The Contribution of the Minimum Wage to US Wage Inequality over Three Decades: A Reassessment

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Autor, David H.; Manning, Alan; Smith, Christopher L.
• 署名单位: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); National Bureau of Economic Research; University of London; London School Economics & Political Science; University of London; London School Economics & Political Science; Federal Reserve System - USA; Federal Reserve System Board of Governors
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-APPLIED ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7782
• DOI: 10.1257/app.20140073
• 发表日期: 2016
• 页码: 58-99
• 关键词: employment; demand; skill

摘要

We reassess the effect of minimum wages on US earnings inequality using additional decades of data and an IV strategy that addresses potential biases in prior work. We find that the minimum wage reduces inequality in the lower tail of the wage distribution, though by substantially less than previous estimates, suggesting that rising lower tail inequality after 1980 primarily reflects underlying wage structure changes rather than an unmasking of latent inequality. These wage effects extend to percentiles where the minimum is nominally nonbinding, implying spillovers. We are unable to reject that these spillovers are due to reporting artifacts, however.