Minimum
Wage Research Bibliography
Adams, F. Gerard. 1987.
Increasing the Minimum Wage: The Macroeconomic Impacts. Briefing Paper,
Economic Policy Institute (July). Finds that an increase in the minimum wage
from $3.35 to $4.65 over three years would increase the unemployment rate by
less than 0.1% and the inflation rate by 0.2%.
Adie, Douglas K. 1973. Teen-Age
Unemployment and Real Federal Minimum Wages. Journal of Political Economy, vol.
81 (March/April): 435-441. Finds that the minimum wage is responsible for a
considerable amount of teenage unemployment.
Al-Salam, Nabeel; Quester, Aline;
and Welch, Finis. 1981. Some Determinants of the Level and Racial Composition
of Teenage Employment. In Rottenberg (1981a): 124-154. Notes that in 1954,
black teenage males were more likely to be employed than white teenage males.
Since that time, the proportion of black teenage males employed has fallen
sharply, while employment for white teenage males has risen. Expansion of
coverage of the minimum wage appears to be a major factor in this trend.
Further notes that more than half of all teenagers would earn more in the
absence of a minimum wage.
Bauer, P.T. 1959. Regulated Wages
in Under-developed Countries. In The Public Stake in Union Power, ed. Philip D.
Bradley. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 324-349. Argues
that the negative effects of minimum wage laws in LDCs is even greater than in
industrialized countries, because there is greater diversity of supply and
demand for labor in LDCs. Also points out that in South Africa minimum wages
helped whites at the expense of blacks.
Behrman, Jere R.; Sickles, Robin
C.; and Taubman, Paul. 1983. The Impact of Minimum Wages on the Distributions
of Earnings for Major Race-Sex Groups: A Dynamic Analysis. American Economic
Review, vol. 73 (September): 766-778. Finds that the minimum wage has helped
white males and females while hurting black males and females.
Bell, Carolyn Shaw. 1981. Minimum
Wages and Personal Income. In Rottenberg (1981a): 429-458. Finds that increases
in the minimum wage would benefit few families with incomes below the poverty
level. Much of the benefit would accrue to upper income families with secondary
earners, such as wives and children.
Beranek, William. 1982. The
Illegal Alien Work Force, Demand for Unskilled Labor, and the Minimum Wage.
Journal of Labor Research, vol. 3 (Winter): 89-99. Finds that the minimum wage
increases the employment demand for illegal aliens, who are less likely than
legal residents to report violations of the labor laws.
Betsey, Charles L., and Dunson,
Bruce H. 1981. Federal Minimum Wage Laws and the Employment of Minority Youth.
American Economic Review, vol. 71 (May): 379-384. Argues that employment losses
from higher minimum wages have been overstated and that much of the higher
unemployment among minority youth has been due to cyclical factors.
Bonilla, Carlos E. 1992. Higher
Wages, Greater Poverty. Washington: Employment Policies Institute. Finds that
the 1991 increase in the federal minimum wage actually reduced the income of
some single parents, after welfare and taxes are taken into account.
Brandon, Peter D. 1995. Jobs
Taken by Mothers Moving from Welfare to Work and the Effects of Minimum Wages
on this Transition. Washington: Employment Policies Institute Foundation. Finds
a decrease in work by women on welfare in states raising their minimum wages
and an increase in time on welfare in such states.
Brown, Charles. 1988. Minimum
Wage Laws: Are They Overrated? Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 2
(Summer): 133-145. Finds that they employment impact of the minimum wage and
its impact on reducing poverty are both less than generally believed.
Brown, Charles; Gilroy, Curtis;
and Kohen, Andrew. 1981a. Effects of the Minimum Wage on Youth Employment and
Unemployment. In Minimum Wage Study Commission (1981), vol. 5, pp. 1-26. Finds
that a 10% increase in the minimum wage will reduce teenage employment by 1% to
3%.
