Thesis advisor: Geoffrey Sanzenbacher / Labor unions are generally considered to be beneficial for workers wages and benefits, but have been on the decline for decades. This analysis questions why workers appear more hesitant to vote for labor unions now than in the past by investigating what factors influence individual labor union votes. Specifically, this analysis aims to pinpoint the effect that outside minimum wages have on union election outcomes. Using data from the United States National Labor Relations Board, Michigan State, IPUMS USA and the US Census Bureau, I generated two models – a logistic regression, and an ordinary least squares regression – that each predict the likelihood of union support based upon outside minimum wages, after controlling for a variety of factors including but not limited to the county unemployment rate, the existence of the Right to Work law, and county-level demographics. I find that the difference between state-level or city-level minimum wages and the federal minimum wage has a positive relationship with the likelihood of union certification. Specifically, I find that union support is most likely in areas where the local-level minimum wage is $4.18 higher than the federal minimum wage in the logistic model, and $5.13 higher than the federal minimum in the ordinary least squares model, ceteris paribus. Put differently, with a federal minimum wage of $7.25, areas with minimum wages around $12 are most likely to see union elections pass. Overall, these results suggest that workers are more likely to vote for a union when local exogenous economic environments are strong. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Economics.

Diese Dissertation umfasst drei Aufsätze zu Mindestlöhnen, zum Arbeitsangebot sowie zu öffentlichen Finanzen. Der Fokus liegt auf den Entwicklungen in Deutschland innerhalb der letzten zwei Jahrzehnte. Der erste Aufsatz untersucht Beschäftigungseffekte des Mindestlohns in einem Modell der Sucharbeitslosigkeit. Das Modell bildet Heterogenität auf Arbeitnehmer- und Arbeitgeberseite ab und schränkt die Richtung der Beschäftigungseffekte ein. Es erlaubt eine unterschiedliche Frequenz der Stellensuche von Beschäftigten und Arbeitslosen und modelliert die Rekrutierungsintensität der Unternehmen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Arbeitslosigkeit eine nicht-monotone Funktion des Mindestlohns ist. Die Auswirkungen von verschiedenen Mindestlöhnen unterscheiden sich stark nach Arbeitsmarktsegmenten. Der zweite Aufsatz befasst sich mit Trends im Arbeitsangebotsverhalten in Deutschland. Dazu werden diskrete Wahlmodelle des Arbeitsangebots für die Jahre von 1998 bis 2018 geschätzt. Die implizierten Arbeitsangebotselastizitäten haben in den letzten zwei Jahrzehnten zugenommen, insbesondere für Paare und für alleinstehende Männer. Eine Zerlegungsanalyse zeigt, dass Veränderungen in der Demografie nur eine geringe Rolle bei der Verschiebung der Eigen- und Kreuzlohnelastizitäten von Männern spielen, da der größte Teil der Veränderungen durch Präferenzen oder Arbeitsmarktrestriktionen bedingt ist. Bei Frauen hingegen spielen demografische Veränderungen eine größere Rolle für den Anstieg der Elastizitäten. Der dritte Aufsatz befasst sich mit den deutschen Staatsfinanzen sowie mit Reformen aufgrund der Finanzkrise 2008/2009. Der Aufsatz stellt die makroökonomische Situation und die Entwicklung der Krise in Deutschland dar und beleuchtet die Bedeutung für die öffentlichen Finanzen. In dem Aufsatz werden zudem die Verteilungswirkungen der Reformen im Steuer- und Transfersystem mithilfe von Mikrosimulationen untersucht. / This dissertation consists of three essays on the minimum wage, labour supply, and public finances. The selected essays focus on the German experience and developments over the last two decades. The first essay is an analysis of unemployment effects of the German minimum wage in an empirical equilibrium job search model. The estimated model with worker and firm heterogeneity does not restrict the sign of employment effects a priori; it allows for different job offer arrival rates for the employed and the unemployed and lets firms optimally choose their recruiting intensity. Results show that unemployment is a non-monotonic function of the minimum wage level, and effects differ strongly by labour market segment. The second essay is on the topic of labour supply elasticities in Germany. In order to analyse recent trends in labour supply in Germany, a static discrete choice model of unitary household labour supply is estimated for each year 1998 to 2018. Findings are that own-wage labour supply elasticities implied by the models have increased over the last two decades, especially for couples, and for single males. A decomposition analysis shows that compositional changes in demographics play only a minor role in the shift in males' own- and cross-wage elasticities, since most of the changes in elasticities are driven by preferences or labour market restrictions. For females, changes in composition play a bigger role in the rise of elasticities. The third essay reviews German public finances through the financial crisis 2008/2009. The essay starts with a presentation of the macroeconomic situation and how the crisis unfolded in Germany, before focusing on the situation of the public finances. Finally, the distributional effects of policy responses to the financial crisis are analysed on the individual level using microsimulation.

