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Social workers have long been active in social and political organizing to ensure a living wage. Yet recent social work research largely neglects efforts to raise wages and effective means for organizing to do so. This paper draws on in-depth interviews from a longitudinal study of low-wage hospital workers who formed a union and negotiated annual, incremental wage increases to achieve a $15 minimum wage floor to understand their perceptions of the effects of the initial wage increase. Results show workers have a wide spectrum of perceptions, with many feeling no effect or even a negative effect due to losses in public benefits. A visualization used to aid interpretation of results identifies race and family structure as salient factors, pointing to the role of structural discrimination in experiences and perceptions of wage increases. Given that this workplace, like many other employers and localities, has implemented a $15 minimum wage through incremental raises across time, it is important that social workers be aware of the experiences of workers at each stage of this process. This study examines the impact of the first raise, establishing a framework from which future research can examine how individuals’ perceptions and experiences develop over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Have frequently adjusted minimum wages slowed the widening of income inequality in China? To answer this question, this study examines the impact of minimum wages on income inequality among the migrant population using data from the China Migrants Dynamics Survey (CMDS) for 2011–2018 and data on city-level minimum wages over the same period. The research findings indicate that the minimum wage significantly reduces income inequality within China’s migrant population. Importantly, the conclusion remains robust after employing rigorous analytical methods, such as instrumental variable analysis, replacement of the explained variable, and provincial-level data regression analysis. Moreover, the mechanism analysis reveals that the minimum wage contributes to reducing income inequality within the migrant population by raising the income of low-income groups without causing unemployment. The extent of this impact is closely related to the implementation of regional minimum wage policies. Additionally, the heterogeneity results show that minimum wage has a more pronounced effect on reducing income inequality among formally employed individuals and those working in the state-owned sector than in the informal employment and non-state-owned sectors. Overall, these findings provide valuable insights for policymakers to further optimize the minimum wage system in China to promote common prosperity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Gini coefficient for disposable income for Canada in 2019 was approximately the same level it was at in 1995. Underlying this flat recent long‐term pattern is an increase in the level of market earnings inequality in the 1980s and 1990s that Canada shared with other countries followed by a continuing period of flatness in that measure as well. This trend interacted with changes in policy that have, at times, offset earnings inequality trends and at other times exacerbated them. In this paper, we describe these trends and the combination of market and policy forces that drove them. We conclude that explanations rooted in ongoing technology or globalisation forces are less relevant than explanations based on deeper structural changes in the labour market. Those changes affecting earnings inequality were ultimately fully offset by changes in the tax and transfer system as well as labour market policies such as the minimum wage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the impact of relative performance evaluation (RPE) on skilled‐unskilled wage inequality. We find that in an economy with full employment, skilled‐unskilled wage inequality will be expanded when the strength of RPE increases. However, when the urban sector is under the minimum wage restriction, the impact of RPE on skilled‐unskilled wage inequality depends on the substitution elasticity between land and unskilled labor in the rural sector. If this substitution elasticity is sufficiently large (resp. small), skilled‐unskilled wage inequality will be expanded (resp. narrowed down) when the strength of RPE rises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minimum wage (MW) policies are widespread in the developing world and yet their effects are still unclear. In this paper we explore the effect of national MW policies in Latin America's six largest economies by exploiting the heterogeneity in the bite of the national minimum wage across local labor markets and over time. We find evidence that the MW has a compression effect on the wage distribution of formal workers. The effect was particularly large during the 2000s, a decade of sustained growth and strong labor markets. In contrast, the effect seems to vanish in the 2010s, a decade of much weaker labor markets. We also find suggestive evidence of a lighthouse effect: the MW seems to have an equalizing effect also on the wage distribution of informal workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This short paper presents an overview of the French policy mix towards labour market inequalities, consisting of a high minimum wage together