Minimum Wages and Social Policy : Lessons from Developing Countries

Cunningham, Wendy

Washington, DC:World Bank

关键词: AVERAGE WAGE;    AVERAGE WAGES;    BARGAINING POWER;    BENEFICIARIES;    CASH TRANSFERS;   

DOI  :  10.1596/978-0-8213-7011-7
RP-ID  :  40526

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This report examines how minimum wagesaffect the income poverty of workers, their households, andthe state. It does not question whether or not the minimumwage is a good policy: instead, it focuses on the tradeoffsin setting the minimum wage level. It takes as a startingpoint the literature on the wage and employment effects ofminimum wages in Latin America and expands the discussion inthree ways. First, the household is placed at the center ofthe debate. Poverty and inequality are measured at the levelof the household, rather than at the individual level, toallow for employment and wage trade-offs among individualswho pool their income. Second, new research is presented onhow the minimum wage affects groups whose labor marketparticipation and success is considered"vulnerable": that is, youth, women, thelow-skilled, and informal sector workers. Third, theimplications of the minimum wage on wage and socialexpenditures of the government are measured. In the end, thereport argues that the minimum wage by itself is not asufficient tool for protecting the income of the pooresthouseholds, and that other social protection tools arenecessary to complement it. The report has eight sectionsfollowing the introduction. Chapter 2 presents a history ofthe minimum wage in LAC, the theory behind the functioningof the minimum wage, and empirical evidence from the OECD tolay a foundation for the Latin American experience. Chapter3 presents an overview of the minimum wage in the Region,including a discussion of the definition of a minimum wage,institutional design, and who earns it. Chapter 4 focuses onthe worker; it summarizes the existing literature, presentsnew evidence on the wage and employment effects of a minimumwage, and gives special attention to "vulnerable"labor market groups. Chapter 5 turns its attention to thehousehold and presents the new (and only) evidence on theeffects of the minimum wage on household poverty andinequality in LAC. Chapter 6 considers the state anddiscusses the cost of minimum wages to the government.Chapter 7 opens the discussion to the rest of the world andconsiders the lessons learned in other countries aboutsetting, managing, and enforcing the minimum wage. Finally,chapter 8 concludes and presents policy considerations.