In this thesis I conduct a comparative analysis of the influence of socioeconomic actors, business and labor, on public policy in Germany and the United States, specifically public policy that has an impact on economic inequality. The objective of this study is to gain a better understanding of how institutional constructs may determine the level of influence by different socioeconomic actors on public policy. In particular, I examine the link between institutional design and economic inequality, specifically the relative influence of business interests in varying types of capitalist economies and democratic systems, and assess those facets of institutional design that may facilitate the channeling of business influence in policy making. I explore institutional changes in the German political and economic system beginning in the late 1980s to determine whether these changes have altered the policy making process over time, and analyze similarities with institutional changes that have taken place in the United States beginning in the late 1970s to present. Further, I examine whether shifts in institutional design indicate that the German system is transitioning towards a more liberal model similar to that of the United States, and consider what effects this may have on the level of economic inequality in Germany. To conduct my analysis I use the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework; based on the IAD framework I create a conceptual map of the channels by which socioeconomic actors are involved in the policy making process. I evaluate the policy-making process in both formal and informal policy arenas. The policy areas analyzed include corporate governance, industrial relations, and tax, welfare and minimum wage policy during the selected time periods. The analysis shows that the institutional designs that produced the selected policies benefit business interests and may contribute towards economic inequality. The larger goal is to develop research that will build a theoretical foundation to help us identify how these systems may be improved to produce a more equitable allocation of economic resources.

Die sehr negativen Prognosen zur Beschäftigungswirkung der Einführung des Mindestlohns in Deutschland hätten sich nicht bewahrheitet, schrieben Oliver Bruttel, Arne Baumann und Matthias Dütsch in den PWP 3/2019. Andreas Knabe, Ronnie Schöb und Marcel Thum halten dem in diesem Beitrag entgegen, dass sich Prognosen und tatsächliche Beschäftigungswirkungen des Mindestlohns gar nicht wesentlich unterschieden. Zum einen hätten sich die Beschäftigungsverluste bisher stark in einer Reduktion der Zahl der Arbeitsstunden je Beschäftigten niedergeschlagen. Zum anderen erhielten weiterhin viele Arbeitnehmer weniger als den Mindestlohn, was die bislang messbaren negativen Beschäftigungswirkungen mindere.

Income inequality is prevalent in both developed and developing countries. In all of these countries there are workers who are highly paid while others are given very low wages. The disgruntled low-paid workers in these countries usually force their governments to intervene in the labour market and introduce the redistributive policies like the minimum wage policy. Governments usually accede to these demands of low-paid workers because they do not want to invite political troubles. That led to an increase in the number of countries using minimum wage policy as redistributive mechanism in the late 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. Minimum wage policy is, however, a very controversial issue. Supporters of minimum wages regard the policy as ideal because it provides social protection to un-unionised and low-paid workers with little or no bargaining power. The opponents of the policy on the other hand argue that wages in the labour market should be determined by the forces of demand and supply. It is argued that wages that are artificially determined lead to the rationing of jobs and displacement of the very same low-paid workers that the policy is intended to protect, as employers are forced to replace unskilled workers with skilled workers and machines. South Africa’s agricultural sector workers were among some of the least paid workers in the country. Employers were able to exploit these workers because they were not protected by any labour legislation that workers in other sectors were afforded. Farm workers were only protected by common law. It was only in the 1990s that labour legislations like Basic Conditions of Employment Act, Labour Relations Act, Employment Equity Act, Extension of Security Act and Tenure Act and Skills Development Act were extended to the agricultural sector in an attempt to protect the working conditions of vulnerable workers. These acts as well failed to improve the working conditions of the agricultural sector workers and that prompted the Minister of Labour to instruct the Director-General of Labour to conduct the necessary investigations to see if it could be necessary to introduce minimum standard of employment in the sector, including minimum wages. That led to the adoption of Sectoral Determination 8 of 2003 which introduced sectoral minimum wage in the sector. The sectoral minimum wage which came into effect in 2003 was increased annually by the rate of inflation plus one per cent. It was only in 2013, after the Western Cape farm workers went on strike for higher wages, that the minimum wage was raised by 52 per cent. As argued by the opponents of minimum wages, job losses occurred among unskilled workers. The implementation of minimum wage policy in the agricultural sector was problematic, as the policy was not properly complied with due to several compliance concerns. Apart from there being insufficient inspectors to monitor and investigate cases of non-compliance, inspectors were under-trained and under-equipped. Fines imposed on offenders were too small, which further encouraged disregard for the policy. / Economics / M. Com. (Economics)

In this paper, I analyze the effectiveness of state level Earned Income Tax Credit programs on improving of poverty levels. I conducted this analysis for the years 1991 through 2011 using a panel data model with fixed effects. The main independent variables of interest were the state and federal EITC rates, minimum wage, gross state product, population, and unemployment all by state. I determined increases to the state EITC rates provided only a slight decrease to both the overall white below-poverty population and the corresponding white childhood population under 18, while both the overall and the under-18 black population for this category realized moderate decreases in their poverty rates for the same time period. I also provide a comparison of the effectiveness of the state level EITCs and minimum wage at the state level over the same time period on these select demographic groups.

