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The Economics of Gender-Specific Minimum Wage Legislation

Author

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  • Marchingiglio, Riccardo

    (Northwestern University)

  • Poyker, Mikhail

    (University of Texas at Austin)

Abstract

Using full count U.S. census data, we study the impact of early 20th-century state-industry-specific minimum wage laws that primarily targeted female employees. Our triple-difference estimates suggest a null impact of the minimum wage laws, potentially reflecting disemployment effects and the positive selection bias of the workers remaining in the labor force. When comparing county-industry trends between counties straddling state borders, female employment is lower by around 3.1% in affected county-industry cells. We further investigate the implications for own-wage elasticity of labor demand as a function of cross-industry concentration, the channels of substitution between men and women, and heterogeneity by marital status.

Suggested Citation

  • Marchingiglio, Riccardo & Poyker, Mikhail, 2024. "The Economics of Gender-Specific Minimum Wage Legislation," IZA Discussion Papers 17016, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17016
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    minimum wage; labor demand; gender gap; labor markets;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • N32 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-

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