TY - JOUR A1 - Caliendo, Marco A1 - Fedorets, Alexandra A1 - Preuss, Malte A1 - Schröder, Carsten A1 - Wittbrodt, Linda T1 - The short-run employment effects of the German minimum wage reform JF - Labour economics : an international journal N2 - We assess the short-term employment effects of the introduction of a national statutory minimum wage in Germany in 2015. For this purpose, we exploit variation in the regional treatment intensity, assuming that the stronger a minimum wage ‘bites’ into the regional wage distribution, the stronger the regional labour market will be affected. In contrast to previous studies, we construct two regional bite indicators based upon detailed individual wage data from the Structure of Earnings Survey (SES) 2014 and combine it with administrative information on regional employment. Moreover, using the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), we are able to affirm the absence of anticipation effects and verify the assumption of a common trend in wages before the reform. In sum, we find only moderate negative effects on overall employment of about 140,000 (0.4%) jobs, which are mainly driven by a sharp decline of marginal employment (‘mini-jobs’), while we do not find pronounced significant effects for regular employment in most specifications. Our results are robust to a variety of sensitivity tests. KW - Minimum wage KW - Regional bite KW - Employment effects Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2018.07.002 SN - 0927-5371 SN - 1879-1034 VL - 53 SP - 46 EP - 62 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Caliendo, Marco A1 - Schröder, Carsten A1 - Wittbrodt, Linda T1 - The Causal Effects of the Minimum Wage Introduction in Germany BT - An Overview T2 - CEPA Discussion Papers N2 - In 2015, Germany introduced a statutory hourly minimum wage that was not only universally binding but also set at a relatively high level. We discuss the short-run effects of this new minimum wage on a wide set of socio-economic outcomes, such as employment and working hours, earnings and wage inequality, dependent and self-employment, as well as reservation wages and satisfaction. We also discuss difficulties in the implementation of the minimum wage and the measurement of its effects related to non-compliance and suitability of data sources. Two years after the minimum wage introduction, the following conclusions can be drawn: while hourly wages increased for low-wage earners, some small negative employment effects are also identifiable. The effects on aspired goals, such as poverty and inequality reduction, have not materialized in the short run. Instead, a tendency to reduce working hours is found, which alleviates the desired positive impact on monthly income. Additionally, the level of non-compliance was substantial in the short run, thus drawing attention to problems when implementing such a wide-reaching policy. T3 - CEPA Discussion Papers - 1 KW - Minimum Wage KW - Evaluation KW - Earnings KW - Working Hours KW - Employment Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-426929 SN - 2628-653X IS - 1 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Caliendo, Marco A1 - Wittbrodt, Linda T1 - Did the Minimum Wage Reduce the Gender Wage Gap in Germany? T2 - CEPA Discussion Papers N2 - In many countries, women are over-represented among low-wage employees, which is why a wage floor could benefit them particularly. Following this notion, we analyse the impact of the German minimum wage introduction in 2015 on the gender wage gap. Germany poses an interesting case study in this context, since it has a rather high gender wage gap and set the minimum wage at a relatively high level, affecting more than four million employees. Based on individual data from the Structure of Earnings Survey, containing information for over one million employees working in 60,000 firms, we use a difference-in- difference framework that exploits regional differences in the bite of the minimum wage. We find a significant negative effect of the minimum wage on the regional gender wage gap. Between 2014 and 2018, the gap at the 10th percentile of the wage distribution was reduced by 4.6 percentage points (or 32%) in regions that were strongly affected by the minimum