Editing Minimum wage (section)

==Empirical studies==
[[File:Funnel Graph of Estimated Minimum Wage Effects.jpg|thumb|Estimated minimum wage effects on employment from a meta-study of 64 other studies showed insignificant employment effect (both practically and statistically) from minimum-wage raises. The most precise estimates were heavily clustered at or near zero employment effects (elasticity = 0).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/min-wage-2013-02.pdf |title=Why Does the Minimum Wage Have No Discernible Effect on Employment? |date=February 2013 |first=John |last=Schmitt |website=Center for Economic and Policy Research |access-date=5 December 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203232557/http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/min-wage-2013-02.pdf |archive-date=3 December 2013}}
*{{cite news |author=Brad Plumer |date=14 February 2013 |title=Economists disagree on whether the minimum wage kills jobs. Why? |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/02/14/why-economists-are-so-puzzled-by-the-minimum-wage/ |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>]]
Economists disagree as to the measurable impact of minimum wages in practice. This disagreement usually takes the form of competing [[empirical]] tests of the [[Elasticity (economics)|elasticities]] of [[supply and demand]] in [[Labour economics|labor markets]] and the degree to which [[Market (economics)|markets]] differ from the efficiency that [[Economic model|models]] of [[perfect competition]] predict.

Economists have done empirical studies on different aspects of the minimum wage, including:<ref name="Neumark" />
* Employment effects, the most frequently studied aspect
* Effects on the [[Income distribution|distribution of wages and earnings]] among low-paid and higher-paid workers
* Effects on the distribution of incomes among low-income and higher-income families
* Effects on the skills of workers through job training and the deferring of work to acquire education
* Effects on prices and profits
* Effects on [[on-the-job training]]
Until the mid-1990s, a general consensus existed among economists–both conservative and liberal–that the minimum wage reduced employment, especially among younger and low-skill workers.<ref name="Card&Krueger">{{cite book |first1=David |last1=Card |first2=Alan B. |last2=Krueger |title=Myth and Measurement: The New Economics of the Minimum Wage |url=https://archive.org/details/mythmeasurement00davi |url-access=registration |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1995 |pages=1, 6–7}}</ref> In addition to the basic supply-demand intuition, there were a number of empirical studies that supported this view. For example, [[Edward Gramlich]] in 1976 found that many of the benefits went to higher income families, and that teenagers were made worse off by the unemployment associated with the minimum wage.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Gramlich | first1 = Edward M. | year = 1976| title = Impact of Minimum Wages on Other Wages, Employment, and Family Incomes | url = https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/1976/06/1976b_bpea_gramlich_flanagan_wachter.pdf| journal = Brookings Papers on Economic Activity | volume = 1976 | issue = 2| pages = 409–61 | doi = 10.2307/2534380 | last2 = Flanagan | first2 = Robert J. | last3 = Wachter | first3 = Michael L. | jstor = 2534380 }}</ref>

Brown et al. (1983) noted that time series studies to that point had found that for a 10 percent increase in the minimum wage, there was a decrease in teenage employment of 1–3 percent. However, the studies found wider variation, from 0 to over 3 percent, in their estimates for the effect on teenage unemployment (teenagers without a job and looking for one). In contrast to the simple supply and demand diagram, it was commonly found that teenagers withdrew from the labor force in response to the minimum wage, which produced the possibility of equal reductions in the supply as well as the demand for labor at a higher minimum wage and hence no impact on the unemployment rate. Using a variety of specifications of the employment and unemployment equations (using [[ordinary least squares]] vs. [[generalized least squares]] [[Regression analysis|regression procedures]], and linear vs. logarithmic specifications), they found that a 10 percent increase in the minimum wage caused a 1 percent decrease in teenage employment, and no change in the teenage unemployment rate. The study also found a small, but statistically significant, increase in unemployment for adults aged 20–24.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Charles |last1=Brown |first2=Curtis |last2=Gilroy |first3=Andrew |last3=Kohen |title=Time-Series Evidence of the Effect of the Minimum Wage on Youth Employment and Unemployment |journal=The Journal of Human Resources |volume=18 |issue=1 |date=Winter 1983 |pages=3–31 |jstor=145654 |doi=10.2307/145654|s2cid=153935325 |url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w0790.pdf }}</ref>[[File:CBO Projected Effects of Minimum Wage Increases v1.png|thumb|right|CBO table illustrating projections of the effects of minimum wage increases on employment and income, under two scenarios]]