with targeted payroll tax cuts around the minimum wage. It reviews the recent literature documenting the impact of that policy mix on employment and wage inequality. The main takeaways are that pre‐tax wage inequality has been increasing in France rather like it has in the UK and the US, while net wage inequality has decreased and then remained stable. The employment experience for the middle age group is also very close in France to the one in the UK and the US, while it differs markedly at young and older ages. The paper offers two more general thoughts on how to make progress in comparing policy options. First, most studies tend to give too much weight to tax and benefit reforms in being able to reduce inequality as they disregard incidence mechanisms, and fail to incorporate properly longer‐term effects of other policies on pre‐tax inequality. Second, the design of effective policy should always incorporate simplicity and salience. Failure to do so is likely to lead to little expected impact of such policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the turn of the millennium, the UK has relied almost exclusively on two policies to address the adverse consequences of low pay and labour market inequality: in‐work tax credits and the minimum wage. Successful as these policies have been at supporting family incomes and propping up hourly wages at the bottom, increasing numbers of less‐educated workers find themselves in low‐quality jobs with negligible wage growth, little training and poor career prospects. Work by itself is rarely a route to earnings progression. This paper looks at the motivation behind the expansion of in‐work tax credits in the face of growing wage inequality and in‐work poverty. It focuses on the impact on longer‐term outcomes through human capital and skills. It argues for a balance of policies that goes beyond tax credits and the minimum wage to foster individual wage growth and improve opportunities for career progression for less‐educated workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minimum wage policies are widely implemented in developing countries, but their consequences remain uncertain. This study empirically investigates the impact of the minimum wage on monthly income inequality and its spillover effects in Turkey between 2004 and 2022, utilizing comprehensive micro data. We aim to shed light on the impact of national minimum wage policies by examining their diverse influences on the wage structure within the country. Our findings reveal that the minimum wage significantly reduces income disparities, particularly among formal workers at the lower and upper end of the wage distribution. While wage gaps below the median wage decline, those above it experience a slower growth rate, ultimately leading to wage convergence. Notably, this effect is more pronounced during macroeconomic instability from 2016 to 2022, compared with the relatively stable period of 2004–15. Moreover, the outcomes differ depending on individual attributes like gender, age, education, and other relevant factors. Furthermore, we observe tentative evidence of a lighthouse effect to some degree: the minimum wage seems to exert an equalizing influence on the wage structure of workers in the informal sector beyond a certain percentile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since its introduction, minimum wage has led to greater increases in average hourly wages and monthly earnings for women than for men. The effects of minimum wage on the hourly wages of women and men affected by the minimum wage have been similar on average. However, women are more frequently employed in the minimum wage sector than men and therefore benefit from it more often. Reductions in working hours due to the introduction of minimum wage were lower for women than for men in the short term. Minimum wage did not have a significant effect on employment for women or men and therefore contributes to reducing pay inequality by gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the theoretical perspective centered on "dynamic inequality" and inter-category or individual differences is questioned, while the structural approach of extra-categorical analysis is sustained as essential and pertinent to sociological discussions of inequality and, further, attributable to social class, rather than internal or individual differences as posited by some theorists of inequality. From this position, an attempt is made to offer a frame of reference for the analysis and understanding the distributive structure of income in contemporary Panama. Despite presenting one of the best positioned minimum wage and average income structures in Latin America, Panama occupies one of the worst income distributions in the region. The approach subscribed to in this investigation is based on the theoretical assumption that links the conditions of income inequality with the structures of occupation and class location of the workers. The purpose is to build an empirical model of class structures associated with the occupational categories of the workers and, from this, to analyze the trends in the distribution of income in the country. The data analysis was carried out based on the Labor Market Survey of the National Institute of Statistics and Census of the Comptroller General of the Republic for 2000 and 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the unresolved debate on the