Minimum Wage and Individual Worker Productivity: Evidence from a Large US Retailer

• 成果类型: Article; Early Access
• 署名作者: Coviello, Decio; Deserranno, Erika; Persico, Nicola
• 署名单位: Universite de Montreal; HEC Montreal; Northwestern University; Northwestern University; Northwestern University; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-3808
• DOI: 10.1086/720397
• 发表日期: 2022
• 关键词: employment

摘要

We study workers who are employed by a large US retailer, work in many store locations, and are paid based on performance. By means of a border-discontinuity analysis, we document that workers become more productive and are terminated less often after a minimum wage increase. These effects are stronger among workers whose pay is more often supported by the minimum wage. However, when workers are monitored less intensely, the minimum wage depresses productivity. We interpret these findings through an efficiency wage model. After a minimum wage increase, profits decrease, and a calibration exercise suggests that worker welfare increases.