This website uses cookies.

By clicking the "Accept" button or continuing to browse our site, you agree to first-party and session-only cookies being stored on your device to enhance site navigation and analyze site performance and traffic. For more information on our use of cookies, please see our Privacy Policy.

  1. Home
  2. Journals
  3. Journal of Economic Perspectives
  4. Winter 2021
  5. The Elusive Employment Effect of the Minimum Wage

The Elusive Employment Effect of the Minimum Wage

  • Alan Manning
Journal of Economic Perspectives
vol. 35, no. 1, Winter 2021
(pp. 3-26)
Download Full Text PDF
(Complimentary)

Abstract

It is hard to find a negative effect on the employment effect of rises in the minimum wage: the elusive employment effect. It is much easier to find an impact on wages. This paper argues the elusive employment effect is unlikely to be solved by better data, methodology, or specification. The reasons for the elusive employment effect are the factors contributing to why the link between higher minimum wages and higher labor costs are weaker than one might think and because imperfect competition is pervasive in the labor market.

Citation

Manning, Alan. 2021. "The Elusive Employment Effect of the Minimum Wage." Journal of Economic Perspectives, 35 (1): 3-26. DOI: 10.1257/jep.35.1.3

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
  • J23 Labor Demand
  • J24 Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
  • J31 Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
  • J38 Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs: Public Policy
There are no comments for this article.
Login to Comment