wage compared to less affected regions. For the gap at the 25th percentile, the effect still amounted to -18%, while for the mean it was smaller (-11%) and not particularly robust. We thus find that the minimum wage can indeed reduce gender wage disparities. While the effect is highest for the low-paid, it also reaches up into higher parts of the wage distribution. T3 - CEPA Discussion Papers - 40 KW - Minimum Wage KW - Gender Wage Gap KW - Regional Bite Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-530464 SN - 2628-653X IS - 40 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Caliendo, Marco A1 - Fedorets, Alexandra A1 - Preuss, Malte A1 - Schröder, Carsten A1 - Wittbrodt, Linda T1 - The short- and medium-term distributional effects of the German minimum wage reform JF - Empirical economics N2 - This study quantifies the distributional effects of the minimum wage introduced in Germany in 2015. Using detailed Socio-Economic Panel survey data, we assess changes in the hourly wages, working hours, and monthly wages of employees who were entitled to be paid the minimum wage. We employ a difference-in-differences analysis, exploiting regional variation in the “bite” of the minimum wage. At the bottom of the hourly wage distribution, we document wage growth of 9% in the short term and 21% in the medium term. At the same time, we find a reduction in working hours, such that the increase in hourly wages does not lead to a subortionate increase in monthly wages. We conclude that working hours adjustments play an important role in the distributional effects of minimum wages. KW - minimum wage KW - wage distribution KW - hourly wages KW - inequality Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00181-022-02288-4 SN - 0377-7332 SN - 1435-8921 VL - 64 SP - 1149 EP - 1175 PB - Springer CY - Berlin ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Caliendo, Marco A1 - Wittbrodt, Linda T1 - Did the minimum wage reduce the gender wage gap in Germany? JF - Labour economics N2 - In many countries, women are over-represented among low-wage employees, which is why a wage floor could benefit them particularly. Following this notion, we analyse the impact of the German minimum wage introduction in 2015 on the gender wage gap. Germany poses an interesting case study in this context, since it has a rather high gender wage gap and set the minimum wage at a relatively high level, affecting more than four million employees. Based on individual data from the Structure of Earnings Survey, containing information for over one million employees working in 60,000 firms, we use a difference-in-difference framework that exploits regional differences in the bite of the minimum wage. We find a significant negative effect of the minimum wage on the regional gender wage gap. Between 2014 and 2018, the gap at the 10th percentile of the wage distribution was reduced by 4.6 percentage points (or 32%) in regions that were strongly affected by the minimum wage compared to less affected regions. For the gap at the 25th percentile, the effect still amounted to 18%, while for the mean it was smaller (11%) and not particularly robust. We thus find that the minimum wage can indeed reduce gender wage disparities. While the effect is highest for the low-paid, it also reaches up into higher parts of the wage distribution. KW - minimum wage KW - gender wage gap KW - regional bite Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2022.102228 SN - 09275371 VL - 78 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - THES A1 - Wittbrodt, Linda T1 - Minimum wage effects in Germany and Europe – four essays N2 - Am 1. Januar 2015 wurde in Deutschland ein allgemeiner gesetzlicher Mindestlohn in Höhe von 8,50 € brutto pro Stunde eingeführt. Diese Dissertation widmet sich den Auswirkungen der Mindestlohneinführung in Deutschland sowie Lohnuntergrenzen im Europäischen Kontext und trägt damit zur nationalen und internationalen Forschung bei. Das zweite Kapitel dieser Arbeit fasst die in bisherigen Studien herausgearbeiteten kurzfristigen Effekte der Mindestlohnreform in einem Überblick zusammen. Es zeigt sich, dass die Mindestlohneinführung einen deutlich positiven Effekt auf die Löhne am unteren Ende der Verteilung hatte. Allerdings