Wellington (1991) updated Brown et al.'s research with data through 1986 to provide new estimates encompassing a period when the real (i.e., inflation-adjusted) value of the minimum wage was declining, because it had not increased since 1981. She found that a 10% increase in the minimum wage decreased the absolute teenage employment by 0.6%, with no effect on the teen or young adult unemployment rates.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Alison J. |last1=Wellington |title=Effects of the Minimum Wage on the Employment Status of Youths: An Update |journal=The Journal of Human Resources |volume=26 |issue=1 |date=Winter 1991 |pages=27–46 |jstor=145715 |doi=10.2307/145715}}</ref>

Some research suggests that the unemployment effects of small minimum wage increases are dominated by other factors.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/bp178 |title=Minimum wage trends: Understanding past and contemporary research |publisher=Economic Policy Institute |date=24 October 2006 |access-date=6 December 2013 |first1=Liana |last1=Fox |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216010154/http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/bp178 |archive-date=16 December 2008 }}</ref> In Florida, where voters approved an increase in 2004, a follow-up comprehensive study after the increase confirmed a strong economy with increased employment above previous years in Florida and better than in the US as a whole.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.risep-fiu.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/FL-Minimum-Wage.pdf |title=The Florida Minimum Wage: Good for Workers, Good for the Economy |access-date=3 November 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130622155415/http://www.risep-fiu.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/FL-Minimum-Wage.pdf |archive-date=22 June 2013 }}</ref> When it comes to on-the-job training, some believe the increase in wages is taken out of training expenses. A 2001 empirical study found that there is "no evidence that minimum wages reduce training, and little evidence that they tend to increase training."<ref>{{cite web |first1=Daron |last1=Acemoglu |first2=Jörn-Steffen |last2=Pischke |url=http://ftp.iza.org/dp384.pdf |title=Minimum Wages and On-the-Job Training |website=[[Institute for the Study of Labor]] |date=November 2001 |access-date=6 December 2013 |ssrn=288292 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525162850/http://ftp.iza.org/dp384.pdf |archive-date=25 May 2017 }} Also published as {{cite book |doi=10.1016/S0147-9121(03)22005-7 |chapter=Minimum Wages and On-the-job Training |title=Worker Well-Being and Public Policy |series=Research in Labor Economics |year=2003 |last1=Acemoglu |first1=Daron |last2=Pischke |first2=Jörn-Steffen |isbn=978-0-76231-026-5 |volume=22 |pages=159–202 |editor1-first=Solomon W. |editor1-last=Polachek|hdl=1721.1/63851 |chapter-url=http://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/DP0527.pdf |url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w7184.pdf }}</ref>

''[[The Economist]]'' wrote in December 2013: "A minimum wage, providing it is not set too high, could thus boost pay with no ill effects on jobs....America's federal minimum wage, at 38% of [[median income]], is one of the rich world's lowest. Some studies find no harm to employment from federal or state minimum wages, others see a small one, but none finds any serious damage. ... High minimum wages, however, particularly in rigid labour markets, do appear to hit employment. France has the rich world's highest wage floor, at more than 60% of the median for adults and a far bigger fraction of the typical wage for the young. This helps explain why France also has shockingly high rates of youth unemployment: 26% for 15- to 24-year-olds."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21591593-moderate-minimum-wages-do-more-good-harm-they-should-be-set-technocrats-not|title=The logical floor|newspaper=The Economist|date=14 December 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801064646/http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21591593-moderate-minimum-wages-do-more-good-harm-they-should-be-set-technocrats-not|archive-date=1 August 2017}}</ref>

A 2019 study in the ''Quarterly Journal of Economics'' found that minimum wage increases did not have an impact on the overall number of low-wage jobs in the five years subsequent to the wage increase. However, it did find disemployment in 'tradable' sectors, defined as those sectors most reliant on entry-level or low-skilled labor.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Zipperer|first1=Ben|last2=Lindner|first2=Attila|last3=Dube |first3=Arindrajit|last4=Cengiz |first4=Doruk|title=The Effect of Minimum Wages on Low-Wage Jobs |journal=The Quarterly Journal of Economics|volume=134|issue=3|pages=1405–1454|doi=10.1093/qje/qjz014 |year=2019|doi-access=free}}</ref>