effects of minimum wages on output, employment, and income inequality by modeling an occupational choice economy calibrated for a representative OECD economy. The minimum wage sets a minimum skill requirement for employees, which reduces the effective labor supply and raises its price. Consequently, salaries increase, business profits fall, and some entrepreneurs transition to solo self-employment. With a minimum-to-average wage ratio of 0.43 (the OECD countries average in 2020), a 10% increase in the minimum wage reduces output, employment, and inequality among employees by 0.2%, 1.0%, and 2.1%, respectively, and increases total income inequality by 0.57%. If the minimum-to-average wage ratio were 0.55, output, employment, and inequality among employees would decrease by 0.87%, 3.55%, and 5.19%, respectively, and income inequality would rise by 2.09%. In summary, the effects are mainly negative, contrary to what is promised, and quantitatively large for high minimum-to-average wage ratios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the studies of wage discrimination in Bangladesh have calculated the gap between pairs of sectors, while this study uses multiple sectors using multinomial logit estimation where the sector selection is endogenous. The employment sector is divided into six heterogeneous sectors depending on ownership status. Using QLFS 2016–2017 data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, the probability of being employed in a certain sector is initially estimated by the sector choice equation, and then we estimate both the conditional and unconditional wage gaps between government and other sectors. The estimation result of the sector choice shows that the probability of being included in the government sector mostly depends on educational qualification, and the rural population is mostly included in marginal sectors like individual proprietorship. The decomposition of wage discrimination indicates that government employees have a wage advantage over every other sector, except for females. The decomposition result also suggests that the wage gap is mostly driven by discrimination, with NGOs showing the most discrimination in wages offered, followed by the individual sector. Monitoring the wage structure and implementation of the minimum wage is our main policy recommendation, along with others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power and dependence in economic exchange shape industry structure. When a focal industry faces powerful suppliers or buyers, this can reduce industry rents. The authors argue that these dynamics also affect job quality by reducing the economic surplus available to be shared with workers. Drawing on ideas from power-dependency theory, this article explains industry earnings and job quality differences by examining inter-industry exchange patterns. The authors build on Ronald Burt's seminal analysis of structural constraint in economic exchange using industry input-output tables. They calculate market constraint measures for recent years in the United States and link these with CPS data on wages and benefits. Analyses reveal that workers in more buyer-constrained industries (dependence on powerful buyers) experience lower wages and benefits. Findings also show that market constraint reduces the economic surplus available for union bargaining. Theory and results suggest that market concentration reduces suppliers' economic rents, harming job quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Soziale Welt is the property of Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Using establishment-level panel data from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, I estimate the effect of minimum wage increases implemented by 10 states in 2014 and 2015. I show that minimum wage increases lead to wage spillovers within establishments. I find little evidence that minimum wage increases induce establishments to reorganize their occupational mix. Finally, I find that minimum wage increases propagate up the management hierarchy, leading to increased wages for supervisors. Nonetheless, I find that overall wage inequality decreases within establishments after minimum wage increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resumen: La relación entre la actividad sindical y la creciente desigualdad de ingresos observada en las economías avanzadas, a pesar de su ambigüedad teórica, se ha pasado por alto en los estudios empíricos. En este artículo se estima un modelo empírico para 26 países europeos entre 2005 y 2018, especificando la desigualdad de ingresos como una función de la tasa de densidad sindical, su valor al cuadrado y un conjunto de variables de control. El modelo se amplía con la inclusión de otras instituciones del mercado de trabajo para evaluar los efectos distributivos de la densidad sindical en toda la estructura institucional. Se observa una relación significativa y persistente, en forma de U invertida, entre densidad sindical y desigualdad de ingresos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on examining the relationship between trade unions and rising income inequality in advanced European countries from 2005 to 2018. Topics include the non-linear nature of this relationship, incorporates other labor market institutions to assess their distributional effects, and a significant and persistent inverted U-shaped relationship with income inequality.

