Measuring the Impact of Minimum Wages: Evidence from Latin America

Serie

• NBER Working Papers

Resumen

• This paper first provides an overview of the levels of minimum wages in Latin America and their true impact on the distribution of wages using both numerical measures and kernel density plots. It identifies numeraire' effects higher in the wage distribution and lighthouse' or reference effects in the unregulated or informal' sector. The final section then employs panel employment data from Colombia, a country where minimum wages seem high and very binding, to quantify the effects of an increase on wages and employment. The evidence suggests that in the Latin American context, the minimum wage has impacts beyond those usually contemplated in the advanced country literature.

autores

• Maloney, William F.
• Núñez, Jairo

fecha de publicación

• 2003-06

Área temática

• J31 - Nivel y estructura salarial; Diferencias salariales
• J38 - Salarios, remuneraciones y costes laborales: Política pública
• O54 - Estudios económicos globales de países: América Latina; Caribe

Enfoque geográfico

• South America  Continent

Issue

• 9800