A comprehensive review of evidence on the effect of minimum wages on employment, skills, wage and income distributions, and longer-term labor market outcomes concludes that the minimum wage is not a good policy tool.

Introduction -- The history of the minimum wage in the United States -- The effects of minimum wages on employment -- Minimum wage effects on the distribution of wages and earnings -- The effects of minimum wages on the distribution of incomes -- The effects of minimum wages on skills -- The...

The paper reviews national and international experiences with different combinations of in-work benefits, subsidized employment, statutory minimum wages and implicit minimum wages defined by social assistance provisions. It calls for a cautious approach regarding the introduction of additional...

This note demonstrates that when developing countries remove barriers to migration and integrate their labour markets, children may be driven out of schools and into informal or paid employment in the comparatively rich countries. In industrialized countries, the same mechanism might force...