We study earnings and income inequality in Britain over the 25 years prior to the COVID‐19 pandemic. We focus on the middle 90 per cent of the income distribution, within which the gap between top and bottom in 2019–20 was essentially the same, after taxes and transfers, as a quarter‐century earlier. This has led to a narrative of 'stable inequality', which we argue misses important nuances and key lessons from the UK's experience. In particular, there have been periods in which household earnings inequalities were changing considerably but tax and transfer policy was offsetting its effects on income inequality – in different directions at different times, reflecting sharp changes of policy approach. Means‐tested transfers played a crucial role in containing inequality during the 'inclusive growth' period of the 1990s and early 2000s, as well as the Great Recession. During the 2010s, the minimum wage emerged as the government's primary policy tool for boosting incomes, but this happened almost simultaneously with cutbacks to means‐tested transfers, meaning that household earnings inequalities fell considerably and yet net income inequality rose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimates of union wage effects have been challenged by concerns regarding unobserved worker heterogeneity and endogenous job changes. Many economists believe that union wage premiums lead to business failures and other forms of worker displacement. In this article, the authors examine displacement rates and union wage gaps using the 1994–2018 biennial Displaced Worker Survey (DWS) supplements to the monthly Current Population Surveys. For more than two decades, displacement rates among union and non-union workers have been remarkably similar. The authors observe changes in earnings resulting from transitions between union and non-union jobs following exogenous job changes. Consistent with prior evidence from the 1994 and 1996 DWS, findings show longitudinal estimates of average union wage effects close to 15%, which are similar to standard cross-section estimates and suggestive of minimal ability bias. Wage losses moving from union to non-union jobs exceed gains from non-union to union transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to analyze wage inequality trends over the last two decades and investigate the impacts of two major policy interventions, minimum wage increases and educational expansion, in Turkey between 2002 and 2019, using Household Labor Force Surveys. We find a significant decline in wage inequality over the period analyzed, which can be explained by a combination of (i) minimum wage hikes (2004 and 2016), (ii) a stable aggregate demand curve, and (iii) relative stagnation of post-secondary graduate wages. The two minimum wage hikes led to real gains that were preserved over the years for lower-wage earners and reduced the wage gap between the upper and lower percentiles. The decomposition analysis based on DiNardo et al. (Econometrica 1996:1001–1044, 1996) shows that minimum wage hikes had a strong wage (price) effect on the wage distribution. This impact even spilled over to wage earners above the minimum wage. In an emerging economy with many low-skilled jobs and weak labor market institutions, we argue that minimum wage adjustments replace the role of central wage bargaining. In recent years, the stagnant real wages of the top deciles contributed further to the decline in inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the wage differentials that exist in the post-liberalized labor market in Pakistan. The increasing wage differential contradicts standard labor theories and models. The literature also confirms the existence of wage differentials across different labor markets both in industrialized and non-industrialized countries. The firms compensate the workers both on their observable and unobservable characteristics. The mincer equation used in its semi-logarithmic decomposed form to derive wage differentials. The weighted adjusted standard deviation technique is used for further decomposition of the level and regional variations in sectoral wage gaps, as suggested by Horrace and Oaxaca. The sectoral heterogeneity, skill characteristics and regional dispersions derived by using the micro labor force data sets spread over thirty years. The results confirm the existence of inter-industry wage differentials. However, the size varies across the regions, levels of education, and types of occupations. A substantial difference in the wage gap observed in firms both in the formal and informal sectors. The financial services firms pay higher than the average national wage followed by firms in utility services, the services sector, and the mining sector. The firms in the agricultural sector pay lower than the average national wage. The dispersion in wages has risen to the magnitude of almost 25 percent over the last three decades. Firms pay higher wages to high-skill workers, while industries requiring jobs with low skills pay lower wages. The wage differentials in various regions are attributable to the persistent and relative backwardness of provinces. The high-skilled occupations in general are likely to have more benefits than those involving low-skilled workers. Individual and household characteristics account for almost 50 percent of variation regardless of the sectoral affiliation. The increase in the minimum wage, with targeted social policies in educational attainment, increased participation of women, and provision of social services in the informal sector may reduce the gap in wage difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monthly wage inequality in Germany continued to increase in the early 2000s, which is mainly explained by a rising part-time employment share. After 2010, inequality returned to the level of 2000. About half of the recent decrease is due to the introduction of the national minimum wage in 2015. While