The Employment Effects of the Minimum Wage
Traditionally, economists have argued that imposing a minimum wage above the market clearing equilibrium wage will reduce employment and contribute to increased unemployment particularly among young and relatively unskilled workers – precisely those workers that the minimum wage is intended to help. Some economists, however, have claimed that there is no evidence of a significant employment-reducing impact of the minimum wage on low-wage workers and that, in some cases, an increase in the minimum wage might even have caused an increase in employment. Critically evaluate these competing arguments on the effects of the minimum wage on employment.
Sources for Topic 3:
Neumark, David and Wascher, William L., “Employment Effects of Minimum and Subminimum Wages: Panel Data on State Minimum Wage Laws,” Industrial and Labor Relations Review, October 1992, 46, 55-81, http://www.nber.org/papers/w3859
Card, David, Katz, Lawrence F. and Krueger, Alan B., “Employment Effects of Minimum and Subminimum Wages: Panel Data on State Minimum Wage Laws: Comment,” Industrial and Labor Relations Review, April 1994, 47, 487-96, http://www.nber.org/papers/w4528 4 Neumark, David and Wascher, William L., “Employment Effects of Minimum and Subminimum Wages: Panel Data on State Minimum Wage Laws: Reply,” Industrial and Labor Relations Review, April 1994, 47, 497-512, http://www.nber.org/papers/w4570
Card, David and Krueger, Alan B., “Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania,” American Economic Review, September 1994, 84, 772-93, http://www.nber.org/papers/w4509
Neumark, David and Wascher, William L., “Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania: Comment,” American Economic Review, December 2000, 90, 1362-96, http://www.nber.org/papers/w5224
Card, David and Krueger, Alan B., “Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania: Reply,” American Economic Review, December 2000, 90, 1397-1420, http://www.nber.org/papers/w6386
Neumark, David and Wascher, William L., “Minimum Wages and Employment,” Foundations and Trends in Microeconomics, 2007, 3(1-2), 1-182, http://www.nber.org/papers/w12663
Neumark, David, Salas, J. M. Ian and Wascher, William L., “More on Recent Evidence on the Effects of Minimum Wages in the United States,” NBER Working Paper No. 20619, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA, October 2014, http://www.nber.org/papers/w20619?utm_campaign=ntw&utm_medium=email&utm_source=ntw