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What's Across the Border? Re-Evaluating the Cross-Border Evidence on Minimum Wage Effects

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Listed:
  • Priyaranjan Jha
  • David Neumark
  • Antonio Rodriguez-Lopez

Abstract

Dube, Lester, and Reich (2010) argue that state-level minimum wage variation can be correlated with economic shocks, generating spurious evidence that higher minimum wages reduce employment. Using minimum wage variation within contiguous county pairs that share a state border, they find no relationship between minimum wages and employment in the U.S. restaurant industry. We show that this finding hinges critically on using cross-border counties to define local economic areas with which to control for economic shocks that are potentially correlated with minimum wage changes. We use, instead, multi-state commuting zones, which provide superior definitions of local economic areas. Using the same within-local area research design−but within cross-border commuting zones−we find a robust negative relationship between minimum wages and employment.

Suggested Citation

  • Priyaranjan Jha & David Neumark & Antonio Rodriguez-Lopez, 2022. "What's Across the Border? Re-Evaluating the Cross-Border Evidence on Minimum Wage Effects," CESifo Working Paper Series 9746, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9746
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. David Autor & David Dorn & Gordon Hanson & Kaveh Majlesi, 2020. "Importing Political Polarization? The Electoral Consequences of Rising Trade Exposure," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(10), pages 3139-3183, October.
    2. Neumark David, 2019. "The Econometrics and Economics of the Employment Effects of Minimum Wages: Getting from Known Unknowns to Known Knowns," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 20(3), pages 293-329, August.
    3. Jeffrey Clemens & Michael R. Strain, 2021. "The Heterogeneous Effects of Large and Small Minimum Wage Changes: Evidence over the Short and Medium Run Using a Pre-Analysis Plan," NBER Working Papers 29264, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Jonathan Meer & Jeremy West, 2016. "Effects of the Minimum Wage on Employment Dynamics," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 51(2), pages 500-522.
    5. Clemens, Jeffrey & Wither, Michael, 2019. "The minimum wage and the Great Recession: Evidence of effects on the employment and income trajectories of low-skilled workers," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 53-67.
    6. Tolbert, Charles M. & Sizer, Molly, 1996. "U.S. Commuting Zones and Labor Market Areas: A 1990 Update," Staff Reports 278812, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
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    9. Jeffrey Clemens & Michael R. Strain, 2018. "The Short‐Run Employment Effects Of Recent Minimum Wage Changes: Evidence From The American Community Survey," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 36(4), pages 711-722, October.
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    11. Arindrajit Dube & T. William Lester & Michael Reich, 2010. "Minimum Wage Effects Across State Borders: Estimates Using Contiguous Counties," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(4), pages 945-964, November.
    12. David Neumark & William Wascher, 1992. "Employment Effects of Minimum and Subminimum Wages: Panel Data on State Minimum Wage Laws," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 46(1), pages 55-81, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Winters, John, 2022. "Minimum Wages and Restaurant Employment for Teens and Adults in Metropolitan and Non-Metropolitan Areas," ISU General Staff Papers 202208161905110000, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    2. Benjamin S. Kay & Albina Khatiwoda, 2025. "Challenging Demographic Representativeness at State Borders: Implications for Policy Research," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2025-018, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    minimum wage; employment; commuting zones;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy

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