employment effects of the minimum wage are negligible, we find strong wage increases among the existing workforce. The minimum wage lowered wage inequality within eastern and western Germany but also led to a convergence of the east-west wage differential. The increased labor incomes were not offset by decreasing social benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between the flexibility applications and the unequal distribution and the low income levels low income groups get by exhibiting the income distribution that occurs among the ones that join the labour market. To that end, the earnings of paid employees, casual worker, selfemployed and employer are examined by using the micro data of the TURKSAT Household Income and Living Conditions Survey-2019. The differences among the income groups are presented by calculating the distribution among the income groups in accordance with the education level, job status, employment situation and occupational group and the shares they get from the income as per 10% percentile of the ones within employment. The findings indicate that the income difference between the lowest and the highest is 16,7 times and the average income of the low income group is in a level less than the minimum wage but that nevertheless mostly the high income groups benefit from the transfer incomes. It is inferred that flexible and/or informal labour is prevalent in the lowest income group that is under the risk of poverty due to the low level of welfare they have. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a collection of summaries of various research papers published in the journal "Issues in Political Economy." The papers cover a range of topics including factors contributing to food insecurity in the United States, gender and racial wage gaps within different Christian religious groups, the impact of minimum wage on the gender wage gap, dynamics of secondary markets for IPOs, racial differences in occupational prestige after WW1 agricultural draft deferments, and the impact of minimum wage on employment numbers. The summaries provide a brief overview of each paper's findings and conclusions, offering valuable insights for library patrons conducting research on these specific topics. [Extracted from the article]

We analyse around four decades of annual time-series data revisiting the long-run relationship between globalization and income inequality for 24 OECD member countries across different geographical regions, applying the Yamamoto-Kurozumi multivariate vector autoregression (VAR) framework. We observe that rapid globalization is not the key cause of rising long-run intra country inequality. This result is obtained by controlling for growth, terms of trade, minimum wage legislation, and unionization and found robust by further controlling education. Most of the countries in our study with a long-run relationship reveal the robust reverse causal impact of rising globalization on reducing inequality. Our impulse response breakdown across various sub-components of globalization suggests that economic globalization is not a primary contributor to long-run inequality for developed industrialized countries. Our framework guides future research to concentrate more on country-specific relationships, with policy guidance tailored for each country based on their level of economic development and institutional quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latin American countries experienced a significant reduction in income inequality at the turn of the twenty-first century. From the early 2000s to around 2012, the average Gini coefficient fell from 0.51 to 0.47. The period of falling inequality coincided with leftist presidential candidates achieving electoral victories across the region: by 2009, 11 of the 17 countries had a leftist president—the so-called Pink Tide. Using a difference-in-differences design, a range of econometric models, inequality measurements, and samples, this study finds evidence that leftist governments lowered income inequality faster than non-leftist regimes, increasing the income share captured by the first 7 deciles at the expense of the top 10 percent. The analysis suggests that this reduction was achieved by increasing social pensions, minimum wages, and tax revenue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Contaduría y Administración is the property of Facultad de Contaduria y Administracion-Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

We investigate the effect of labor productivity growth, workers' bargaining power, and legal minimum wage revision rules on income distribution in a novel agent-based macroeconomic model mostly inspired by the post-Keynesian literature. Its main novelties are a wage bargaining process and a mark-up adjustment rule featuring a broader set of dimensions and coupled channels of interaction. The former allows nominal wages to be endogenously determined by interactions involving firms and workers, which are mediated by workers' bargaining power. The latter assumes that firms also consider their position relative to workers (through their unit costs) to set their mark-up rates, thus linking the evolution of nominal wages in the bargaining process and labor productivity growth to the functional income distribution. This has implications for the personal income distribution through a three-class structure for households. The model reproduces numerous stylized facts, including those concerning the income distribution dynamics. By capturing the inherent social conflict over the distribution of income, our results show the importance of the coevolutionary interaction between workers' bargaining power and productivity growth to the dynamics of income inequality and to its relationship with output. This leads to a policy dilemma between promoting productivity growth and improving income equality which can, nonetheless, be attenuated by combining policies and institutions