Abstract The Asian economic crisis which began with the floating of the bhat by Thailand on July 1 1997 is still having devastating effects on the livelihood and the well being of millions of people in many parts of the world. The financial crisis spread from Thailand to other Asian countries,...

Kerala’s image of a low growth state with high social indices has come up against some striking empirical trends. Its growth rate has taken off, it has become vastly less agrarian and has yet refused to urbanize. This paper seeks to explain these patterns as a result of the state’s limited...

We study in this paper the interactions between migration rates and the level of labour standards. We use an augmented version of the Grogger and Hanson (2008) model, adding the level of working conditions into the specification. Our hypothesis is that the differential of working conditions may...

We study in this paper the interactions between migration rates and the level of labour standards. We use an augmentee version of the Grogger and Hanson (2008) model, adding the level of working conditions into the specification. Our hypothesis is that the differential of working conditions may...

Both academic and political debates over the minimum wage generally focus on the minimum wage rate. However, the minimum wage is a complex institution composed of a wide variety of parameters. In this note, I show that nominal rates provide a very crude picture of minimal compensation and of...

Exploiting a unique natural experiment,we showthe asymmetric effects of a large increase and an equivalent subsequent decrease to a binding minimum wage. Wages in a leading low-wage industry increase as the minimumwage rises, but do not fall when it is lowered. This boost for low-wage workers'...

The positive political returns to providing cash transfers have been well documented. However, redistribution through the tax and transfer system, while direct, is not the only means by which governments seek to change the income distribution: regulation of private market transactions may have a...

The positive political returns to providing cash transfers have been well documented. However, redistribution through the tax and transfer system, while direct, is not the only means by which governments seek to change the income distribution: regulation of private market transactions may have a...

Exploiting a unique natural experiment,we showthe asymmetric effects of a large increase and an equivalent subsequent decrease to a binding minimum wage. Wages in a leading low-wage industry increase as the minimumwage rises, but do not fall when it is lowered. This boost for low-wage workers'...