Search

We investigate how firing notification procedures influence wage growth. Using a sample of 33 countries over the period 2006–2015, we show that administrative requirements in cases of dismissal have a positive and significant effect on wage growth. The result is robust even after controlling for the endogeneity of the firing notification restrictions, the involvement of third parties in the wage bargaining process, the minimum wage, the firms' training policy, and the composition of employment. These findings suggest that firing notification procedures foster the growth of wages by increasing the bargaining power of incumbent workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extra-low minimum wage for US restaurant workers has remained unchanged for over 30 years. Periodic campaigns have brought this wage, and its connection to the perpetuation of inequality and exploitative work, to public attention, but these campaigns have met resistance from both employers and restaurant workers. This article draws on a workplace ethnography in a restaurant front-of-house, and in-depth interviews with tipped food service workers, to examine the tipped labour process and begin to answer a central question: why would any workers oppose a wage increase? It argues that the constituting of tips as a formal wage created for workers a two-employer problem, wherein customers assume the role of secondary, unregulated, employers in the workplace. Ultimately, the tipped wage poses a longer-term strategic obstacle for workers in their position relative to management and ability to organize to shape the terms and conditions of their work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The study maps workplace stakeholders' perceptions of living wage (LW) impacts in New Zealand. Empirical findings inform an inaugural model of LW impacts and contingent factors at individual, organisation, sector/industry and national levels. Design/methodology/approach: Data from a national employee survey, semi-structured interviews with business sector representatives, and staff in two LW organisation cases were subjected to thematic content analysis. Findings: Informants emphasised anticipated LW impacts amid complex workplace and regulatory dynamics. Employers/managers stressed its cost effects. However, employees, human resource (HR) advocates and other LW proponents highlighted employee "investment" impacts that improve worker productivity and societal circumstances. Research limitations/implications: This study highlights the need for further context-sensitive LW analysis. An initial model of LW impacts provides a framework for comparative and longitudinal work in other national contexts. Practical implications: The proposed model categorises perceived LW effects and can inform policy development. Findings also stress a need for cross-agency initiatives to address LW concerns, including a key role for HR. Social implications: The findings highlight perceptions of a LW impacting within and beyond the workplace. Whilst higher-quality management is seen to encourage better-informed decisions about "going living wage", a LW's positive socio-economic impacts require multi-lateral initiatives, suggesting that those initiatives are is part of wider obligations for policy makers to encourage decent living standards. Originality/value: This study provides a much-needed and inaugural focus on the intertwined workplace and wider impacts of a LW, extending extant econometric analyses. The paper also synthesizes different data sources to develop an inaugural, context-sensitive model of perceived LW effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Using a regression discontinuity design in tandem with a difference-in-discontinuities analysis, the study finds that increasing the minimum wage reduces the employment probability of young males by 2.5–3.1 percentage points. Design/methodology/approach: The authors exploit an age-specific minimum wage rule – which sets a lower minimum wage for workers of age 15 than the adult minimum wage paid to workers of age 16 and above – and its abolition to estimate the causal effect of a minimum wage increase on youth employment and education in Turkey. Findings: The authors also document that, initially, the minimum wage increase does not lead to a major change in high school enrollment, while the likelihood of transitioning into "neither in employment nor in education and training" (NEET) category notably increases. However, in the medium term, the NEET effect is transitory; school enrollment increases over time and absorbs the negative employment effect. Originality/value: The authors argue that policy effects have mostly been driven by demand-side forces rather than the supply side. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In spite of millions of quasi-formal workers in the European Union (EU), there is still limited understanding of what motivates workers to participate in these detrimental employment schemes, and why certain groups of workers exhibit higher inclination towards it. This article takes a novel approach by putting prospective envelope wage earners in the centre of this analysis. Design/methodology/approach: Data from the 2019 Special Eurobarometer on undeclared work are used, and two-level random intercept cumulative logit modelling is applied. Findings: One in seven fully declared EU workers would have nothing against receiving one part of their wages off-the-books. Manual workers and individuals whose job assumes travelling are the most willing to accept such kind of remuneration, and the same applies to workers with low tax morale and those who perceive the risk of being detected and persecuted as very small. On the other hand, women, older individuals, married persons and employees from large enterprises express the smallest inclination towards envelope wages. The environment in which an individual operates also plays a non-negligible role as the quality of the pension system and the strength of social contract were also identified as significant determinants of workers' readiness to accept envelope wages. Originality/value: This article fills in the gap in the literature by analysing what workers think about wage under-reporting and what factors drive their willingness to accept envelope wages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine whether participating informality is attributed to income shocks such as wage arrears, unexpected wage cuts or compulsory unpaid leaves. The current research uses Russia longitudinal Monitoring Survey 2002–2015. Design/methodology/approach: Using formal jobs as the base category, the authors conducted pooled multinomial logit regressions allowing for the two additional employment statuses: workers without contracts and unincorporated business workers. Findings: The overall results mainly suggest that no effects occur. In other words, unexpected negative income shocks are not the main driving force of informality. Although the majority of previous studies are based on survey questions on unexpected income shock which has sample selection bias, to obtain robustness, the current study used Russian minimum wage