A central issue in estimating the employment effects of minimum wages is the appropriate comparison group for states (or other regions) that adopt or increase the minimum wage. In recent research, Dube et al. (Rev Econ Stat 92:945-964, 2010) and Allegretto et al. (Ind Relat 50:205-240, 2011)...

The principal means by which individuals and families achieve economic self-sufficiency is through labor market earnings. As a consequence, it is natural for policy makers to look to interventions that increase the ability of individuals and families to achieve an adequate standard of living...

This paper tests whether school-to-work (STW) programs are particularly beneficial for those less likely to go to college in their absence -- often termed the "forgotten half" in the STW literature. The empirical analysis is based on the NLSY97, which allows us to study six types of STW...