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Endogenous Monopsony and the Perverse Effect of the Minimum Wage in Small Firms

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  • Leif Danziger

Abstract

The minimum wage rate has been introduced in many countries as a means of alleviating the poverty of the working poor. This paper shows, however, that an imperfectly enforced minimum wage rate causes small firms to face an upward-sloping labor supply schedule. Since this turns these firms into endogenous monopsonists, the minimum wage rate has the perverse effect of reducing employment in small firms as well as what these firms offer their workers. Thus, if there are only small firms, the minimum wage rate makes all workers that would be employed in the absence of a minimum wage rate worse off.

Suggested Citation

  • Leif Danziger, 2009. "Endogenous Monopsony and the Perverse Effect of the Minimum Wage in Small Firms," CESifo Working Paper Series 2740, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_2740
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    Cited by:

    1. Azar, Ofer H., 2012. "The effect of the minimum wage for tipped workers on firm strategy, employees and social welfare," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 748-755.
    2. Depew, Briggs & Sørensen, Todd A., 2013. "The elasticity of labor supply to the firm over the business cycle," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 196-204.
    3. Bernhard Boockmann & Raimund Krumm & Michael Neumann & Pia Rattenhuber, 2013. "Turning the Switch: An Evaluation of the Minimum Wage in the German Electrical Trade Using Repeated Natural Experiments," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 14(3), pages 316-348, August.
    4. Yu‐Fu Chen & Michael Funke, 2010. "Booms, Recessions And Financial Turmoil: A Fresh Look At Investment Decisions Under Cyclical Uncertainty," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 57(3), pages 290-317, July.
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    6. Baumann Florian & Friehe Tim, 2016. "Competitive Pressure and Corporate Crime," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 16(2), pages 647-687, April.
    7. Laszlo Goerke & Michael Neugart, 2021. "Social preferences, monopsony and government intervention," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 54(2), pages 864-891, May.
    8. Eliav Danziger & Leif Danziger, 2015. "A Pareto-improving Minimum Wage," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 82(326), pages 236-252, April.
    9. Alexander Muravyev & Aleksey Oshchepkov, 2013. "Minimum wages and labor market outcomes: evidence from the emerging economy of Russia," HSE Working papers WP BRP 29/EC/2013, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    10. Muravyev, Alexander & Oshchepkov, Aleksey, 2013. "Minimum Wages, Unemployment and Informality: Evidence from Panel Data on Russian Regions," IZA Discussion Papers 7878, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Danziger, Leif, 2009. "Noncompliance and the effects of the minimum wage on hours and welfare in competitive labor markets," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(6), pages 625-630, December.
    12. Alexander Muravyev & Aleksey Oshchepkov, 2016. "The effect of doubling the minimum wage on employment: evidence from Russia," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-20, December.
    13. Brandon Vick, 2017. "Measuring links between labor monopsony and the gender pay gap in Brazil," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-28, December.
    14. Badaoui, Eliane & Walsh, Frank, 2022. "Productivity, non-compliance and the minimum wage," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    15. Baumann, Florian & Friehe, Tim, 2012. "On the evasion of employment protection legislation," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 9-17.
    16. Mario Bossler & Ursula Jaenichen & Simeon Schächtele, 2022. "How effective are enforcement measures for compliance with the minimum wage? Evidence from Germany," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(2), pages 943-971, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    endogenous monopsony; minimum wage; noncompliance; small firms;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy

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