Brown, Charles; Gilroy, Curtis; and Kohen,
Andrew. 1981b. Time-Series Evidence of the Effect of the Minimum Wage on
Teenage Employment and Unemployment. In Minimum Wage Study Commission (1981),
vol. 5, pp. 103-127. Finds that a 10% increase in the minimum wage will reduce
teenage employment by 1%.
Brown, Charles; Gilroy, Curtis;
and Kohen, Andrew. 1982. The Effect of the Minimum Wage on Employment and
Unemployment. Journal of Economic Literature, vol. 20 (June): 487-528.
Summarizes a large volume of research on the minimum wage.
Brozen, Yale. 1962. Minimum Wage
Rates and Household Workers. Journal of Law and Economics, vol. 5 (October):
103-109. Found that increases in the minimum wage drove low-wage workers into
uncovered occupations, such as household work. Predicts that broadening of
coverage to such occupations will increase structural unemployment.
Brozen, Yale. 1966. Wage Rates,
Minimum Wage Laws, and Unemploy-ment. New Individualist Re- view, vol. 4
(Spring): 24-33. Points out a contradiction between the Johnson
Administration's desire to hold wage increases to the rate of productivity
growth, in order to reduce inflationary pressures, and its support for a higher
minimum wage.
Brozen, Yale. 1969. The Effect of
Statutory Minimum Wage Increases on Teen-age Employment. Journal of Law and
Economics, vol. 12 (April): 109-122. Finds that increases in the minimum wage
only speed up wage increases that would have occurred over time. However, in
the interval between an increase and the time when productivity catches up to
it results in higher unemployment and business failures. In the case of
teenagers, many who are barred from jobs suffer long-term effects from the
failure to gain job skills, thus injuring them permanently.
Card, David. 1992a. Using
Regional Variation in Wages to Measure the Effects of the Federal Minimum Wage.
Industrial and Labor Relations Review, vol. 46 (October): 22-37. Finds no
evidence that the April, 1990 increase in the minimum wage reduced teenage
employment, but does find evidence that it led to higher wages.
Card, David. 1992b. Do Minimum
Wages Reduce Employment? A Case Study of California, 1987-89. Industrial and
Labor Relations Review, vol. 46 (October): 38-54. Finds no evidence that an
increase in the California state minimum wage in July, 1988 led to any loss in
teenage employment, but does find evidence of higher wages.
Card, David, and Krueger, Alan B.
1994. Minimum Wages and Employ-ment: A Case Study of the FastFood Industry in
New Jersey and Pennsylvania. American Economic Review, vol. 84 (September):
772- 793. Finds no evidence of reduced employment from an increase in the New
Jersey state minimum wage in April, 1992.
Colberg, Marshall R. 1960. Minimum
Wage Effects on Florida's Economic Development. Journal of Law and Economics,
vol. 3 (October): 106-117. Finds that after an increase in the minimum wage
unemployment increased most in the areas where wages were lowest and least in
areas where wages were highest beforehand.
Colberg, Marshall. 1981. Minimum
Wages and the Distribution of Economic Activity. In Rottenberg (1981a):
247-263. Examines votes on the minimum wage and finds heavy support for it in
high wage states of the North and opposition from low wage states in the South.
This suggests that the North was attempting to reduce the South's competitive
advantage in wages.
Corbo, Vittorio. 1981. The Impact
of Minimum Wages on Industrial Employment in Chile. In Rottenberg (1981a):
340-356. Finds substantial job losses from the minimum wage in Chile.
Cotterill, Philip. 1981.
Differential Legal Minimum Wages. In Rottenberg (1981a): 296-316. Favors
differential minimum wages to reduce the impact of the minimum wage.
Cotterman, Robert F. 1981. The
Effects of Federal Minimum Wages on the Industrial Distribution of Teenage
Employment. In Rottenberg (1981a): 42-60. Finds that minimum wages have altered
the distribution of teenage employment. Teenagers are less likely to be
employed in low wage industries, such as retailing, and increase employment in
high wage industries, such as manufacturing.
Cox, James C., and Oaxaca, Ronald
L. 1981. The Determinants of Minimum Wage Levels and Coverage in State Minimum
Wage Laws. In Rottenberg (1981a): 403-428. Finds that union support for the
minimum wage is significant politically.