reforms as income shocks. This research shows that Russian minimum wage reform does not affect the decision of informality in the labor market. Research limitations/implications: Given the data limitations, the authors only observed and examined the supply-side of the labor market. Tax-evading motives would be the main reason for informality; to ensure this conjecture, however, demand and supply sides need to be simultaneously examined which is beyond the scope of this study. Originality/value: In contrast to a large number of studies on cross-sectional differences in determinants of informal job holding, emphasis on the effects of income shocks on informal employment across business cycles has been minimal. The current study focuses on the business cycles because trends of informal employment can be interpreted differently regardless of whether in an economic boom or recession. Russia, as a unique natural experiment, provides us to examine informal job holdings over the business cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to explore, in the context of Machinery and Equipment sector of Malaysia, the association between average wages and share of employment in automatable jobs, specifically whether the association between average wages and share of employment automatable jobs is asymmetric in nature. Design/methodology/approach: The responses obtained from the structured interview of 265 firms are used to build up the empirical models (conditional mean regression and quantile regression). Findings: The conditional mean regression findings show that employment levels in some low-waged, middle-skilled jobs are negatively associated with average wages. Furthermore, the quantile regression results add that firms that possess higher levels of share of employment in automation jobs are found to have a stronger association to average wages than those possessing a lower share of employment in automation jobs. Practical implications: From the theoretical perspective, the findings of this study add to the body of knowledge of the theory of minimum wages and the concept of job polarization. From a policy perspective, the findings of this study can serve as a critical input to standard setters and regulators in devising industrial and as education policies. Originality/value: Based on the assumption of a constant average policy effect on automatable jobs, conditional mean regression models have been commonly used in prior studies. This study makes the first attempt to employ the quantile regression method to provide a deeper understanding of the relationship between wages and employment in automatable jobs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The authors investigate the extent to which differences in provincial union legislation have impacts on the union earnings premium. Design/methodology/approach: Content analysis of provincial union regulations of 25 provinces is conducted to create two indices: one reflecting the degree of stringency of the local requirement that unions be established in a timely fashion and the other reflecting requirements for employers to negotiate wages with the union. The authors use individual level data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) of 2010 to estimate the union earnings premium. Findings: The authors find that unionised workers in China receive an earnings premium ranging from 6.4 to 9.6%, which is in range of other studies (but not all) for China that tend to find a (perhaps surprising) union wage premium in spite of the fact that unions tend to be "company unions" designed to foster stability and growth and to serve as a transmission belt for the wishes of the Party rather than bargaining for the benefit of their members. The authors also find that provincial requirements to establish unions in a timely fashion enhance the impact of unions on the earnings of their members, but provincial requirements to negotiate wages dampen the effect of unions on the earnings of their members. Reasons for these results are discussed. Originality/value: Despite this lack of independence of the Chinese unions, research continuously finds that Chinese unions have effects that are surprisingly similar to those of unions in Western countries. This paper drills deeper into the underlying mechanisms to see if local union strategies, exemplified by provincial union legislation, can explain the unexpected union effects on compensation. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first paper to do so. Moreover, the authors use individual-level data in contrast to most studies on China that use firm or provincial level aggregate data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of health on wages of Australian workers, with a focus on gender differences and the role of macroeconomic conditions in the effects. Design/methodology/approach: The first 15 waves of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey are used to estimate a wage model that accounts for the endogeneity of health, unobserved heterogeneity and sample selection bias. Findings: The results show that, after accounting for the endogeneity of health, unobserved heterogeneity and sample selection bias, better health increases wages for Australian male workers, but not for female workers. The results also show that accounting for the endogeneity of health, unobserved heterogeneity and potential sample selection bias is important in estimating the effects of health on wages. In particular, a simple ordinary least squares estimator would underestimate the effect of health on wages for males, while overestimate it for females, and simply addressing the endogeneity of health using instrumental variables could overestimate the effect for both genders. It is also found that the effects of health on wages fall under depressed macroeconomic conditions, perhaps due to reduced job mobility and increased presentism during a recession. Originality/value: This study adds to the international literature on the effects of health on wages by providing empirical evidence from Australia. The model applied to estimate the effects takes advantage of a panel dataset to address the bias resulting potentially from all the sources of the endogeneity of health, unobserved heterogeneity and sample selection. The results indeed show that failing to address these issues would substantially bias the estimated effects of health on wages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The fair wage potential (FWP) is a social assessment method that can serve as an important measure to estimate the related social impacts along a product's life cycle; however, it does not admit a direct relation to the functional unit. This research presents the weighted fair wage potential (WFWP) method that relates the functional unit to the FWP. It is a simplified method to connect the material inventory to social data. This study aims to develop an approach to assess and choose the best construction typology for buildings based on the social sustainability of workers involved in the sectors. Design/methodology/approach: The study is presented in phases. Phase 1 selected and identified two Brazilian house projects, which