A 2018 study published by the university of California agrees with the study in the ''Quarterly Journal of Economics'' and discusses how minimum wages actually cause fewer jobs for low-skilled workers. Within the article it discusses a trade-off for low- to high-skilled workers that when the minimum wage is increased GDP is more highly redistributed to high academia jobs.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Neumark |first=David |date=13 December 2018 |title=Employment effects of minimum wages |url=https://wol.iza.org/articles/employment-effects-of-minimum-wages/long |journal=IZA World of Labor |language=en-US |doi=10.15185/izawol.6|doi-access=free }}</ref>

In another study, which shared authors with the above, published in the ''American Economic Review'' found that a large and persistent increase in the minimum wage in Hungary produced some disemployment, with the large majority of additional cost being passed on to consumers. The authors also found that firms began substituting capital for labor over time.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Harasztosi|first1=Péter|last2=Lindner|first2=Attila|title=Who Pays the Minimum Wage?|url=https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20171445&&from=f|journal=American Economic Review|date=August 2019|volume=109|issue=8|pages=2693–2727|doi=10.1093/qje/qjz014|doi-access=free}}</ref>

A 2013 study published in the ''Science Direct'' journal agrees with the studies above as it describes that there is not a significant employment change due to increases in minimum wage. The study illustrates that there is not a-lot of national generalisability for minimum wage effects, studies done on one country often get generalised to others. Effect on employment can be low from minimum-wage policies, but these policies can also benefit welfare and poverty.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mărginean |first1=Silvia |last2=Chenic |first2=Alina Ştefania |date=1 January 2013 |title=Effects of Raising Minimum Wage: Theory, Evidence and Future Challenges |journal=Procedia Economics and Finance |series=International Economic Conference of Sibiu 2013 Post Crisis Economy: Challenges and Opportunities, IECS 2013 |language=en |volume=6 |pages=96–102 |doi=10.1016/S2212-5671(13)00119-6 |issn=2212-5671|doi-access=free }}</ref>

===David Card and Alan Krueger===
In 1992, the minimum wage in New Jersey increased from $4.25 to $5.05 per hour (an 18.8% increase), while in the adjacent state of Pennsylvania it remained at $4.25. [[David Card]] and [[Alan Krueger]] gathered information on fast food restaurants in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania in an attempt to see what effect this increase had on employment within New Jersey via a [[Difference in differences]] model. A basic supply and demand model predicts that relative employment should have decreased in New Jersey. Card and Krueger surveyed employers before the April 1992 New Jersey increase, and again in November–December 1992, asking managers for data on the full-time equivalent staff level of their restaurants both times.<ref name="Card & Krueger 1994">{{cite journal |first1=David |last1=Card |first2=Alan B. |last2=Krueger |title=Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania |journal=The American Economic Review |volume=84 |issue=4 |date=September 1994 |pages=772–93 |jstor=2118030|url=http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp017d278t020 }}</ref> Based on data from the employers' responses, the authors concluded that the increase in the minimum wage slightly increased employment in the New Jersey restaurants.<ref name="Card & Krueger 1994" />

Card and Krueger expanded on this initial article in their 1995 book ''Myth and Measurement: The New Economics of the Minimum Wage''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Card |first1=David E. |last2=Krueger |first2=Alan B. |title=Myth and measurement : the new economics of the minimum wage |date=2016 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, New Jersey |isbn=9780691169125 |edition=Twentieth-anniversary}}</ref> They argued that the negative employment effects of minimum wage laws are minimal if not non-existent. For example, they look at the 1992 increase in New Jersey's minimum wage, the 1988 rise in California's minimum wage, and the 1990–91 increases in the federal minimum wage. In addition to their own findings, they reanalyzed earlier studies with updated data, generally finding that the older results of a negative employment effect did not hold up in the larger datasets.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Card | last2 = Krueger | year = 2000 | title = Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania: Reply | journal = American Economic Review | volume = 90 | issue = 5| pages = 1397–420 | doi=10.1257/aer.90.5.1397| s2cid = 1140202 }}</ref> This had major implications on policy, challenging long-held economic views that increasing minimum wage led to [[deadweight loss]].

