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Employment Gains from Minimum-Wage Hikes under Perfect Competition: A Simple General-Equilibrium Analysis

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Abstract

Contrary to conventional wisdom, higher minimum wages may lead to greater levels of employment under perfect competition. We demonstrate this possibility in a simple generalequilibrium model with two goods produced by two factors and consumed by two representative households. Within our model, hiking a minimum wage redistributes income between heterogeneous consumers. This redistribution may create an excess demand for the laborintensive good, and hence increase employment to restore equilibrium, despite the fact that every firm becomes less labor intensive.

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  • Richard A. Brecher & Till O. Gross, 2014. "Employment Gains from Minimum-Wage Hikes under Perfect Competition: A Simple General-Equilibrium Analysis," Carleton Economic Papers 14-14, Carleton University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:car:carecp:14-14
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    1. Christopher J. Flinn, 2006. "Minimum Wage Effects on Labor Market Outcomes under Search, Matching, and Endogenous Contact Rates," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 74(4), pages 1013-1062, July.
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    3. Richard A. Brecher & Till Gross, 2019. "A minimum‐wage model of unemployment and growth: The case of a backward‐bending demand curve for labor," International Journal of Economic Theory, The International Society for Economic Theory, vol. 15(3), pages 297-309, September.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Minimum Wage; Employment; Unemployment; Marshall-Lerner Condition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • F11 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Neoclassical Models of Trade

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