were considered for the following processes: extraction of raw materials, manufacture of building materials and housing construction. Phase 2 assembled the social life cycle inventories and executed them using the social life cycle assessment (SLCA). The inventory of materials followed the functional unit: "1.0 m² of the built housing", and the social inventory observed data extracted from the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD). The study considered the stakeholder category "worker" and analysed the impact subcategory "fair salary". The study also divided the social data into categories: worker gender, worker race/colour, worker union and worker formality to analyse the impact of subcategories: "equal opportunities/discrimination", "freedom of association and collective bargaining" and "social benefits/social security". Phase 3 compared the projects according to the results from the SLCA. The FWP considers the wage paid at supply chain sectors, and the WFWP relates the functional unit to the social data. Findings: The results proved that the wages paid by the construction supply chain are fair. However, there are differences between the FWP of male and female workers, white and non-white workers, unionised and non-unionised workers and formal and informal workers. The study of the actual Brazilian minimum wage indicated that the FWP is sensitive to the reference wage to which the analysed wages paid are related. Considering the WFWP, the constructive typology employed in Project B can generate increased positive social impacts than Project A. The proposed study provides excellent results, and it can be adapted to different data to assess the social conditions of other countries and sectors. Research limitations/implications: There is not enough primary data available for the variables real wages and real working time; for this reason, these variables received secondary data. Another limitation is the data used for the year range, since Brazilian microdata do not include years before 2002 and years beyond 2015. Originality/value: The WFWP differs from the existing social sustainability studies because it relates the material information to social data; also, it defines the best option among the analysed alternatives, taking into consideration social sustainability, which enables the project design to go beyond technical aspects. The constructive typology and materials take into account the social sustainability of the construction supply chain, generating more sustainable projects and improving the circumstances of affected stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In 2015, one university student in KC – a small town in regional Australia – unknowingly launched a resistance movement and national debate on modern wage theft. We apply labour process theory to analyse accounting's role in this case. Design/methodology/approach: We study multiple instances of wage theft in one Australian town. This case site reveals how wage theft can emerge in a developed economy with well-established legal and institutional constraints. We use Thompson's "core" labour process theory to analyse accounting's role via two interrelated dialectics: (1) structure and agency and, (2) control and resistance. Findings: Accounting was "weaponised" by both sides of the controversy: as a tool of employer control and as a vehicle for student resistance. Digital technologies enabled employee resistance to form unconsciously and organically. Proponents mobilised informally, with information and accounting the ammunition. Social implications: Wage theft affects industrialised as well as developing economies, especially "precarious" workers. We show how accounting can conceal exploitation, but also how – with the right support – accounting can help vulnerable workers enforce their rights and entitlements. Originality/value: The paper uncovers novel dynamics of exploitation and resistance at work under contemporary economic and technological conditions. Labour process theory can provide a more dialectical perspective on accounting's role in these dynamics, including the emancipatory potential of informal and opportunistic counter-accounts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to investigate the asymmetric impact of exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) on employees' wages via consumer prices in 15 major oil-exporting countries from sub-Saharan Africa over the period 1996-2017 using the panel threshold regression model. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology used in this article was built on non-linear panel threshold regression models developed by Hansen (1996, 1999) threshold regression. The authors first tested for the existence of threshold-effect in ERPT and wage nexus using 1,000 bootstrap replications and 400 grid searches to obtain an optimal threshold. We also estimated that asymmetric ERPT on employees' wages reacts differently when the inflation-threshold exceeds beyond a 15.12% threshold level. Findings: Our findings showed that asymmetric ERPT is incomplete and indicates that an increase by one standard deviation in real exchange rate causes a decline in employees' wages by 2.69%. Research limitations/implications: The policy implications of our results are drawn from the significant threshold estimates. However, a significant threshold value of 15.12 is an inflation-threshold estimates that split our 330 observations into the lower (upper) regimes. Further, an inflation rate beyond the threshold value is likely to have an asymmetric ERPT on employees' wages in the 15 major oil-exporting sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. Practical implications: The practical implication of the study is when ERPT exceeds the threshold, the effect of real exchange rate variations is passed on to employees' wages. It is widely believed that labor productivity increase with increased minimum wages. Nevertheless, there is contention as regards the effects on employment and poverty. As rising goods prices make the minimum wage increased homogeneous of degree zero. Social implications: Considerable increased ERPT on imported goods reduces employees' wages purchasing ability from import-dependent countries through import prices. Once it has documented, this also reduces welfare via deteriorations of marginal propensity to consume (MPC) and marginal propensity to savings (MPS). Originality/value: This article integrates labor purchasing power into the analysis of ERPT using non-linear dynamic panel heterogeneous threshold regression. It extends the Hansen (1996, 1999) dynamic panel threshold models to exchange rate pass-through in SSA economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The article clarifies the wage–employment relation in a developing country. Several years ago, many articles in the United States indicated that the relation between increasing wages and increasing unemployment is unclear. These articles from the United States are insufficient to be applicable to all countries, especially developing countries such as Colombia where institutions and the wage–employment relation differ from those in the United