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The Optimal Graduated Minimum Wage and Social Welfare

Author

Listed:
  • Danziger, Eliav

    (Simon Fraser University)

  • Danziger, Leif

    (Ben Gurion University)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the effects of introducing a graduated minimum wage in a model with optimal income taxation in which a government seeks to maximize social welfare. It shows that the optimal graduated minimum wage increases social welfare by increasing the low-productivity workers' consumption and bringing it closer to the first-best. The paper also describes how the graduated minimum wage in a social welfare optimum depends on important economy characteristics such as the government's revenue needs, the social-welfare weight of low-productivity workers, and the numbers and productivities of the different types of workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Danziger, Eliav & Danziger, Leif, 2018. "The Optimal Graduated Minimum Wage and Social Welfare," IZA Discussion Papers 11386, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11386
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    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp11386.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Robin Boadway & Katherine Cuff & Maurice Marchand, 2000. "Optimal Income Taxation With Quasi‐Linear Preferences Revisited," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 2(4), pages 435-460, October.
    2. Pierre Cahuc & Guy Laroque, 2014. "Optimal Taxation and Monopsonistic Labor Market: Does Monopsony Justify the Minimum Wage?," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 16(2), pages 259-273, April.
    3. 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.
    4. Leif Danziger, 2009. "The elasticity of labor demand and the minimum wage," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 22(3), pages 757-772, July.
    5. Tito Boeri & Michael C. Burda, 2009. "Preferences for Collective Versus Individualised Wage Setting," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(540), pages 1440-1463, October.
    6. Boadway, Robin & Cuff, Katherine, 2001. "A minimum wage can be welfare-improving and employment-enhancing," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 553-576, March.
    7. Leo Kaas & Paul Madden, 2010. "Minimum wages and welfare in a Hotelling duopsony," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 43(2), pages 167-188, May.
    8. Philippe Aghion & Yann Algan & Pierre Cahuc, 2011. "Civil Society And The State: The Interplay Between Cooperation And Minimum Wage Regulation," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 9(1), pages 3-42, February.
    9. Strobl, Eric & Walsh, Frank, 2007. "Dealing with monopsony power: Employment subsidies vs. minimum wages," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 94(1), pages 83-89, January.
    10. 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.
    11. Strobl, Eric & Walsh, Frank, 2011. "The ambiguous effect of minimum wages on hours," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 218-228, April.
    12. Hungerbühler, Mathias & Lehmann, Etienne, 2009. "On the optimality of a minimum wage: New insights from optimal tax theory," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(3-4), pages 464-481, April.
    13. Michèle Belot & Jan Boone & Jan Van Ours, 2007. "Welfare‐Improving Employment Protection," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 74(295), pages 381-396, August.
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    19. Cahuc, P. & Saint-Martin, A. & Zylberberg, A., 2001. "The consequences of the minimum wage when other wages are bargained over," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 337-352, February.
    20. Lee, David & Saez, Emmanuel, 2012. "Optimal minimum wage policy in competitive labor markets," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(9-10), pages 739-749.
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    23. Stephen P. Allen, 1987. "Taxes, Redistribution, and the Minimum Wage: A Theoretical Analysis," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 102(3), pages 477-489.
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    25. Tomer Blumkin & Efraim Sadka, 2005. "Income Taxation and Wage Policy: An Application to Minimum Wage," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 12(6), pages 713-722, November.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    graduated minimum wage; optimal income taxation; social welfare;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D60 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - General
    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General

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