===Research after Card's and Krueger's work===
[[File:Minimum wage effects across state borders, estimates using contiguous counties.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|A 2010 study published in the ''[[Review of Economics and Statistics]]'' compared 288 pairs of contiguous U.S. counties with minimum wage differentials from 1990 to 2006 and found no adverse employment effects from a minimum wage increase. Contiguous counties with different minimum wages are in purple. All other counties are in white.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dube|first1=Arindrajit|last2=Lester|first2=T. William |last3=Reich|first3=Michael|title=Minimum Wage Effects Across State Borders: Estimates Using Contiguous Counties|journal=Review of Economics and Statistics|date=November 2010|volume=92|issue=4|pages=945–964 |doi=10.1162/REST_a_00039|url=http://escholarship.org/uc/item/86w5m90m|access-date=10 March 2014 |citeseerx=10.1.1.372.5805|s2cid=6147409}}</ref>]]
In 1996, [[David Neumark]] and William Wascher reexamined Card and Krueger's results using payroll records from large fast-food chains, reporting that minimum wage increases led to decreases in employment. Their initial findings did not contradict Card and Krueger, but a later version showed a four percent decrease in employment, with statistically significant disemployment effects in some cases.<ref name="AER">{{cite journal |first1=David |last1=Neumark |first2=William |last2=Wascher |title=Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania: Comment |journal=The American Economic Review |volume=90 |issue=5 |date=December 2000 |pages=1362–96 |jstor=2677855 |doi=10.1257/aer.90.5.1362}}</ref> Card and Krueger rebutted these conclusions in a 2000 paper.<ref>Card and Krueger (2000) "Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania: Reply" American Economic Review, Volume 90 No. 5. pg 1397–1420</ref>

A 2011 paper reconciled differences between datasets, showing positive employment effects for small restaurants but negative effects for large fast-food chains.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ropponen |first=Olli |title=Reconciling the evidence of Card and Krueger (1994) and Neumark and Wascher (2000) |journal=Journal of Applied Econometrics |year=2011|volume=26|issue=6|pages=1051–1057|doi=10.1002/jae.1258 |hdl=10138/26140 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> A 2014 analysis found that minimum wage reduces employment among teenagers.<ref>{{Cite journal |journal=ILR Review |volume=67 |issue=3_suppl |pages=608–648 |doi=10.1177/00197939140670S307|year=2014|last1=Neumark|first1=David|last2=Salas|first2=J. M. Ian |last3=Wascher |first3=William |title=Revisiting the Minimum Wage—Employment Debate: Throwing Out the Baby with the Bathwater? |hdl=10419/69384 |s2cid=7119756 |url=https://econpapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7166 |hdl-access=free}}</ref>

A 2010 study using Card and Krueger's methodology supported their original findings, showing no negative effects on low-wage employment.<ref name="Dube">{{cite journal |first1=Arindrajit |last1=Dube |first2=T. William |last2=Lester |first3=Michael |last3=Reich |title=Minimum Wage Effects Across State Borders: Estimates Using Contiguous Counties |url=http://www.irle.berkeley.edu/workingpapers/157-07.pdf |date=November 2010 |journal=The Review of Economics and Statistics |volume=92 |issue=4 |pages=945–64 |doi=10.1162/REST_a_00039 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130112214949/http://www.irle.berkeley.edu/workingpapers/157-07.pdf |archive-date=12 January 2013 |citeseerx=10.1.1.372.5805 |s2cid=6147409 |access-date=13 February 2013 }}</ref>

A 2011 study by Baskaya and Rubinstein found that federal minimum wage increases negatively impacted employment, particularly among teenagers.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://innovation-archives.berkeley.edu/businessinnovation/WilliamsonSeminar/rubinstein110311.pdf |title=Using Federal Minimum Wages to Identify the Impact of Minimum Wages on Employment and Earnings Across the U.S. States |date=1 October 2011 |access-date=20 February 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626081608/http://innovation-archives.berkeley.edu/businessinnovation/WilliamsonSeminar/rubinstein110311.pdf}}</ref> Other studies, including a 2012 study by Sabia, Hansen, and Burkhauser, found substantial adverse effects on low-skilled employment, particularly among young workers.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sabia |first1=Joseph J. |last2=Burkhauser |first2=Richard V. |last3=Hansen |first3=Benjamin |title=Are the Effects of Minimum Wage Increases Always Small? New Evidence from a Case Study of New York State |date=April 2012 |ssrn=2083088 |journal=Industrial and Labor Relations Review |volume=65 |issue=2 |pages=350–376 |doi=10.1177/001979391206500207|s2cid=154006386 }}</ref>