States. Design/methodology/approach: A meta-analysis methodology was used as 28 estimates of long-run wage–employment elasticity in Colombia from 1998 to 2016 were analyzed. Findings: This article provides insights into how real wages affect employment. Despite publication biases, results showed that a 1% increase in wages results in a 0.11% decline in employment in the long run. Research limitations/implications: Due to the publication bias, it is not considered how variables such as sectors, estimation strategies (panel data, partial adjustment, cointegration and non-linear least squares, among others), formal/informal urban sectors, government services and transportation, and qualified and unskilled workers affect the true elasticity value. Practical implications: This paper includes implications for public policy because the results are important to minimum wages policy in a developing country. Originality/value: There are no studies regarding the wage–employment relation in a developing country. The empirical results obtained in this article are useful for regulators, policy makers and researchers to understand whether employment is affected by real wages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper examines how accounting either contributes to or undermines worker resistance to unfair pay, thereby enhancing our current understanding of the emancipatory potential of accounting. Design/methodology/approach: We apply Jacques Rancière's concept of politics and build on recent calls to introduce Rancière's work to accounting by analysing a case based on workers in an Australian supermarket chain who challenged their employer Coles over wage underpayments. Findings: We find that in this case, accounting is, in part, a means to politics and a part of the police in Rancière's sense. More specifically, accounting operated within the established order to constrain the workers, but also provided workers with a resource for their political acts that enabled change. Originality/value: This empirical research adds to Li and McKernan (2016) and Brown and Tregidga (2017) conceptual work on Rancière. It also contributes more broadly to emancipatory accounting research by identifying radical possibilities for workers' accounting to bring about change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate and compare the impact of the minimum wage order from the perspectives of two different stakeholders, namely, hotel managers and employees, in the Malaysian hotel industry. Design/methodology/approach: For the study, qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews from three managers and three employees from hotels in West Malaysia. Findings: From the managers' perspective, minimum wage implementation has resulted in managers adopting the best payment structure to reduce labour costs for the operators, deciding to reduce the service charge allocation to employees and having to deal with minimal improvement in employee productivity and motivation. In contrast, the positive impact from the managers' perspective is lower turnover intentions and social justice for foreign workers. From the employees' perspective, there is a rather negative impact – minimum wage policy has resulted in a minimal increase in the salary. From a positive perspective, employees said that they have experienced an improvement in living standards. Originality/value: This research presents current responses from hotel participants regarding the latest wage increase impact, some six years after its implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to estimate the causal effect of minimum wages (MWs) on the wages, employment and hours of migrant workers in China, and to show their inter-relatedness and how employers can offset some of the costs through subtle adjustments. This paper also illustrates the importance of disaggregating by region and sex. Design/methodology/approach: Causal estimates are provided through difference-in-differences (DID) analysis, and robustness checks through propensity score matching. The analysis is based on micro data at the individual level from the household survey on migrant workers by the National Population and Family Planning Commission, combined with macro data regarding municipalities' population, GDP and employment information based on the China Economic Information Network database. Findings: MW increases for those paid by the month increased the earnings of both low-wage males and females. However, males tend not to experience an adverse employment effect because part of the cost increase is offset by employers increasing their monthly hours of work. Hours of work do not increase for females, so they experience an adverse employment effect. This highlights the importance of examining cost offsets such as increases in hours of work, as well as analyzing effects separately for males and females. Research limitations/implications: The reason behind why employers offset some of the cost increase for males paid by the month by increasing their hours of work, but this cost-offsetting adjustment does not occur for females is uncertain. Social implications: For workers paid by the month, employers can offset some of the cost increase by increasing their hours of work, leading to no reductions in employment. But this adjustment occurs only for males. Hours are not increased for females, but they experience reductions in employment. Clearly, MW increases have adverse effects either in the form of employment reductions (for females) or increases in hours of work for the same monthly pay (for males). Originality/value: This paper provides causal estimates through DID analysis and robustness checks through Propensity Score Matching, and also indicates how employers can offset the cost of MW increases by increasing hours for those paid by the month, resulting in no adverse employment effect for such workers, but an adverse employment effect when such an adjustment does not occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the post-enactment status of China's Labour Contract Law and Labour Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Law, focusing on the dramatic rise in remuneration litigation amidst much criticism of weak or ineffective implementation of these laws. Design/methodology/approach: This paper deploys both quantitative and qualitative analysis methods to investigate the features of remuneration litigation. Remuneration judgments by Beijing People's Courts from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2017 provide the primary empirical data. The intrinsic features of remuneration disputes are investigated to delineate subcategories of claims. Several judges were also interviewed to further explore the nature of remuneration disputes. Findings: Four types of remuneration claims were identified: regular wage, minimum wage, overtime and others (including subsidies and welfare). Examination of these four types, especially how they are processed until concluded by court adjudication, provides a fuller picture of the post-enactment status of these laws and yields objective and rational findings. To explain the continuing steady rise in the volume of remuneration claims, as more workers have knowledge of their rights and access to the courts, this study identifies an increase in the number of factually complicated cases (e.g. overtime claims) and abmiguity in the relevant law, leaving some remuneration disputes difficult, if not impossible, to adjudicate. Conversely, the study also finds significant positive trends following these laws' enactment, particularly a reduction in straightforward cases, such as disputes concerning non-payment of wages/minimum wages, on which the law is clear. It is evidently imperative to improve the clarity of the current laws through further legislation, as the most appropriate next step in China's juridification process of developing its own rule of Labour Law. Research limitations/implications: This study is purposely limited to examining remuneration litigation in Beijing's courts from 2014 to 2017, which is representative of the national trend of dramatically rising remuneration disputes, and thus provides valuable insights. Future studies should cover a wider geographic territory and other categories of labour disputes to provide an even more comprehensive picture of the challenges and potential solutions. Practical implications: By understanding the driving factors of rising labour remuneration disputes, the legislature, workers and employers can act accordingly to curb labour conflicts. The growing complexity and technicality of remuneration litigation indicates that the pressing need of labour juridification is to deploy a subtle, comprehensive method to improve legal clarity and judicial professionalism. Originality/value: This study uniquely divides the types of remuneration litigation in Beijing, adopting methods and yielding findings absent from the prior literature. Both the progress and challenges in China's rule of Labour Law process are reflected in this work, together with public policy and theoretical implications for further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to explore whether employer action may contribute towards reducing in-work poverty. Essentially, the study examines the extent to which small firm owners accept as being among their core responsibilities the support of the working poor both from an ethical and financial perspective. It further explores the impact of employee-friendly policies to support the working poor on the organizational performance of small enterprises. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative approach was adopted consisting of 60 responses from 30 small firm owners and 30 employees. More specifically, the study draws on the empirical data collected through face-to-face semi-structured interviews with the firm owners of 30 low-paying enterprises operating in Greece and 30 employees working in those firms. Findings: The findings reveal that employer measures to reduce in-work poverty such as systematic training, travel allowance, provision of free meals and retail vouchers, bonus schemes and other indirect financial rewards do enhance overall employee well-being, which, in turn, makes employees more engaged with their work and motivate them to "go the extra mile" for their employer. As a result, organizations appear to enjoy several benefits including less absenteeism and staff turnover, reduced errors in production and increased productivity. Practical implications: The present analysis argues that a narrow focus by policymakers on both direct and indirect governmental measures (e.g. an increase of the minimum wage, childcare and housing support) to reduce in work-poverty could be problematic as there are employer instruments that could also have a direct and indirect impact on employee income that could be useful when thinking about how in-work poverty can best be addressed. The empirical work showed that the above-mentioned measures have the potential to bring various organizational benefits including increased staff loyalty, less absenteeism, improved customer service and increased productivity. Such findings indicate that there is a strong business case for employers to combat in-work poverty and provide "better" jobs to individuals. Originality/value: The emphasis of research around in-work poverty has been placed predominantly on welfare state measures to support the working poor, whereas the contribution of employers has been ignored. The present study fills this knowledge gap by leading to a better understanding of whether there is a business case for employers to fight in-work poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various articles within the issue on topics including the British wages policy, principles of the statutory minimum wage, and the challenge of low pay and the impact it has on workers.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of part-time work on absolute wages. The empirical focus is wages and working hours in three selected sectors within private services in the Danish labour market – industrial cleaning, retail, hotels and restaurants – and their agreement-based regulation of working time and wages. Theoretically, this analysis is inspired by the concept of living hours, which addresses the interaction between working hours and living wages, but adds a new layer to the concept in that the authors also consider the importance of working time regulations for securing a living wage.Design/methodology/approach The paper builds on desk research of collective agreements and analysis of monthly administrative register data on wages and working hours of Danish employees from the period 2008-2014.Findings This analysis shows that the de facto hourly wages have increased since the global financial crisis in all three sectors. This is in accordance with increasing minimum wage levels in the sector-level agreements. The majority of workers in all three sectors work part-time. Marginal part-timers – 15 hours or less per week – make up the largest group of workers. The de facto hourly wage for part-timers, including marginal part-timers, is relatively close to the sector average. However, the yearly job-related income is much lower for part-time than for full-time workers and much lower than the poverty threshold. Whereas the collective agreement in industrial cleaning includes a minimum floor of 15 weekly working hours – this is not the case in retail, hotels and restaurants. This creates a loophole in the latter two sectors that can be exploited by employers to gain wage flexibility through part-time work.Originality/value The living wage literature usually focusses on hourly wages (including minimum wages via collective agreements or legislation). This analysis demonstrates that studies of low-wage work must include the number of working hours and working time regulations, as this aspect can have a dramatic influence on absolute wages – even in cases of hourly wages at relatively high levels. Part-time work and especially marginal part-time work can be associated with very low yearly income levels – even in cases like Denmark – if regulations do not include minimum working time floors. The authors suggest that future studies include the perspective of living hours to draw attention to the effect of low number