Cox, James C., and Oaxaca, Ronald
L. 1982. The Political Economy of Minimum Wage Legislation. Economic Inquiry,
vol. 20 (October): 533-555. Explains why unions support minimum wages.
Cox, James C., and Oaxaca, Ronald
L. 1986. Minimum Wage Effects With Output Stabilization. Economic Inquiry, vol.
24 (July): 443-453. Finds that the minimum wage causes unskilled wages to be
15.7% higher than they otherwise would be, and that this causes employment to
be 11.2% lower than it otherwise would be.
Cunningham, James. 1981. The
Impact of Minimum Wages on Youth Employment, Hours of Work, and School
Attendance: Cross-sectional Evidence from the 1960 and 1970 Censuses. In
Rottenberg (1981a): 88-123. Finds that minimum wages discourage part-time work
and lowers school attendance.
Currie, Janet, and Fallick,
Bruce. 1993. A Note on the New Minimum Wage Research. National Bureau of
Economic Research Working Paper No. 4348 (April). Finds that employed
individuals affected by the increases in the minimum wage in 1979 and 1980 were
3% to 4% less likely to be employed a year later. Since the methodology
employed is similar to that in Card (1992a and 1992b), it casts doubt on any
generalization of his conclusions.
Datcher, Linda P., and Loury,
Glenn C. 1981. The Effect of Minimum Wage Legislation on the Distribution of
Family Earnings Among Blacks and Whites. In Minimum Wage Study Commission
(1981), vol. 7, pp. 125-146. Finds that an increase in the minimum wage
increases white family incomes more than black family incomes. Also, middle-
and high-income families benefit more than low-income families.
Douty, H.M. 1960. Some Effects of
the $1.00 Minimum Wage in the United States. Economica, vol. 27 (May): 137-147.
Finds that the increase in the minimum wage from 75 cents to $1.00 in 1956 did
lead to an increase in pay for many workers, but at the cost of jobs. Long-term
employment losses by industry ranged from 3.2% to 15%.
Ehrenberg, Ronald G., and
Schumann, Paul L. 1981. The Overtime Pay Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards
Act. In Rottenberg (1981a): 264-295. Opposes restrictions on mandatory
overtime. Employment Policies Institute. 1994. The Low-Wage Workforce.
Washington: Employment Policies Institute. Presents data on characteristics of
workers earning the minimum wage.
Feldstein, Martin. 1973. The Economics of the
New Unemployment. The Public Interest (Fall): 14-15. Argues that the minimum
wage prevents many young people from accepting jobs that would provide them
with on-the-job training, thus contributing to long-term unemployment.
Fleisher, Belton M. 1981. Minimum
Wage Regulation in Retail Trade. Washington: American Enterprise Institute.
Extension of the minimum wage to retail trade lowered employment in that industry
by as much as 500,000, with the main impact on teenagers. Also finds that
higher minimum wages led to a scale-back of fringe benefits and training.
Forrest, David. 1982. Minimum
Wages and Youth Unemployment: Will Britain Learn from Canada? Journal of Economic
Affairs, vol. 2 (July): 247-250. Estimates that 40% of the increase in teenage
unemployment in Canada since the 1950s is due to higher minimum wages.
Freeman, Alida Castillo, and
Freeman, Richard B. 1991. Minimum Wages in Puerto Rico: Textbook Case of a Wage
Floor? National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 3759 (June).
Finds that the minimum wage has had a massive impact on the labor market in
Puerto Rico.
Gallasch, H.F., Jr. 1975. Minimum
Wages and the Farm Labor Market. Southern Economic Journal, vol. 41 (January):
480-491. Finds that the 1967 extension of the minimum wage to the farm labor
market, which had previously been uncovered, led to an increase in wages and a
reduction in employment.
Gardner, Bruce. 1981. What Have Minimum Wages
Done in Agriculture? In Rottenberg (1981a): 210- 232. Finds that extension of
the minimum wage to farm workers has increased wages but reduced employment.