that protect workers with policies that stimulate technological innovation and productivity growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study adds to a growing body of studies on gender inequality, centred on the role of the minimum wage. The unprecedented increases of the minimum wage in Korea during the 2010s allow us to directly observe the social and economic impacts of these changes. This study explores the minimum wage role in mitigating the gender gap in sticky wages where firm performance worsened. Using a sample of 7,514 firm-year observations between 2010 and 2020 in the Korean KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets, we find that men's wage stickiness in times of poor performance was greater than that of women, and the minimum wage reduces the gap in sticky wages between genders, alleviating gender inequality problems in wage determination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how environmental taxation affects wage inequality in the presence of subsidizing renewable energy. It is necessary to take both traditional dirty energy and renewable energy into account. Take the case where the renewable energy sector is more skill-intensive than the traditional energy sector as an example. If the final product sector is more skill-intensive than the whole energy sector, an increment of the output tax in the traditional energy sector will widen wage inequality unambiguously. However, if the final product sector is less skill-intensive than the whole energy sector, an increment of the output tax in the traditional energy sector may narrow down wage inequality when the substitution elasticity between energy and labor in the final product sector is sufficiently large. The interaction between environmental taxation and subsidization on renewable energy plays a key role in the mechanism. We also analyze the relationship between environmental taxation and welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the effects of government expenditures, regional GDP, regional minimum wages, employment rate, and poverty severity on income inequality by applying the system Generalized Method of Moments panel model to overcome the dynamic endogeneity problem from 2007 to 2020. The results show that government expenditure and an increase in the regional minimum wage for low-wage workers can reduce income inequality in both the short run and long run. Furthermore, high regional GDP and high levels of employment rate for workers with low skills can exacerbate the level of income inequality in the long run. However, reducing the severity of poverty has no effect on reducing inequality. This study provides policy recommendations to the government to improve basic public services and make various training skill programs, including ICT, in order to increase creativity and job opportunities for low-income people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Çalışma ve Toplum is the property of Calisma ve Toplum and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article tests the relative importance of globalization and technological change in explaining income inequality at higher and lower development levels. Besides, the article analyses the effectiveness of a set of policy measures for fighting inequality. We use relative pre-tax income shares as a proxy for inequality. Several linear and non-linear threshold panel data models with GDP per capita as the threshold variable are estimated for 42 countries over the period from 1994 to 2016. We find that technology is the most important generator of inequality, while the effect of various globalization measures is weak and often insignificant. We find limited evidence that the effect of globalization differs with respect to the level of GDP per capita. Our results suggest that full employment policies in the low inflation environment are the most efficient solution for the inequality problem. Higher employment and low inflation rate decrease the inequality level. Other than that, we do not find other policy measures that satisfy the one-size-fits-all criteria for tackling inequality. Instead, a set of efficient policy measures against inequality, including expenditures on education, minimum wage policies, and lending rates, depend on the development level and idiosyncratic policies and institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increases in the minimum wage can substantially reduce earnings inequality. To demonstrate this, we combine administrative and survey data with an equilibrium model of the Brazilian labor market. We find that a 128 percent increase in the real minimum wage in Brazil between 1996 and 2018 had far-reaching spillover effects on wages higher up in the distribution. The increased minimum wage accounts for 45 percent of a large fall in earnings inequality over this period. At the same time, the effects of the minimum wage on employment and output are muted by reallocation of workers toward more productive firms.. (JEL D31, E23, E24, J31, J38, O15) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: Do financial crises affect everyone equally? Despite the growing concern about income inequality recently, mixed empirical findings have resulted in a long-standing debate about the distribution of income in the aftermath of financial crises. Purpose: The study examines how different types of financial crises affect the distribution of income. Methods and approach: In this study we used a two-step system Generalized method of moments (GMM) model to explore the effects of financial crisis on income inequality. Findings: Any type of financial crisis results in a larger income gap between the rich and the poor. Although little attention has been given to debt and twin and triple crises, they are associated with higher income inequality than banking and currency crises. We also show that the effects of banking crises on income inequality in low-income, lower-middle