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Do Minimum Wages Make Wages more Rigid? Evidence from French Micro Data

Author

Listed:
  • E.GAUTIER

    (Banque de France - Université de Nantes)

  • S. ROUX

    (Insee - Ined - Crest)

  • M. SUAREZ CASTILLO

    (Insee - Crest)

Abstract

How do minimum wages (MW) shape the aggregate wage dynamics when wage adjustment is lumpy? In this paper, we document new empirical findings on the effects of MW on wage rigidity using quarterly micro wage data matched with sectoral bargained MW. We first estimate a micro empirical model of wage rigidity taking into account minimum wage dynamics. We then use a simulation method to investigate implications of lumpy micro wage adjustment for the aggregate wage dynamics. Our main findings are the following. Both national and sectoral MW have a large effect on the timing and on the size of wage adjustments. At the aggregate level, MW contribute to amplify, by a factor of 1.7, the response of wages to past inflation. Ignoring MW leads to underestimate the speed of aggregate wage adjustment by about a year. The elasticities of wages with respect to past inflation, the national MW and industry-level MW are respectively 0.42, 0.17 and 0.16. Finally, there are significant spillover effects of the NMW on higher wages transiting through industry-level MW.

Suggested Citation

  • E.Gautier & S. Roux & M. Suarez Castillo, 2019. "Do Minimum Wages Make Wages more Rigid? Evidence from French Micro Data," Documents de Travail de l'Insee - INSEE Working Papers g2019-09, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques.
    • Handle: RePEc:nse:doctra:g2019-09
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Adamopoulou, Effrosyni & Villanueva, Ernesto, 2022. "Wage determination and the bite of collective contracts in Italy and Spain," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wage Rigidity; Minimum Wage; Collective Bargaining;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J50 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - General

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