Gordon, Kenneth. 1981. The Impact
of Minimum Wages on Private Household Workers. In Rottenberg (1981a): 191-209.
Finds that the minimum wage has led to a dramatic reduction in household
workers. Also notes that the policy of enforcement of labor laws by complaint
converts the minimum wage from an instrument of public policy to a tool of
private disputes.
Gramlich, Edward M. 1976. Impact
of Minimum Wages on Other Wages, Employment, and Family Incomes. Brookings
Papers on Economic Activity (No. 2): 409-461. Finds that raising the minimum
wage above 40 to 50 percent of median wages leads to increased compliance
costs, higher unemployment, workers forced to leave full-time work for
part-time work, more benefits for high-income families, and inflationary
effects on prices.
Gregory, Peter. 1981. Legal Minimum Wages as
an Instrument of Social Policy in Less Developed Countries, with Special
Reference to Costa Rica. In Rottenberg (1981a): 377-402. Finds that the minimum
wage has been ineffective in reducing income inequality.
Grossman, Jean B. 1983. The
Impact of the Minimum Wage on Other Wages. Journal of Human Resources, vol. 18
(Summer): 359-378. Finds that an increase in the minimum wage increases wages
of those above the minimum wage for two reasons. First, workers above the
minimum will want to restore their relative wage position, and second there
will be increased demand for workers above the minimum to do the work
previously done by those below the minimum.
Grossman, Jonathan. 1978. Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938: Maximum Struggle for a Minimum Wage. Monthly Labor
Review, vol. 101 (June): 22-30. Reviews the legislative history of passage of
the first federal minimum wage law. Notes the limited coverage of the initial
legislation.
Hall, Robert E. 1982. The Minimum
Wage and Job Turnover in Markets for Young Workers. In The Youth Labor Market
Problem: Its Nature, Causes, and Consequences, ed. Richard B. Freeman and David
A. Wise, pp. 475-497. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Finds that the
higher unemployment among youth resulting from the minimum wage is primarily
due to higher job turnover.
Hammermesh, Daniel S. 1981.
Employment Demand, the Minimum Wage and Labor Costs. In Minimum Wage Study
Commission (1981), vol. 5, pp. 27-84. Finds that a 10% increase in the minimum
wage will reduce teenage employment by 1.2% overall, with smaller declines in
services and retail trade and a higher impact in manufacturing.
Hammermesh, Daniel S. 1982.
Minimum Wages and the Demand for Labor. Economic Inquiry, vol. 20 (July):
365-380. Finds that a minimum wage reduces teenage employment.
Hashimoto, Masanori. 1981.
Minimum Wages and On-the-Job Training. Washington: American Enterprise
Institute. Finds that minimum wage laws lead to a curtailment of training by
employers.
Hashimoto, Masanori. 1982. Minimum Wage
Effects on Training on the Job. American Economic Review, vol. 72 (December):
1070-1087. Finds that minimum wages reduce training, first because workers lose
job opportunities, and hence on the job training, and second because employers
will no longer be able to afford to give such training.
Hashimoto, Masanori. 1987. The
Minimum Wage Law and Youth Crimes: Time-Series Evidence. Journal of Law and
Economics, vol. 30 (October): 443-464. Suggests that increases in the minimum
wage may be responsible for increases in teenage crime rates.
Haugen, Steven E., and Mellor,
Earl F. 1990. Estimating the Number of Minimum Wage Workers. Monthly Labor
Review, vol. 113 (January): 70-74. Estimates that two-fifths of workers
reporting wage rates at or below the minimum wage in 1988 had supplements
raising their wage rates above the minimum. However, some 1.5 million salaried
workers may also make the minimum wage or less on an hourly rate.
Holcombe, Randall G., and
Metcalf, John G. 1977. The Appeal of Minimum Wage Laws: A Dynamic Analysis.
Public Choice, vol. 29 (Spring): 139-141. Explains the popularity of minimum
wage laws even among those who lose their jobs as a result as stemming from the
high turnover in the low-wage market. Although a worker may initially lose his
job because of an increase in the minimum wage, he will expect to get other
jobs in the future that will pay more.