A 2019 paper in the Quarterly Journal of Economics argued that job losses in studies like those of Meer and West, who found that a minimum wage "signiﬁcantly reduces rates of job growth", are driven by unrealistic assumptions and that minimum wage effects are more complex.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Zipperer|first1=Ben|last2=Lindner|first2=Attila |last3=Dube |first3=Arindrajit|last4=Cengiz|first4=Doruk|date=1 August 2019|title=The Effect of Minimum Wages on Low-Wage Jobs|journal=The Quarterly Journal of Economics|volume=134|issue=3 |pages=1405–1454|doi=10.1093/qje/qjz014 |issn=0033-5533|doi-access=free}}</ref> Another 2013 study by Fang and Lin found significant adverse effects on employment in China, particularly among women, young adults, and low-skilled workers.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Minimum wages and employment in China|journal=IZA Journal of Labor Policy |date=27 November 2015|issn=2193-9004|page=22|volume=4|issue=1|doi=10.1186/s40173-015-0050-9 |first1=Tony|last1=Fang|first2=Carl|last2=Lin|s2cid=150535897|doi-access=free}}</ref>

A 2017 study in Seattle found that increasing the minimum wage to $13 per hour led to reduced income for low-wage workers due to decreased hours worked, as businesses adjusted to higher labor costs.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Ekaterina Jardim |author2=Mark C. Long |author3=Robert Plotnick |author4=Emma van Inwegen |author5=Jacob Vigdor |author6=Hilary Wething |date=June 2017 |title=Minimum Wage Increases, wages, and low-wage employment: Evidence from Seattle |journal=NBER Working Paper Series |id=Working Paper 23532 |publisher=National Bureau of Economic Research |url=https://evans.uw.edu/sites/default/files/NBER%20Working%20Paper.pdf |access-date=15 April 2019 |archive-date=20 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200620213444/https://evans.uw.edu/sites/default/files/NBER%20Working%20Paper.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> A 2019 study in Arizona suggested that smaller minimum wage increases might lead to slight economic growth without significantly distorting labor markets.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Overstreet |first=Dallin |title=The Effect of Minimum Wage on Per Capita Income in Arizona: Empirical Analysis |journal=Poverty & Public Policy |volume=11 |issue=1–2 |date=2019 |pages=156–168 |doi=10.1002/pop4.249|s2cid=201370630 }}</ref>

In 2019, economists from Georgia Tech found that minimum wage increases could harm small businesses by increasing bankruptcy rates and reducing hiring, with significant impacts on minority-owned businesses.<ref name="Financial Stress">{{Cite journal|last1=Chava |first1=Sudheer |last2=Oettl |first2=Alexander |last3=Singh |first3=Manpreet |date=December 2019 |title=Does a One-Size-Fits-All Minimum Wage Cause Financial Stress for Small Businesses? |url=https://www.nber.org/papers/w26523 |journal=NBER Working Paper Series |series=Working Paper Series |id=Working Paper 26523 |publisher=National Bureau of Economic Research |doi=10.3386/w26523 |s2cid=226896414|doi-access=free }}</ref>

The Congressional Budget Office's 2019 report on a proposed $15 federal minimum wage predicted modest improvements in take-home pay for those who retained employment but warned of potential job losses, reduced hours, and increased costs of goods and services.<ref name="2019 Congressional Budget Office">{{Cite report |date=July 2019 |title=The Effects on Employment and Family Income of Increasing the Federal Minimum Wage |website=Congressional Budget Office |url=https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2019-07/CBO-55410-MinimumWage2019.pdf}}</ref> Similarly, a 2019 study found that increasing the minimum wage could lead to increased crime among young adults.<ref name="Minimum Wage and Crime">{{Cite journal|last1=Fone |first1=Zachary |date=March 2019 |title=Do Minimum Wage Increases Reduce Crime? |url=https://www.nber.org/papers/w25647#fromrss |journal=National Bureau of Economic Research |series=Working Paper Series |location=Cambridge, MA |doi=10.3386/w25647|s2cid=159235513}}</ref>

Studies from Denmark and Spain further highlighted that significant minimum wage increases could lead to substantial job losses, particularly among young workers.<ref name="Denmark Discontinuity">{{Cite journal|last1=Kreiner |first1=Claus|title=Do Lower Minimum Wages for Young Workers Raise Their Employment? Evidence From a Danish Discontinuity |journal=The Review of Economics and Statistics|year=2020|volume=102|issue=2|pages=339–354|doi=10.1162/rest_a_00825|s2cid=67875494|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=El Banco de España calcula que la subida del salario mínimo en 2019 restó al menos 100.000 empleos|work=El Pais|url=https://elpais.com/economia/2021-06-08/el-banco-de-espana-calcula-que-la-subida-del-salario-minimo-en-2019-resto-al-menos-100000-empleos.html}}</ref> A 2021 study on Germany's minimum wage found that while wages increased without reducing employment, there were significant structural shifts in the economy, including reduced competition and increased commuting times for workers.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Dustmann|first1=Christian|last2=Lindner|first2=Attila|last3=Schönberg|first3=Uta|author3-link=Uta Schönberg|last4=Umkehrer|first4=Matthias|last5=vom Berge|first5=Philipp|date=2021|title=Reallocation Effects of the Minimum Wage|journal=The Quarterly Journal of Economics|volume=137|issue=1 |pages=267–328|doi=10.1093/qje/qjab028|issn=0033-5533|doi-access=free}}</ref>