L'étude sur la politique de formation professionnelle et d'emploi en Haïti met l'accent sur l‟industrie touristique en tenant compte des atouts et de la position géographique du pays. Inscrit dans la lignée théorique du capital humain de Becker G. et faisant le lien entre les problèmes de la formation et le faible niveau de développement, le travail explore les principaux freins matériels et immatériels agissant négativement sur le secteur touristique et subséquemment sur le développement socioéconomique du pays. Adoptant une approche inspirée de l‟analyse systémique de Mélèze J. complétée par l‟analyse stratégique de Crozier M. et de Friedberg E., l‟étude met en évidence les enjeux des acteurs dans le cadre des démarches visant à dynamiser l‟industrie du tourisme en Haïti. Les données de l'enquête et les entretiens réalisés avec des personnalités ayant travaillé dans les secteurs de la formation et du développement ont permis de constater que les moyens alloués au système national de formation professionnelle sont largement insuffisants pour répondre à la demande sociale de la formation. Il a été permis de constater aussi que l'offre publique de formation professionnelle est historiquement faible et géographiquement inégalitaire. Ce problème affecte le stock de capital humain dont le pays a besoin pour assurer son développement socioéconomique.Les efforts déployés au cours de ces dernières années en vue d'atténuer les effets dévastateurs des crises qu'a connues le pays n'ont pas été accompagnés de l'application d'une politique de formation professionnelle en appui aux secteurs dans lesquels on espérait avoir des investissements. Les données économiques de la région et le positionnement géographique du pays autorisent à penser qu'une politique de formation ambitieuse aurait pu remplir une fonction attractive dans les branches d'activité à haute valeur ajoutée demandant moins d'investissement dans lesquelles le pays a des avantages comparatifs, notamment le tourisme. L'étude révèle que l'enseignement professionnel haïtien est déconnecté de l'appareil de production économique qui investit. Ce problème pousse certaines entreprises, pour répondre à leurs besoins, à faire appel à la main-d'oeuvre étrangère tandis que le pays connaît un taux de chômage important. Sous-financés, l'enseignement technique et la formation professionnelle sont victimes de la représentation traditionnelle que certains ont de l'apprentissage. De plus, il n'existe pas un espace formel de concertation et de dialogue entre les responsables des organismes de formation et les dirigeants des entreprises. Ces dialogues, nécessaires et réclamés dans une démarche d'accompagnement, d'anticipation des investissements et de mise en oeuvre des politiques de l'emploi, dans les rares cas où ils existent, sont plus personnels qu'institutionnels. La concurrence pour avoir des contactspersonnels prime sur l'intérêt général. La mutualisation des forces en présence paraît nécessaire afin d'arriver à une lecture partagée de l‟environnement économique, établir un partenariat privilégié et éclairé entre l'appareil de production et celui de l'enseignement pour mieux orienter la politique de l'État dans le champ de la formation professionnelle. Enfin, comme secteur prioritaire de développement, le tourisme, industrie pourvoyeuse d'emplois, ne sera pas profitable à Haïti s'il n'y a pas un effort substantiel pour innover, créer des entreprises nouvelles et les doter des compétences et des qualifications que requiert une économie fondée sur les activités touristiques. La rentabilité du secteur touristique passe également par la création d‟un climat d'affaire propice à l‟investissement direct étranger (IDE), par la levée des principaux freins à la croissance économique, par des actions ciblées relatives aux opérations de marketing et par l'amélioration de l'image du pays à l'étranger. / The study on vocational training policy and employment in Haiti focuses on the tourism industry taking into account the strengths and geographic position. Join in the tradition of human capital theory of Becker G. and linking the issues of training and low level of development, the work explores the main brake material and immaterial acts negatively on the tourism sector and subsequently the country's socioeconomic development. Adopting an approach based on systems analysis of Mélèze J. supplemented by the analysis Strategic Crozier M. and Friedberg E., the study highlights the challenges that the actors face in the context of efforts to boost tourism industry in Haiti. The survey data and interviews with personalities who worked in the areas of training and development have revealed that the resources allocated to the national system of vocational training are largely inadequate to meet the social demand for training. It was also revealed that the public offer for training is historically low and geographically unequal. This problem affects the stock of human capital that the country needs for its economic development.The efforts put forth in recent years to mitigate the devastating effects of crises within the country have not been accompanied by the application of a vocational training policy in support of industries in which one hoped to have investments. The economics data of the region and the country's geographical location that suggest an ambitious training policy might play a role in attracting industries with high added value requiring less investment in which the country has comparative advantages including tourism. The study reveals that Haitian vocational education is disconnected from the apparatus of economic output that invests. This problem leads some companies to satisfy their needs by appealing to foreign labor, while the country has a high unemployment rate. Under-funded, technical education and vocational training are victims of the traditional representation some make about apprenticeship. Moreover, there is no space for formal discussion and dialogue among those responsible for the educational system and business leaders. These dialogues are necessary and acclaimed in a quest for support, anticipation of investment and the implementation of employment policies, in rare cases where they exist, are more personal than institutional. Competition for personal contacts outweighs public interest. The mutualisation of forces in place seems necessary in order to reach a common view of the economic environment, establish a privileged and enlightened partnership between the production apparatus and that of education to better the politics of the State in the field of vocational training. Finally, as a priority sector of development, the industry of tourism providers of employment will not benefit Haiti if it does not make a substantial effort to innovate, to create new businesses and to acquire the skills and qualifications required in an economy based on tourism. The profitability of the tourism sector also means creating a business climate conducive to foreign direct investment (FDI) by removing the main obstacles to economic growth, through targeted activities relating to operations and marketing by improving the country's image abroad.