Iden, George. 1980. The Labor Force Experience
of Black Youth: A Review. Monthly Labor Review, vol. 103 (August): 10-16.
Concedes that the minimum wage has had a significant negative effect on teenage
employment, especially for blacks.
Johnson, William R., and
Browning, Edgar K. 1981. Minimum Wages and the Distribution of Income. In
Minimum Wage Study Commission (1981), vol. 7, pp. 31-58. Finds that much of the
benefits of a higher minimum wage accrue to high-income families and that many
low-income families benefit at the expense of other low-income families.
Johnson, William R., and
Browning, Edgar K. 1983. The Distributional and Efficiency Effects of
Increasing the Minimum Wage: A Simulation. American Economic Review, vol. 73
(March): 204-211. Finds that a 22% increase in the minimum wage in 1976 would
have increased the incomes of the lowest 10% of households by just $200
million.
Katz, Lawrence F., and Krueger,
Alan B. 1992. The Effect of the Minimum Wage on the Fast-Food Industry.
Industrial and Labor Relations Review, vol. 46 (October): 6-21. Finds evidence
that an increase in the minimum wage led to an increase in employment in Texas.
Kaun, David E. 1965. Minimum
Wages, Factor Substitution and the Marginal Producer. Quarterly Journal of
Economics, vol. 79 (August): 478-486. The minimum wage hurts small businesses.
Keech, William R. 1977. More on
the Vote Winning and Vote Losing Qualities of Minimum Wage Laws. Public Choice,
vol. 29 (Spring): 133-137. Suggests that support for the minimum wage even
among those adversely affected may result from those benefiting having a
clearer perception of the benefits than those who are harmed have of the
negative effects.
Kniesner, Thomas J. 1981. The
Low-Wage Workers: Who Are They? In Rottenberg (1981a): 459-481. Finds that 60%
of low-wage workers are women and less than 40% are teenagers. Also finds that
low wages are not strongly associated with poverty. Less than 25% of low wage
workers are heads of households, and only 30% live in families with incomes
below the poverty level.
Kohen, Andrew I., and Gilroy,
Curtis L. 1981. The Minimum Wage, Income Distribution, and Poverty. In Minimum
Wage Study Commission (1981), vol. 7, pp. 1-30. Since many low-wage workers
live in high-income families, increasing the minimum wage is an ineffective way
of increasing the incomes of poor families. Kosters,
Marvin, and Welch, Finis. 1972.
The Effects of Minimum Wages on the Distribution of Changes in Aggregate
Employment. American Economic Review, vol. 62 (June): 323-332. Finds that
increases in the minimum wage have a significant effect on employment patterns,
especially for nonwhite teenagers. As a consequence, teenagers are less able to
find jobs during periods of normal employment growth and are more likely to
lose their jobs during cyclical downturns.
Krumm, Ronald J. 1981. The Impact
of the Minimum Wage on Regional Labor Markets. Washington: American Enterprise
Institute. Finds that lower-skilled workers tend to be disemployed when minimum
wages are applied uniformly, leading to higher wages for higher-skilled
workers. Also, because the cost of living varies from region to region, the
real minimum wage will also vary.
Lang, Kevin. 1995. Minimum Wage Laws and the
Distribution of Employment. Washington: Employment Policies Institute
Foundation. Finds that increases in the minimum wage leads fast food
establishments to replace adult workers with younger workers, and to replace
full-time workers with part-time workers.
Leffler, Keith B. 1978. Minimum
Wages, Welfare, and Wealth Trans-fers to the Poor. Journal of Law and
Economics, vol. 21 (October): 345-358. Finds that increases in the minimum wage
lead to increases in welfare rolls. Argues that advocates for the poor may
favor higher minimum wages in order to increase the number of people on
welfare, because welfare benefits may exceed the income from work.
Leighton, Linda, and Mincer, Jacob. 1981. The
Effects of Minimum Wages on Human Capital Formation. In Rottenberg (1981a):
155-173. Finds that minimum wages discourage on-the-job training.
