The Effects of Living Wage Laws: Evidence from Failed and Derailed Living Wage Campaigns

Scott Adams () and David Neumark

No 1566, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Living wage campaigns have succeeded in about 100 jurisdictions in the United States but have also been unsuccessful in numerous cities. These unsuccessful campaigns provide a better control group or counterfactual for estimating the effects of living wage laws than the broader set of all cities without a law, and also permit the separate estimation of the effects of living wage laws and living wage campaigns. We find that living wage laws raise wages of low-wage workers but reduce employment among the least-skilled, especially when the laws cover business assistance recipients or are accompanied by similar laws in nearby cities.

Keywords: wages; living wages; employment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J28 J38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 37 pages
Date: 2005-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

Published - published in: Journal of Urban Economics, 2005, 78 (2), 177-202

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Related works:
Journal Article: The effects of living wage laws: Evidence from failed and derailed living wage campaigns (2005)
Working Paper: The Effects of Living Wage Laws: Evidence from Failed and Derailed Living Wage Campaigns (2005)
Working Paper: The Effects of Living Wage Laws: Evidence From Failed and Derailed Living Wage Campaigns (2004)
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