This thesis deals with the development of social insurance, specifically with health insurance and social security, from the standpoint of transfer of insurance-generated monies to the state budget. It presents the significance of social insurance in its current form and an analysis of the principal changes it has undergone in the last fifteen years. It particularly examines changes in the definition of participants in social insurance and changes in the use and structure of bases of measurement in individual insurance subsystems. This thesis also includes an analysis of these changes which seeks to analyze the past and potential impact of shifts in basic factors which influence the amount of money flowing from insurance to the state budget (such as minimum wage, average wage and number of paying participants) on individual participants in social insurance.

Many in Germany argue that the minimum wage and other protective provisions for migrant workers will only be effective when workplace inspections by the enforcement body "Finanzkontrolle Schwarzarbeit" (FKS) are stepped up. For this reason, a novel cooperation agreement between the FKS and migrant workers' counseling offices has been signed, in June 2021. This step is informed by the FKS' public image of being a guardian of the minimum wage and of victims of labor exploitation. The hypothesis of this thesis is that the argument of more inspections lead to less exploitation is oversimplified. Therefore, it explores the role that the FKS has for migrant workers in more detail by using regime theory and a methodological approach informed by ethnographic border regime analysis. An analysis of the FKS' formal duties codified in the law reveals its ambivalent character. Especially the concept of unlawful employment serves as an umbrella term that conflates protective as well as punitive provisions for migrant workers. In eleven qualitative interviews, FKS officers and migrant workers' counselors mostly rejected the FKS' image as a "workers' protection squad". Instead, they think that the FKS only served the interests of the state. As a consequence, exploited workers have no immediate benefit from FKS inspections, and sometimes even experience heavy detriments like the loss of their job, housing, or unpaid wages. The most severe consequences, like expulsions or deportations, result from violations of the Residence Act. For these reasons, counselors reacted differently to the new cooperation agreement. While most counselors have strong reservations or even refuse to work with law enforcement bodies, others have found ways to cooperate without putting their clients at risk. For such successful cooperation it is crucial that FKS officers take workers' and counselors' needs seriously and adapt their routines and protocols in order to instill trust. Under the current legal and institutional configuration, increasing the number of FKS inspections is not pertinent to combat the exploitation of migrant workers. The argument that vulnerabilities of migrant workers emerge from a lack of enforcement is blinding out the fact that the enforcement of labor law itself produces vulnerabilities. Institutions tasked with the enforcement of protective provisions, must not be tasked with enforcing punitive provisions against migrant workers. Instead, workers need to be given an active role in the enforcement of their own rights.

The aim of this thesis is to analyze the problem of poverty, describing the concept, explain the reasons and causes of poverty and to propose solutions for its prevention. Furthermore, the analysis of poverty in the Czech Republic and comparison with selected EU countries. The last part of my work will develop a proposal for measures in the fight against poverty. The thesis was divided into two parts. The first part featured a brief theoretical view of poverty as a social event. There were defining poverty, its types, forms, indicators of poverty by international organizations. This section was included in the issue of the causes of poverty, the effects of poverty, both primary and secondary, social exclusion (exclusion). This part is followed by chapter tools to eliminate poverty in the Czech social policy. These tools include: subsistence, assistance in material need, living allowance, housing subsidy, extraordinary immediate assistance and minimum wage. These tools form a complex, which currently works fairly well. Most of the tools work to eliminate poverty target, this means that these tools are used quite effectively. The practical part is based on knowledge of the theoretical perspective on poverty. Includes a brief analysis of poverty in the Czech Republic and also compares it with other EU...