The introduction of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) had potentially significant implications for small firms. Orthodox economic theory predicts adverse consequences, though institutional analysis points to potential efficiency as well as fairness effects. Using longitudinal data on 55 firms,...

Pay determination in small firms is widely expected to follow the dictates of the market. Research on 81 firms in three competitive sectors finds, instead, loosely defined and variable pay structures. This variability is explained in terms of the interplay between labour and product markets,...

Data from a longitudinal research programconducted under the ERSC's Future of Work program are used to examinehowsmall firms experience a "regulatory shock" when confronted with thenational minimum wage (NMW), institutedin the UK in 1999. Boththeoretical and methodological aspects of the NMW...