User:MiloKing/MinWage

Definition

A minimum wage is a legally enforceable government-imposed lower bound on the wage that can be paid to a worker. It thus acts as a price floor in the labor market.

Mechanics

Basic structure of the minimum wage

Minimum wages are usually specified for work per unit time. For instance, a minimum wage might be imposed of $5 per hour worked.

Sources of minimum wage arrangements

Formally established minimum wages involve the government directly regulating labor arrangements to prevent employers from paying workers less than the minimum wage rate. There also exist some agreements between labor unions and businesses creating a minimum pay rate, but this can have some differences from the minimum wages we describe in this article.

Effects of minimum wages in perfect competition

The effects of minimum wages can be analyzed by considering them as price floors on the sale of labor. However, the effects can vary depending on the assumptions in the model, particularly regarding assumptions concerning the degree of market power. Whether a labor market is perfectly competitive or monopsonistic affects the analysis present. This analysis also is mainly in partial equilibrium.

Effects on quantity traded

In a perfectly competitive market, the effect on the equilibrium quantity traded is either zero or negative. In the case of a minimum wage which is below the market wage for the market is applied to, the analysis is essentially that of a non-binding price floor, and we expect that there will be no effect on either the wage paid or the quantity of labor bought.

In the case of a minimum wage which is higher than the market wage for the market it is applied to, the effect will be an excess supply of labor. Namely, workers will want to sell a greater amount of labor, while employers will want to buy less labor. This has both an unemployment effect and a disemployment effect. The unemployment effect is the effect on the number (or fraction) of workers who wish to be employed, but cannot find additional work at the existing wage. The disemployment effect is the effect on workers who are previously employed for some number of hours, but have their hours cut or lose their jobs. In other words, the unemployment effect is an increase in excess supply in the labor market, while the disemployment effect is a reduction of quantity traded in the labor market.

Effects on social surplus

To determine the effect of a minimum wage on social surplus, we must compare the level of social surplus in a market with no minimum wage to the level of social surplus in a market with a minimum wage at the rate being considered.