Levitan, Sar, and Belous, Richard S. 1979. The
Minimum Wage Today: How Well Does It Work? Monthly Labor Review, vol. 102
(July): 17-21. Argues that the benefits of the minimum wage outweigh its costs.
Linneman, Peter. 1982. The
Economic Impacts of Minimum Wage Laws: A New Look at an Old Question. Journal
of Political Economy, vol. 90 (June): 443-469. Finds that the disemployment
effects of the minimum wage fall mainly on blacks, females, restricted individuals,
residents of small cities, those with low education, the old, and non-union
members. Beneficiaries of the minimum wage mainly are males and union members.
Mattila, J. Peter. 1981. The
Impact of Minimum Wages on Teenage Schooling and on the Part-Time/FullTime
Employment of Youths. In Rottenberg (1981a): 61-87. Finds that the
disemployment effects of the minimum wage have encouraged youths to stay in
school. Also, youths have shifted out of full-time work and into part-time
work, in order to accommodate schooling.
McCulloch, J. Huston. 1981.
Macroeconomic Implications of the Minimum Wage. In Rottenberg (1981a): 317-326.
Finds negligible effects from the minimum wage on inflation. However, it may
reduce the size of the capital stock by reducing profitability in covered
industries, thereby leading to lower wages in the long run.
McKee, Michael, and West, Edwin
G. 1984. Minimum Wage Effects on Part-Time Employment. Economic Inquiry, vol.
22 (July): 421-428. Finds that the minimum wage discourages part-time employment
in favor of full-time jobs
. McKenzie, Richard B. 1980. The
Labor Market Effects of Minimum Wage Laws: A New Perspective. Journal of Labor
Research, vol. 1 (Fall): 255-264. Argues that increases in the minimum wage,
which apply only to money wages, will lead to a reduction in non-money wages,
such as fringe benefits. Thus employers can respond to a higher minimum wage by
lowering benefits by the same amount.
Mellor, Earl F. 1987. Workers at
the Minimum Wage or Less: Who They Are and the Jobs They Hold. Monthly Labor
Review, vol. 110 (July): 34-38. Finds that those earning at the minimum wage or
less consist largely of young persons and women. The majority worked part-time
in services or sales. Since many of these people probably also received commissions
or tips, the number of workers earning the minimum wage or less may be
overstated.
Mellor, Earl F., and Haugen, Steven E. 1986.
Hourly Paid Workers: Who They Are and What They Earn. Monthly Labor Review,
vol. 109 (February): 20-26. Finds that 60% of those earning the minimum wage or
less are under age 25 and one-third were teenagers.
Meyer, Robert H., and Wise, David
A. 1981. Discontinuous Distributions and Missing Persons: The Minimum Wage and
Unemployed Youth. In Minimum Wage Study Commission (1981), vol. 5, pp. 175-
201. Finds that abolition of the minimum wage would increase employment by
out-of-school youth by 6%.
Meyer, Robert H., and Wise, David
A. 1983a. The Effects of the Minimum Wage on the Employment and Earnings of
Youth. Journal of Labor Economics, vol. 1 (January): 66-100. Estimates that
abolition of the minimum wage would have led to significantly higher employment
among youth, especially black youth. Finds no evidence of higher earnings from
the minimum wage.
Meyer, Robert H., and Wise, David
A. 1983b. Discontinuous Distributions and Missing Persons: The Minimum Wage and
Unemployed Youth. Econometrica, vol. 51 (November): 1677-1698. Finds that if
the minimum wage did not exist in 1978, employment among out-of-school young
men would have been 7% higher. Also, the average earnings of youth would have
been higher.
Mincer, Jacob. 1976. Unemployment
Effects of Minimum Wages. Journal of Political Economy, vol. 84 (August):
S87-S104. Finds that the negative effects of a minimum wage increase are greatest
for nonwhite teenagers. Moreover, the disemployment effects on the size of the
labor force are greater than the effects on the unemployment rate.