of weekly hours on absolute income levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the impact of living wages on organisational pay systems.Design/methodology/approach The research draws on 23 semi-structured interviews with HR managers, trade union representatives, and politicians at four UK local government case study sites.Findings The findings suggest that living wages can have a positive impact on directly employed workers in cleaning, catering and care services, but the research also finds that the localised adoption of living wages can lead to significant wage compression, resulting in a broad band of “low skill-low wage jobs”.Originality/value The theoretical contribution is twofold. In-line with earlier research the “first-order” effects of living wages are clear: hourly wages for a large number of women in part-time roles increased sharply. However, this is only part of the story as “second-order” effects such as ripples and spill-overs are less extensive than suggested by other studies. This is due to the limited scope for trade unions to restore wage differentials through collective bargaining, the slow progress in extending the living wage to contracted staff, and parallel processes of downsizing and outsourcing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence for the motivations of SMEs for introducing the Living Wage (LW), focussing on retail as one specific sector. It develops understanding of the strategic benefits and challenges these employers face in balancing financial, ethical and social considerations in small businesses.Design/methodology/approach The study employed mixed methods: a survey and semi-structured interviews. The interviews are presented as part of three case studies.Findings Findings indicate that employers were, for the most part, motivated by personal ethics and beliefs about fair wages and social justice. They suggest that SME accrue benefits from LW accreditation such as reputational benefits and higher employee morale, but that there are also potential pitfalls of LW adoption related to pay structure and incentives. The sustainability of the LW emerged as an issue in terms of the long-term strategy and brand positioning of the companies involved.Research limitations/implications The nature of the research was exploratory and thus the study only allows for limited generalisation. Recommended avenues for further research include gathering data from different levels of organisations and from different stakeholders.Originality/value This is the first paper to investigate the drivers for, and implementation of, the LW in SMEs. The specific characteristics of SMEs – their ethos, low visibility, reliance on trusting relationships and limited resources, among others – make the study of why and how they choose to implement the LW very interesting. This study is the first to gather and analyse data from SME retailers and wholesalers that have implemented the LW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the value that UK trade unions now place on the living wage.Design/methodology/approach The author is the TUC’s Pay Policy Officer and examines the issue from a practitioner’s perspective.Findings The living wage now has a well-established place within the hierarchy of pay demands adopted by UK trade unions. This continues a tradition of unions supporting norms and regulations as an adjunct to collective bargaining. However, support had to be achieved through a process of negotiation with the broader UK living wage campaign.Practical implications The paper concludes that there are good prospects for the living wage, and thus for the continued trade union support.Social implications The living wage standard is seen as having a strong moral basis, which often helps to win agreement with good employers. This results in a steady stream of workers out of in-work poverty. The credit for such pay increases is often shared between employers and trade unions.Originality/value The paper is written by a practitioner with inside knowledge and experience of the entire course of the living wage campaign in the UK and how it has been adopted and integrated by trade unions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper presents an account of the UK campaign for the voluntary Living Wage, an example of civil regulation. The purpose of this paper is to identify and characterize the actors involved in the campaign, describe methods used and examine direct and indirect consequences of the campaign.Design/methodology/approach A mixed-method design is employed, reflecting the broadly framed purpose of the research. The research used semi-structured interviews with campaigners, union representatives and employers, observation of campaign activities and the creation of a database of Living Wage employers.Findings The campaign originated in the community organizing movement, but has involved a broad range of labor market actors, both “new” and “old.” A continuum of campaigning methods has been used, stretching from community mobilization to appeals to employer self-interest and corporate social responsibility. The campaign has recruited 3,000 employers, led to wage increases for thousands of workers and registered indirect effects by shaping the policies of governments, employers and unions.Originality/value The research presents a novel account of the UK’s distinctive Living Wage campaign, a notable example of the civil regulation of the labor market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose After 15 years of successful operation, the British Low Pay Commission’s management of the National Minimum Wage was threatened in 2015 by the government’s introduction the National Living Wage. The purpose of this paper is to consider the underlying principles of previous minimum wage fixing, and the additional thinking of the Living Wage Foundation and the review of the issue by the Resolution Foundation.Design/methodology/approach The paper draws on the 2016 reports of the Commission to argue that the two statutory wages are unavoidably interlinked and are tied to incompatible criteria.Findings The paper concludes that the predicted eventual impact of the National Living Wage on the labour market will be unsustainable.Research limitations/implications The paper is relevant to minimum wage research.Practical implications The paper is relevant to minimum wage policy.Social implications The paper is relevant to low pay policy.Originality/value The paper provides original analysis of minimum wage policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose A “living” wage (LW) is conventionally defined as enabling meaningful participation in society above subsistence through, for example, recreation, supporting a family, and savings. There is increasing debate over LWs due to growing inequality, rising living costs and welfare reform but this remains largely framed by the econometric cost-benefit parameters that apply to minimum wage regulation. The capabilities approach advocated by Sen (1999) offers a different perspective that is inclusive of choice, contingencies and the inter-connections between quality of (paid) work and private life. