Minimum Wages and the Distribution of Family Incomes

Arindrajit Dube

No 25240, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: There is robust evidence that higher minimum wages increase family incomes at the bottom of the distribution. The long run (3 or more years) minimum wage elasticity of the non-elderly poverty rate with respect to the minimum wage ranges between -0.220 and -0.459 across alternative specifications. The long run minimum wage elasticities for the 10th and 15th unconditional quantiles of family income range between 0.152 and 0.430 depending on specification. A reduction in public assistance partly offsets these income gains, which are on average 66% as large when using an expanded income definition including tax credits and non-cash transfers.

JEL-codes: I32 I38 J2 J38 J58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lma
Note: LS
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

Published as Arindrajit Dube, 2019. "Minimum Wages and the Distribution of Family Incomes," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, vol 11(4), pages 268-304.

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Journal Article: Minimum Wages and the Distribution of Family Incomes (2019)
Working Paper: Minimum Wages and the Distribution of Family Incomes (2017)
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