pressure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Labour Costs ◽  
Wage Increases ◽  
Productivity Gains

Subject Wages and development in Mexico. Significance Mexico's labour costs have been rising since 2015, particularly in some manufacturing activities, and political pressure is increasing for a substantial minimum wage hike. For exporting sectors, the significant peso depreciation has meant a substantial boost in wage competitiveness. However, there are no significant productivity gains that warrant such rises. Impacts A peso appreciation would erode wage competitiveness, even if a strengthening to pre-2014 levels is unlikely. Despite political pressures, no out-of-calendar minimum wage increases are likely for the rest of the Pena Nieto administration. Real wage increases should not affect on inflation given subdued economic growth.

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.

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.

Continuity and Change in the Australian Minimum Wage Setting System: The Legacy of the Commission

2011 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 681-697
Author(s):  
Peter Waring ◽  
John Burgess
Keyword(s):  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Minimum Wages ◽  
Wage Determination ◽  
Wage Setting ◽  
International Context ◽  
Continuity And Change ◽  
Wage System ◽  
History Of

Australia has a long history of institutional minimum wage determination. We examine the features and the changes in the minimum wages system. We identify its enduring characteristics, its place the Australian system in an international context and see where Fair Work Australia is located in relation to previous arrangements. We ask why a minimum wage system is still required and we examine the legacy of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission and its predecessors in minimum wage determination.

scholarly journals Adjustments to Minimum Wages in China: Cost-Neutral Offsets

2015 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 510-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Wang ◽  
Morley Gunderson
Keyword(s):  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Minimum Wages ◽  
Wage Increase ◽  
Minimum Wage Increase ◽  
Overtime Work ◽  
Zero Effect ◽  
Wage Increases ◽  
The Cost

Summary Based on qualitative interviews of workers, managers and labour inspectors in China, we examine how employers adjust, often in subtle fashions, to minimum wage increases. Our findings highlight the “law of unintended consequences” in that their effects are often “undone” or offset by subtle adjustments such as reductions in fringe benefits and in overtime work and overtime pay premiums that are otherwise valued by employees. Employees often feel that they are no better off in spite of minimum wage increases because of these offsetting adjustments. This study also suggests possible reasons for the small or zero effect of minimum wage on employment in China. Lack of enforcement may be one of the reasons, but the employees we interviewed seem well aware of the legal minimum wage and employers do not want to get involved in disputes over this matter. For employers who would otherwise be affected by the minimum wage increase, the cost increase is mitigated by the offsetting adjustments. As a result, minimum wages do not seem to weaken the competitive position of employers in China.

Do Minimum Wage Increases Affect SNAP Benefits?

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Snyder ◽  
Senayt Rinkevich ◽  
Weici Yuan
Keyword(s):  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
State Level ◽  
Minimum Wages ◽  
Wage Increase ◽  
Minimum Wage Increase ◽  
Assistance Program ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Nutrition Assistance ◽  
Wage Increases

Abstract The recession of the late 2000s accompanied a steep increase in the number of people on the U.S. federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The economy recovered, yet the number of people on SNAP remained relatively high. This study investigates whether increases in minimum wages affected the number of SNAP beneficiaries and the per-capita cost of the program. Economic reasoning suggests a minimum wage increase can decrease poverty through higher wages or increase poverty by enacting a barrier to work. Using a panel data set (1997–2015) at the state level, two-way fixed effects estimates demonstrate a nonlinear relationship between minimum wages and SNAP benefits. At low minimum wages, increases in the minimum wage reduce SNAP enrollment and benefits; however, at high minimum wages, increases in the minimum wage increase SNAP enrollment and benefits. Twenty states have already passed the minimum wage turning point. Further increases can lead to more SNAP participants.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document