income and upper-middle income countries (LICs, LMICs and UMICs respectively) are more pronounced than in high-income countries (HICs). Policy implications: Long-and medium-term plans for social assistance programmes in LICS, LMICs and UMICs are needed and should be flexible so that social safety nets can be rapidly adjusted to protect vulnerable groups. Maintaining a high level of fiscal balance during tranquil periods is critical to implementing welfare state expansion policies in times of crisis. Top marginal income and estate taxes should be raised to avoid very high concentrations of income in the aftermath of financial crises. The minimum wage should also be raised to protect low-income workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides new stylized facts about labor earnings inequality and dynamics in France for the period 1991-2016. Using linked employer-employee data, we show that (i) labor inequality in France is low compared to other developed countries and has been decreasing until the financial crisis of 2009 and increasing since then, (ii) women experienced high earnings growth, in particular at the bottom of the distribution, in contrast to the stability observed for men. Both result from a decrease in labor costs at the minimum wage and an increase in the hourly minimum in the aftermath of the 35h workweek policy, (iii) top earnings (top 5 and 1%) grew moderately while very top earnings (top 0.1 and 0.01%) experienced a much higher growth, (iv) inequality between and within cohorts follow the same U-shaped pattern as global inequality: it decreased before 2009 and then increased until 2016, (v) Individual earnings mobility is stable between 1991 and 2016, and very low at the top of the distribution, (vi) the distribution of earnings growth is negatively skewed, leptokurtic, and varies with age. Then, studying earnings dispersion both within and between territories, we document strong differences across cities aswell as between urban and rural areas, even after controlling for observable characteristics. We also observe a continuous decrease in earnings inequality between territories. However, a larger inflation in rural territories mitigates this convergence. Finally, we document a strong reduction in inequality within rural and remote territories, again driven by changes at the bottom of the wage distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the effects of hypothetical MW (HMW) increases on social and fiscal outcomes in 21 European Union (EU) countries with a statutory national MW (NMW) based on a microsimulation approach using EUROMOD. The methodological challenges related to the use of available EU household survey data are described, along with the choices made to address these challenges. The paper assesses hypothetical scenarios in which countries with a statutory NMW increase their minimum wage (MW) to various reference values, set in relation to the gross national median and average wage. The model simulations suggest that MW increases can significantly reduce in-work poverty, wage inequality, and the gender pay gap, while generally improving the public budget balance. The implied wage increases for the beneficiaries are substantial, while the implied increases in the aggregate wage bill are generally modest. Extensions explore possible effects on employment and labor supply at the intensive margin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

US earnings inequality has not increased in the last decade.This marks the first sustained reversal of rising earnings inequality since 1980. We document this shift across eight data sources using worker surveys, employer-reported data, and administrative data. The reversal is due to a shrinking gap between low-wage and median-wage workers. In contrast, the gap between top and median workers has persisted. Rising pay for low-wage workers is not mainly due to the changing composition of workers or jobs, minimum wage increases, or workplace-specific sources of inequality. Instead, it is due to broadly rising pay in low-wage occupations, which has particularly benefited workers in tightening labor markets. Rebounding post–Great Recession labor demand at the bottom offset enduring drivers of inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Taiwan Economic Forecast & Policy is the property of Institute of Economics, Academia Sinica, Taiwan Economic Forecast & Policy and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article provides a framing analysis of media coverage of minimum wage between public and commercial broadcasters in South Korea. To do this, the current study content analyzed 1505 news reports about "minimum wage" aired by two public television broadcasters and two commercial television broadcasters in 2018. The analysis finds that both public and commercial broadcasters directed citizens' attention to the new policy's collective harms framed as "increasing unemployment" and "harms to the economy," while deemphasizing the particularistic benefits of the minimum wage increase and the resulting reduction of inequality gap between the rich and the poor. Further, all the broadcasters have not provided citizens with enough information necessary for a balanced assessment of the pros and cons of the minimum wage increase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the distributive and welfare impacts of increasing minimum wage in an economy with imperfect competition. In the short run without entry/exit of manufacturing firms, an increase in the urban minimum wage reduces the skilled–unskilled wage gap but worsens unemployment and welfare in the economy. In the long run, a higher minimum wage induces firms to exit the urban manufacturing sector, thereby releasing capital to the rural agricultural sector. This can yield double dividends by further narrowing wage inequality and improving social welfare. Empirical results based on data from 43 selected