Minimum Wages and Employment

We review the burgeoning literature on the employment effects of minimum wages – in theUnited States and other countries – that was spurred by the new minimum wage researchbeginning in the early 1990s. Our review indicates that there is a wide range of existingestimates and, accordingly, a lack of consensus about the overall effects on low-wageemployment of an increase in the minimum wage. However, the oft-stated assertion thatrecent research fails to support the traditional view that the minimum wage reduces theemployment of low-wage workers is clearly incorrect...