A 2010 study on the UK minimum wage found that it did not cause immediate price increases but led to faster price rises in sectors with many low-wage workers over the long term.<ref name=":1" /> A 2012 UK study (1997-2007) found the minimum wage reduced wage inequality and had neutral to positive effects on employment.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Dolton |first1=Peter |last2=Bondibene |first2=Chiara Rosazza |last3=Wadsworth |first3=Jonathan |date=February 2012 |title=Employment, Inequality and the UK National Minimum Wage over the Medium-Term * |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-0084.2011.00653.x |journal=Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics |language=en |volume=74 |issue=1 |pages=78–106 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-0084.2011.00653.x |s2cid=22523803 |issn=0305-9049}}</ref> Another 2012 UK study found no "spill-over" effects from the minimum wage on higher-earning brackets.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stewart |first=Mark B. |date=2012 |title=Wage inequality, minimum wage effects, and spillovers |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41683136 |journal=Oxford Economic Papers |volume=64 |issue=4 |pages=616–634 |doi=10.1093/oep/gps003 |jstor=41683136 |issn=0030-7653}}</ref> A 2016 US study associated the minimum wage with reduced wage inequality and possible spill-over effects, though these might be due to measurement error.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Autor |first1=David |last2=Manning |last3=Smith |date=January 2016 |title=The Contribution of the Minimum Wage to US Wage Inequality over Three Decades: A Reassessment |url=https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/103999/Autor_The%20contribution.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |journal=The American Economic Review |volume=103 |issue=6 |pages=2121–2168 |doi=10.1257/aer.103.6.2121 |hdl=1721.1/95952 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240117132631/https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/103999/Autor_The%20contribution.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |archive-date=17 January 2024 |via=MIT Open Access Articles}}</ref>

===Meta-analyses===
*A 2013 meta-analysis of 16 UK studies found no significant employment effects from the minimum wage.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Megan de Linde Leonard |author2=T. D. Stanley |author3=Hristos Doucouliagos |date=September 2014 |title=Does the UK Minimum Wage Reduce Employment? A Meta-Regression Analysis |journal=British Journal of Industrial Relations |volume=52 |issue=3 |pages=499–520 |doi=10.1111/bjir.12031 |s2cid=35174753}}</ref>
*A 2007 meta-analysis by Neumark found a consistent, though not always significant, negative effect on employment.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=David Neumark |author2=William Wascher |date=2007 |title=Minimum Wages and Employment |url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w12663.pdf |journal=Foundations and Trends in Microeconomics |volume=3 |issue=1–2 |pages=1–182}}</ref>
*A 2019 meta-analysis of developed countries reported minimal employment effects and significant earnings increases for low-paid workers.<ref name=":2" />

In 1995, Card and Krueger noted evidence of publication bias in time-series studies on minimum wages, which favored studies showing negative employment effects.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=David |last1=Card |first2=Alan B. |last2=Krueger |date=May 1995 |title=Time-Series Minimum-Wage Studies: A Meta-analysis |journal=The American Economic Review |volume=85 |issue=2 |pages=238–43 |jstor=2117925}}</ref> A 2005 study by T.D. Stanley confirmed this bias and suggested no clear link between the minimum wage and unemployment.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1111/j.0950-0804.2005.00250.x |title=Beyond Publication Bias |year=2005 |last1=Stanley |first1=T. D. |journal=Journal of Economic Surveys |volume=19 |issue=3 |page=309|s2cid=153607754 }}</ref> A 2008 meta-analysis by Doucouliagos and Stanley supported Card and Krueger's findings, showing little to no negative association between minimum wages and employment after correcting for publication bias.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1111/j.1467-8543.2009.00723.x |title=Publication Selection Bias in Minimum-Wage Research? A Meta-Regression Analysis |year=2009 |last1=Doucouliagos |first1=Hristos |last2=Stanley |first2=T. D. |journal=British Journal of Industrial Relations |volume=47 |issue=2 |pages=406–28|s2cid=153464294 }}</ref>