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts this framework and utilises a qualitative exploration of the narratives of 606 New Zealand employees to understand perceived wage effectiveness. The results suggest that a focus on a specific LW rate might be conceptually limiting, in comparison to a LW range.Findings First, the findings indicate that there is a pivot range in which people move from self-assessed “survival” to “decent” income. Second, a LW may have more than a simply monetary effect in better meeting employees’ living costs; it can also improve well-being through subjective perceptions of valued freedoms to do with job satisfaction, equity and security.Originality/value The results thus draw attention to a wider notion of a LW in terms of personal and family well-being, utilising a capabilities approach, with implications for organisational practice, policy and theory concerning sustainable livelihood and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate different approaches to effective campaigning in support of the Living Wage and so this paper contributes to the broader debate over the nature of the union movement’s engagement with community groups in pursuit of workplace and social issues.Design/methodology/approach The paper presents a systematic comparison of a union-led and a community-led campaign, drawing primarily upon interview and survey data.Findings Though different, both campaigns met with a measure of success in improving employee pay and in increasing union membership suggesting a pragmatic approach to the building of union-community relationships.Practical implications The paper shows the need for campaigners to adopt a strategic approach in identifying the target for their campaign, and also the importance of shaping a persuasive argument.Originality/value The paper reaffirms the importance of traditional union-led campaigning alongside campaigning through engagement with community groups and so offers a broader framework for exploring the relationships between union and community groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to explore the human resource (HR) challenges faced by hotel managers in Langkawi due to the implementation of the minimum wage order (MWO).Design/methodology/approach This study collected qualitative data from 18 managers and two owners from 19 hotels of various sizes and levels of service, including budget and boutique resorts on Langkawi Island, Malaysia. A semi-structured interview was used to ask the question “What are the challenges faced by hotel managers due to the implementation of an MWO?”Findings The challenges faced by the managers are: low employee productivity levels, many employees with a salary below the minimum wage rate, difficulty paying staff because of low revenue and conflicting laws and guidelines relating to the issues related to the service charge.Research limitations/implications This study provides an initial qualitative exploration of an important current legal development bearing on hotel managers in Malaysia. It provides some initial findings from Langkawi, but the findings may not represent the attitudes of hotel managers in other parts of Malaysia.Practical implications This study contributes to HR management literature by providing an insight into challenges faced by hotel managers in a developing country. To the managers, the MWO guideline is a serious challenge, as some of their employees are not productive enough to be paid at the minimum wage rate. To address the increasing labour cost, some have turned to the employment of foreign workers, whereas others have increased their casual employee numbers. These insights may serve to guide policy-makers and hotel managers in other developing countries that are planning to introduce an MWO.Social implications For the MWO to be effective, it is crucial for the government to develop effective guidelines for its implementation and for hotel employees amongst the Langkawi community to increase their level of productivity.Originality/value The Malaysian MWO policy was introduced in 2012. The policy affects employees’ remuneration and provides a challenge in implementation for the Malaysian hotel industry, especially in Langkawi. Although many studies on MWO implementation have focused on unemployment, this study provides the managers’ perspective on the challenges faced due to the implementation of this policy and identifies reasons why the unemployment rate for local workers may increase after the implementation of an MWO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of minimum wage on youth employment across employment statuses in Indonesia. This study uses the National Labour Force Survey (Sakernas) from 2010 to 2012. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses a multinomial logit model to see the youth distribution across different employment status changes as a result of an increase in the minimum wage. Five categories of youth employment statuses are examined including self-employed; unpaid family workers; paid employees in the covered sector; paid employees in the uncovered sectors; and unemployed. The model is examined separately for urban and rural areas, as well as for the male and female youth labour market. Findings – The results generally suggest that an increase in minimum wage decrease the probability of youth being employed in the covered sector, i.e. paid employment in the covered sector and increase the probability of youth being employed in the uncovered sectors, including self-employed, unpaid family workers, and paid employment in the uncovered sectors. This study indicates a displacement effect for youths from the covered sector into the uncovered sector as suggested by the two-sector model. The specific results are different across urban and rural labour markets, as well as across males and females. Originality/value – Compared to the developed country studies, the studies on the effects of minimum wage on youth employment in developing countries is relatively limited. The sample from Indonesian labour market with a large informal sector has never been used for these purposes. This study also contributes to the literature by using the particular definition of the covered-uncovered sector to the Indonesian labour market based on the employment status and individual wage data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This study aims to test one hypothesis regarding the impact of the minimum wage on poverty: an increase or the introduction of the minimum wage raises the cost of hiring relatively unskilled workers, and makes inputs that are good substitutes for such workers more attractive.Design/methodology/approach Placebo analyses confirmed that a labor–labor substitution is induced by the introduction of the minimum wage.Findings This study found a labor–labor substitution within low-skill groups induced by the introduction of the minimum wage for domestic and farming work in South Africa.Practical implications The evidence implies that the minimum-wage policy may not be as effective for poverty reduction as some governments in emerging and developing countries claim.Originality/value No studies were found on labor–labor substitution in the context of emerging or developing countries. The clear contribution of this paper using South African data clearly lies here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the efforts of governmental bodies to enact the labor law ordinances of the U.S in order to address regulatory landscape and evolving changes at federal level. It mentions focus of the cities and states in enacting minimum wages and sick leave laws. It also discusses the efforts of Federal Administration to bring changes in business regulations under President Donald J. Trump.