Publication Bias in Minimum-Wage Research? Card and Krueger Redux

Card and Krueger’s (1995) meta-analysis of the employment effects of minimum wages challenged existing theory. Unfortunately, their meta-analysis confused publication bias with the absence of a genuine empirical effect. Recently developed meta-analysis methods corroborate that Card and Krueger’s findings were nevertheless correct. The minimum wage effects literature is contaminated by publication bias. Once this publication bias is corrected, no time-series evidence of a negative association between minimum wages and employment remains.