The Pass-Through of Minimum Wages into US Retail Prices: Evidence from Supermarket Scanner Data

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Renkin, Tobias; Montialoux, Claire; Siegenthaler, Michael
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Berkeley; Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain; ETH Zurich
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_00981
• 发表日期: 2022-09
• 页码: 890-908
• 关键词: restaurant prices; menu costs; EMPLOYMENT; demand; increases

摘要

This paper estimates the pass-through of minimum wage increases into the prices of U.S. grocery and drug stores. We use high-frequency scanner data and leverage a large number of state-level increases in minimum wages between 2001 and 2012. We find that a 10% minimum wage hike translates into a 0.36% increase in the prices of grocery products. This magnitude is consistent with a full pass-through of cost increases into consumer prices. We show that price adjustments occur mostly in the three months following the passage of minimum wage legislation rather than after implementation, suggesting that pricing of groceries is forward-looking.