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of a change in minimum wage on hours worked of paid employment in Indonesia. This study used the Indonesian Labor Force Survey (Sakernas) data from 1996 to 2003. Design/methodology/approach – This study employs Bourguignon-Fournier-Gurgand two-step procedure of sample selection corrections based on a multinomial logit model for a potential selection bias from a non-random sample. This study extends the specification by examining the effects of minimum wage on hours worked of paid employment separately across individuals in different groups of gender (male-female workers) and residences (urban-rural areas). Findings – This study generally found that an increase in the minimum wage increases hours worked of the existing paid employees. The effects of the minimum wage on hours worked are stronger for female workers than male workers particularly in urban areas due to that female workers, particularly in urban areas, are mostly employed in industries which contain more low-wage workers. Comparing residences, the minimum wage coefficient in rural areas is slightly higher because of the structural transformation in Indonesia marked by a shift in employment from the agriculture sector to the other sectors that require more working hours. Originality/value – The empirical studies of the effect of minimum wage on hours worked in developing countries are very limited. This study contributes to the literature by employing the sample selection corrections based on a multinomial logit for a potential selection bias from a non-random sample This study also extends the hours worked specification by analyzing the effects of minimum wage on hours worked separately across individuals in different groups of workers, in terms of gender (male-female workers) and their residences (urban-rural areas). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to estimate the impact of minimum wages on employment and wages in China. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses the difference-in-difference methodology to estimate the employment and wage impacts of the minimum wage increase in 2003 – a year when substantial minimum wage increases occurred in some provinces (treatment provinces) but not in others (comparison provinces). The analysis is restricted to the eastern region so as to make comparisons across relatively homogeneous and contiguous provinces with large numbers of women and rural migrant workers in urban areas – the target groups for minimum wages. Findings – The study finds that overall, minimum wages in China do have an adverse employment effect but the effect is statistically insignificant and quantitatively inconsequential. The adverse employment effects are generally larger in the more market-driven sectors, in the low-wage sector of retail and wholesale trade and restaurants, and for women; however even these effects are extremely small. Minimum wages also had no impact on aggregate wages. These estimates appear consistent with many of those based on this methodology which tends to find no substantial adverse employment effect from minimum wages. Practical implications – Good news: minimum wages do not seem to have any substantial adverse employment effect in China. Bad news: this could simply reflect the fact that they are not enforced. Originality/value – This is one of the few studies of effect of minimum wages in China in English, and using a difference-in-difference methodology as first employed by Card. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on detecting wage under-reporting based on a double-hurdle (DH) model of the Hungarian wage distribution scheme. The authors estimated the probability of under-reporting for minimum wage earners, simulate their genuine earnings, and classify them and their employers as "cheaters" and "non-cheaters." The results indicate that cheaters were more likely to raise the wages of their minimum wage earners to 200 percent of the minimum wage.

The article presents a study on the impact of tax and minimum wage reforms on the incidence of informality. The authors used measures of the extent of tax evasion, the extent of minimum wage noncompliance, and the size of the informal workforce to measure the incidence of informality. The authors designed optimal minimum wage and tax policies based on tax revenue maximization, and poverty alleviation among workers.

An introduction to the journal is presented in which the editor discusses various reports published within the issue including one by Arnab K. Basu, Nancy H. Chau, and Zahra Siddique on the impacts of tax and minimum wage reforms on the incidence of informality, one by Fabian Slonimczyk on the effect of tax reforms on the incidence of informal employment in Russia, and one by Tommaso Gabrieli, Antonio F. Galvao Jr., and Gabriel V. Montes-Rojas on the effect of tax reductions on microfirms.

An introduction to articles published within the issue is presented, including one by Marion König et al on the impact of an introduction of minimum wages in the construction sector in Germany and another by Mark Trappmann et al on the labor market situation and the problems faced by lower income individuals.

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive portrait of who earns the minimum wage, in terms of the characteristics of the individual that are most important in determining this outcome. Design/methodology/approach -- This study uses individual data from the Annual Income Supplements of the New Zealand (NZ) Household Labour Force Surveys between June 1997 and June 2004. This unit record data allows isolation of workers earning the minimum wage or close to it. A more sophisticated quantitative analysis is also carried out, where the probability of earning at or below the minimum wage is modelled to estimate what individual characteristics are most significant in determining minimum wage status. Findings -- One of the key findings was that individual characteristics (such as age) are much more important than household circumstance or industry affiliations, in terms of the probability of earning minimum wage. Originality/value -- NZ has substantially increased minimum wages for teenagers and adults since 2000. For example, since the youth minimum was introduced in March 1994, it had increased by 52 per cent in real terms by 2004. Consequently, recent NZ experience offers a rare opportunity to isolate who earns the minimum wage and which subgroups are more likely to be potentially impacted by a rising minimum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]