The German Statutory Minimum Wage and Its Effects on Regional Employment and Unemployment

Holger Bonin (), Ingo Isphording, Annabelle Krause-Pilatus, Andreas Lichter (), Nico Pestel and Ulf Rinne
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Andreas Lichter: Technical University Dortmund

No 145, IZA Policy Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper studies the effects of the introduction of Germany's statutory minimum wage in 2015 on employment and unemployment on the level of regional labor markets. Using variation in the regional exposure to the new wage floor, we employ a difference-in-differences approach that compares the evolution of employment and unemployment between regions with varying minimum wage bites. Overall, we find no statistically significant effect of the introduction of the German minimum wage on regular employment subject to social insurance, but a statistically significant negative effect on marginal employment. The reduction is not accompanied by a proportional increase in unemployment.

Keywords: minimum wage; employment; unemployment; labor market regions; Germany (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J21 J31 J38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 32 pages
Date: 2019-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur, nep-ias, nep-lma and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Forthcoming - published in: Journal of Economics and Statistics, 2020, 240 (2-3), 295-319 [Details & Download]

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Journal Article: The German Statutory Minimum Wage and Its Effects on Regional Employment and Unemployment (2020)
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