Thesis (B.A.(Hons.)) -- University of Adelaide, 1976. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 78-81).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Texas at Dallas, 2009. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-82)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1968. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (PH. D.)--Columbia University, 1930. / Vita. Published also as Studies in history, economics and public law, ed. by the Faculty of political science of Columbia university, no. 320. Bibliography: p. 229-232.

Typescript, etc.

The city of Seattle, Washington made headlines in 2014 when its city council enacted the highest minimum wage in the history of the United States. The ruling appeared to begin a trend as similar policies began diffusing in cities across the country. In reality, however, municipal minimum wage ordinances have existed since the early 1990’s. Yet, despite over two decade’s worth of data on the subject, little research has been conducted to understand the characteristics that influence cities to enact minimum wages in the first place. This study contributes to our understanding of the predictors of minimum wage ordinances by retesting prior variables of significance over a more recent time period, while also introducing a new set of variables to the literature. I find that cities with an increased percentage of residents with bachelor’s degrees face an increased likelihood for future policy adoption. Additionally, I find that some age demographics may be significant predictors in future studies of minimum wage.

Yang Wang

最低工資視為勞工政策，藉由政府立法方式且包含集體談判、公約，以確保勞工福利與權益。最低工資制度仍然為重大理論議題與政治辯論，許多國家都設有最低工資且設定標準繁多，有些按照年齡、任職期間、地區、行業別；例如在中國，以地區別方式來設定最低工資之標準。隨著經濟結構變化，投資環境不如以往，中國逐漸失去廉價勞動力的優勢，中國在罷工與勞工短缺情況下，可能導致社會動亂，中央政府已計劃一個新的工資改革，順應世界潮流。改革目的在縮小貧富差距，藉由提高低工資之收入，規模擴大至中產階級，遏止過高薪資分配之不平等，所以在第12個五年計劃已經訂下目標，以調整最低工資，以改革收入分配。 / Minimum wages is a labor policy, whether established by government legislation, comprised of the collective bargaining or convention, are an important feature of labor markets. The minimum wage system is the subject of substantial theoretical as well as political debate. Many countries have set minimum wage standards for various, no country can be exception in the work to establish the minimum wage system, like China, mostly in age but also in some cases by job tenure, region, industry and occupation. With the economic structural changes, the investment environment is quite complex than before and no longer cheap labor in China. China government has no choice but to revise the minimum wage system in accordance with the world trend. Under the intensified discontent such as strike or labor shortage which could lead to the social unrest, Central government has planned to initiate a new wage reform. The reform is aimed to equality and narrowing the wealth gap by raising the incomes of the low-paid, expanding the size of middle classes, wiping out illegitimate incomes and putting a curb on excessively high salaries. The 12th Five Year plan has set the target to adjust the minimum wage in order to reform of income distribution.

In the debate on the economic effects of labor market regulation much work has focused on minimum wages. A legal minimum wage remains one of the most controversial policy issues. The controversy arises for two main reasons: first, there is no consensus over the economic impacts of the minimum wage mandate, especially its effect on employment, and, second, there is a disagreement over the empirical methods used to identify the minimum wage effects. Although the standard competitive model predicts that wage floors should have a negative impact on employment, empirical work shows mixed results. This dissertation explores a number of adjustment channels that can explain the paradox of the small and insignificant employment effects uncovered in the MW literature. Specifically, the economic impact of the most recent 2007-2009 Federal minimum wage increase (from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour) is analyzed using a sample of quick-service restaurants in Georgia and Alabama. In contrast to prior studies, store-level bi-weekly payroll records for individual employees are used, allowing greater precision in measuring the relative cost-impact of the MW on establishments. Despite significant variation in the cost-impact of the three-stage MW increase across establishments, regression analysis finds lack of a negative effect on employment and hours following each MW increase. Additional channels of adjustment are explored using unique data from manager surveys. Evidence suggests that higher product prices, lower profit margins, wage compression, reduced turnover and higher performance standards largely account for insignificant employment effects. These results are consistent with a number of alternative theoretical models of labor markets. An expanded version of the perfectly competitive model that incorporates additional margins of adjustment is also compatible with the reported findings.

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration