Collusion at the Non-Binding Minimum Wage: An Automatic Stabilizer?

This paper examines unemployment dynamics through the lens of a wage-posting model with two sectors and two types of workers. The model assumptions include collusion at a non-binding minimum wage, costly entry and intersectoral labor mobility. Model simulations demonstrate that collusion at a non-binding minimum wage induces entry into the low-wage sector. This dampens the overall negative employment impact of economic downturns. The excess of low-wage vacancies has shown not only to secure low unemployment rates for the low-skilled workers, but also to provide employment opportunities for the high-skilled when their industries substantially decline.