countries confirm our theoretical findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minimum wage (MW) policies are widespread in the developing world and yet their effects are still unclear. In this paper we explore the effect of national MW policies in Latin America's six largest economies by exploiting the heterogeneity in the bite of the national minimum wage across local labor markets and over time. We find evidence that the MW has a compression effect on the wage distribution of formal workers. The effect was particularly large during the 2000s, a decade of sustained growth and strong labor markets. In contrast, the effect seems to vanish in the 2010s, a decade of much weaker labor markets. We also find suggestive evidence of a lighthouse effect: the MW seems to have an equalizing effect also on the wage distribution of informal workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates evidence on deficits in economic inclusion, focussing on the labour market in Indonesia. Increasing job polarization and an accompanying rise in earnings inequality on account of technological development and globalisation over the past few decades have augmented concerns about the attainability of governments’ perennial objective of inclusive growth. However, there are circumstances in which declining or levelling earnings gaps may be more of a bane than a boon for a country’s long-term economic health. Using the particularly interesting case of Indonesia, which has reduced and subsequently levelled off its earnings inequality in the midst of impressive growth, this paper studies how structural factors and labour market policies influence dynamics of inequality. The study finds evidence of a strong role of structural characteristics, which appears to indicate that reductions in earnings inequality may be more of a bane than a boon for Indonesia’s long-term prosperity. The paper concludes with broader insights and a discussion on policy implications that extend beyond the Indonesian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in the structure of work and families over the last four decades have increased many labour market inequalities. Growing earnings inequality, adverse labour market 'shocks' for the low‐educated, and geographically concentrated pockets of deprivation are among the most evident of these in Britain. The decade since the financial crisis has brought these inequalities into sharper focus, and the Covid‐19 pandemic has further exacerbated labour market inequality. The object of this paper is to highlight the key role played by poor wage progression for lower‐ and middle‐educated workers in understanding inequality in the labour market and for designing effective policy responses. It is unlikely that we can address all the concerns about low wages, wage progression and earnings inequality through the tax and welfare system alone. The challenge is how best to balance tax and welfare benefit policy with other policies, such as human capital policies, the minimum wage and labour market regulation. The results point to a mix of policies that aim to enhance wage progression for the lower‐educated within a welfare system that supports low‐earning families and provides a minimum wage floor for hourly wages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collective bargaining is central to wage-setting and working conditions, but knowledge about what exactly has been concluded in collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) in Europe is limited. In light of the debate about a European Minimum Wage this information gap is evident. This article aims to explore the feasibility of an EU-wide CBA data collection. We conclude that such a database could cover all CBAs for nine countries, all multi-employer CBAs for another nine countries and a selection of CBAs for two countries. Data collection for the remaining countries has to rely on CBAs collected from social partners. Realisation of an EU-wide CBA Database seems a doable but challenging task. When CBA texts would be collected and coded, the content of CBAs could be compared across member states. The Wage Indicator CBA Database is an example of a cross-country coding scheme for CBA texts. Text-mining options are explored as a promising way forward as to reduce coding efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the past 6 years, a wave of local minimum wage laws passed in the United States with policymakers and advocates framing the policy as a means of reducing income inequality. This report evaluates whether one of the first of these efforts, Seattle's $15 minimum wage ordinance, lowered inequality of earnings of workers in the city. I find that inequality among workers who earned less than the city's median wage was modestly reduced, yet overall earnings inequality substantially increased during the period in which the ordinance was phased in, likely for reasons unrelated to the minimum wage law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El objetivo de este estudio es contribuir a la discusión sobre la viabilidad y el alcance potencial de aumentar sustancialmente las remuneraciones de los trabajadores con menores ingresos. Para ello, se realizan un conjunto de simulaciones con la matriz de insumo-producto que permiten evaluar el impacto en las variables económicas del aumento del salario mínimo. El análisis muestra indicaciones muy favorables sobre la viabilidad del crecimiento con redistribución del ingreso en México, basado esencialmente en el mercado interno de consumo en masa. Al incentivar el crecimiento de la demanda de las familias con menores ingresos, se logra incidir de manera favorable en el PIB y el empleo. Dicho incentivo tiene un efecto relativamente pequeño tanto en términos de inflación como en las importaciones, cuyas variaciones son muy inferiores a las registradas con el modelo vigente en las últimas décadas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]