Mincy, Ronald B. 1990. Raising
the Minimum Wage: Effects on Family Poverty. Monthly Labor Review, vol. 113
(July): 18-25. Finds a significant impact on reducing poverty from an increase
in the minimum wage. This is because the disemployment impact falls mainly on
teenagers, whose contribution to family income is small.
Minimum Wage Study Commission. 1981. Report, 7
vols. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office. Concludes that a 10%
increase in the minimum wage will reduce teenage employment by 1%- 3%.
Moore, Thomas G. 1971. The Effect
of Minimum Wages on Teenage Unemployment Rates. Journal of Political Economy,
vol. 79 (July/August): 897-902. Finds that the minimum wage increases
unemployment primarily for nonwhite teenagers.
Neumark, David, and Wascher,
William. 1992. Employment Effects of Minimum and Subminimum Wages: Panel Data
on State Minimum Wage Laws. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, vol. 46
(October): 55-81. Finds that a 10% increase in the minimum wage reduces teenage
employment by 1% to 2%, and a decline of 1.5% to 2% among young adults.
Parsons, Donald O. 1980. Poverty
and the Minimum Wage. Washington: American Enterprise Institute. Finds that the
minimum wage mainly reallocates income among low-wage workers, benefiting adult
females and hurting teenagers of both sexes.
Peterson, John M. 1957.
Employment Effects of Minimum Wages, 1938-50. Journal of Political Economy,
vol. 65 (October): 412-430. One of the first empirical studies to show that
minimum wages reduce employment.
Peterson, John M. 1981. Minimum Wages:
Measures and Industry Effects. Washington: American Enterprise Institute. Calculates
the impact of the minimum wage on different industries. The negative employment
effects primarily impact low-wage industries such as retailing.
Peterson, John M., and Stewart,
Charles T., Jr. 1969. Employment Effects of Minimum Wage Rates. Washington:
American Enterprise Institute. Summarizes a large number of studies finding
negative employment effects from minimum wages.
Phillips, Llad. 1981. Some
Aspects of the Social Pathological Behavior Effects of Unemployment among Young
People. In Rottenberg (1981a): 174-190. Finds that primary impact of minimum
wage is on young males, especially black males. This has encouraged continued
school enrollment and entry into the armed forces. However, it has also
encouraged "illegitimate" alternatives to employment, such as crime.
Ragan, James F., Jr. 1977.
Minimum Wages and the Youth Labor Market. Review of Economics and Statistics,
vol. 59 (May): 129-136. Confirms that higher minimum wage rates reduce youth
employment and increases youth unemployment rates, especially for nonwhite
males.
Ragan, James F., Jr. 1981. The Effect of a
Legal Minimum Wage on the Pay and Employment of Teenage Students and
Nonstudents. In Rottenberg (1981a): 11-41. Because the minimum wage reduces
employment for teenagers, government funds spent on job training for teenagers
must be counted as part of the cost of the minimum wage.
Rosa, Jean-Jacques. 1981. The
Effect of Minimum Wage Regulation in France. In Rottenberg (1981a): 357-376.
Finds that the minimum wage reduces employment of youth in France, especially
males.
Rottenberg, Simon. 1981a. The
Economics of Legal Minimum Wages. Washington: American Enterprise Institute.
Collection of papers. Rottenberg, Simon. 1981b. Minimum Wages in Puerto Rico.
In Rottenberg (1981a): 327-339. Finds that the minimum wage has caused massive
disemployment in Puerto Rico and lowered the overall standard of living.
Smith, Ralph E., and Vavrichek,
Bruce. 1987. The Minimum Wage: Its Relation to Incomes and Poverty. Monthly
Labor Review, vol. 110 (June): 24-30. Finds that 70% of workers earning the
minimum wage in 1985 lived in families in which at least one other member held
a job. Also, teenagers held almost one-third of all jobs paying the minimum
wage.
Smith, Ralph E., and Vavrichek,
Bruce. 1992. The Mobility of Minimum Wage Workers. Industrial and Labor
Relations Review, vol. 46 (October): 82-88. Examines a panel of workers earning
the minimum wage in the mid-1980s and finds that over 60% were earning more
than the minimum wage a year later, with gains averaging 20%.
Sowell, Thomas. 1977. Minimum
Wage Escalation. Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press. Argues that indexing
the minimum wage would magnify its problems. Steindl, Frank G. 1973. The Appeal
of Minimum Wage Laws and the Invisible Hand in Government. Public Choice, vol.
14 (Spring): 133-136. Argues that political support for the minimum wage
results from the fact that those who benefit from a modest increase will
outnumber those who lose.
Stigler, George J. 1946. The
Economics of Minimum Wage Legislation. American Economic Review, vol. 36
(June): 358-365. Argues that a minimum wage will reduce output and decrease the
earnings of the poor.
Tauchen, George E. 1981. Some
Evidence on Cross-Sector Effects of the Minimum Wage. Journal of Political
Economy, vol. 89 (June): 529-547. Finds that increases in the minimum wage tend
to lower wages for those in uncovered sectors, because there is increased
demand for uncovered jobs from those no longer employable at the minimum wage.
Taylor, Lowell J. 1993. The
Employment Effect in Retail Trade of a Minimum Wage: Evidence from California.
Washington: Employment Policies Institute. Criticizes Card (1992b).
Trapani, John M., and Moroney,
J.R. 1981. The Impact of Federal Minimum Wage Laws on Employment of Seasonal
Cotton farm Workers. In Rottenberg (1981a): 233-246. Finds that extension of
the minimum wage to seasonal cotton workers in 1966 led to a substitution of
mechanical processes for labor.
Vandenbrink, Donna C. 1987. The Minimum Wage:
No Minor Matter for Teens. Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of
Chicago, vol. 11 (March/April): 19-28. Finds large reductions in teenage
employment from an increase in the minimum wage.
Van Giezen, Robert W. 1994.
Occupational Wages in the Fast-Food Industry. Monthly Labor Review, vol. 117
(August): 24-30. Shows that wages in the fast-food industry are closely tied to
the minimum wage.
Welch, Finis. 1974. Minimum Wage Legislation
in the United States. Economic Inquiry, vol. 12 (September): 285-318. Finds
that the minimum wage has reduced employment, especially among teenagers; it
has made teenagers more vulnerable to the business cycle; and has forced
teenagers out of covered occupations into those not covered by the minimum
wage.
Welch, Finis. 1978. Minimum
Wages: Issues and Evidence. Washington: American Enterprise Institute. Finds
that those primarily affected by the minimum wage are the aged, teenagers, and
part-time workers.
Welch, Finis, and Cunningham,
James. 1978. Effects of Minimum Wages on the Level and Age Composition of Youth
Employment. Review of Economics and Statistics, vol. 60 (February): 140-145.
Finds that in 1970 the minimum wage reduced employment of 14-15 year olds by
46%, by 27% for those 16-17, and by 15% for those 18-19.
Wessels, Walter J. 1980. Minimum
Wages, Fringe Benefits, and Working Conditions. Washington: American Enterprise
Institute. Finds that increases in the minimum wage lead to a reduction in
fringe benefits and a deterioration of working conditions.
West, E.G. 1980. The Unsinkable
Minimum Wage. Policy Review (Winter): 83-95. Argues that economists should do a
better job of explaining the negative effects of the minimum wage.
Williams, Walter. 1977a.
Government Sanctioned Restraints that Reduce Economic Opportunities for
Minorities. Policy Review (Fall): 7-30. Argues that minimum wage laws have had
a disproportionately negative effect on black teenagers.
Williams, Walter. 1977b. Youth and Minority
Unemployment. Study prepared for the Joint Economic Committee, U.S. Congress.
Joint Committee Print, 95th Congress, 1st session. Washington: U.S. Government
Printing Office. Points out that in 1947, prior to expansion of the minimum
wage, black teenage unemployment was actually lower than white teenage
unemployment, and that teenage unemployment generally was sharply lower than it
is today.