wies kurz nach der Reform noch ein nicht unerheblicher Anteil der Beschäftigungsverhältnisse Löhne unter 8,50 € auf. Weiterhin deutet die Evidenz auf geringe negative Beschäftigungseffekte hin, welche durch eine Reduktion von Minijobs getrieben ist. Entgegen der Erwartungen konnten jedoch in der kurzen Frist keine Effekte auf Armut und allgemeine Ungleichheit gefunden werden. Dies hängt insbesondere mit der Tatsache zusammen, dass Arbeitsstunden reduziert wurden und sich die Stundenlohnerhöhung daher nicht auf die Monatslöhne niederschlug. Das dritte Kapitel geht der Frage nach, ob die im Vorfeld prognostizierten Arbeitsplatzverluste im Zuge der Reform kurzfristig eingetreten sind und welche Art der Beschäftigung davon gegebenenfalls stärker betroffen war. Zur empirischen Identifikation der Effekte wird in diesem (sowie im vierten Kapitel) ein regionaler Differenzen-von-Differenzen-Ansatz verwendet, mit dem die Auswirkungen auf reguläre Beschäftigung (Teil- und Vollzeit) sowie Minijobs geschätzt werden. Unsere Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass der Mindestlohn die Gesamtbeschäftigung leicht reduziert hat, was im Wesentlichen auf einen Rückgang von Minijobs zurückzuführen ist. Das vierte Kapitel schließt methodisch an das vorige an. Seine Motivation ergibt sich aus der Beobachtung, dass Frauen unter den Niedriglohnempfänger:innen häufig überrepräsentiert sind. Die primäre Forschungsfrage in diesem Kapitel ist daher, ob der Mindestlohn zu einer Verringerung der geschlechterspezifischen Lohnlücke geführt hat. Dazu identifizieren wir die Effekte auf die Lohnlücke am 10. und 25. Perzentil sowie beim Mittelwert der zugrundeliegenden geschlechtsspezifischen Lohnverteilungen. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen, dass – verglichen mit Regionen mit niedriger Eingriffstiefe – die geschlechtsspezifische Lohnlücke am 10. Perzentil für mindestlohnberechtigte Beschäftigte in Regionen mit hoher Eingriffstiefe um 4,6 Prozentpunkte gesunken ist. Wir schätzen, dass dies eine Reduktion um 32\% im Vergleich zu 2014 bedeutet. Am 25. Perzentil und am Mittelwert sind die Auswirkungen geringer und nicht gleichermaßen robust. Das fünfte Kapitel behält den geschlechterspezifischen Fokus auf die Mindestlohneffekte bei. Im Vergleich zum Rest der Dissertation weitet es jedoch den Blick auf andere Länder der Europäischen Union. Gemäß der für das vorangegangene Kapitel dargelegten Überlegungen, könnten Frauen potenziell besonders von einem Mindestlohn profitieren. Dies könnte jedoch auch bedeuten, dass sie dadurch auch öfter von Arbeitsplatzverlusten oder Arbeitszeitverkürzungen betroffen sind. Dieses Kapitel resümiert daher einerseits vorhandene Evidenz aus EU-Staaten, die sich auf den Zusammenhang zwischen Lohnuntergrenzen und der geschlechtsspezifischen Lohnlücke bezieht. Darüber hinaus enthält es eine systematische Zusammenfassung von Studien, die den Einfluss von Mindestlöhnen auf Beschäftigungsverluste oder Arbeitszeitveränderungen untersuchen, von denen insbesondere Frauen betroffen sind. Es zeigen sich Hinweise, dass höhere Lohnuntergrenzen mit einer geringeren geschlechtsspezifischen Lohnlücke verbunden sind. Hinsichtlich der Beschäftigung scheinen Frauen nicht per se größere Beschäftigungsverluste zu erleiden als Männer. Allerdings zeigen Studien, dass sich der Mindestlohn hier besonders auf Teilzeitbeschäftigte auswirkt. Es ist daher nicht auszuschließen, dass der negative Zusammenhang zwischen dem Mindestlohn und dem geschlechtsspezifischen Lohngefälle mit den Arbeitsplatzverlusten dieser schlechter bezahlten, oft weiblichen Teilzeitbeschäftigten zusammenhängt. Diese spezifische Form der Arbeit sollte daher im Zusammenhang mit dem Mindestlohn besondere Beachtung finden. N2 - On January 1, 2015, Germany introduced a general statutory minimum wage of €8.50 gross per hour. This thesis analyses the effects of the minimum wage introduction in Germany as well as wage floors in the European context, contributing to national and international research. The second chapter of this dissertation summarizes the short-run effects of the minimum wage reform found in previous studies. We show that the introduction of the minimum wage had a positive effect on wages at the bottom of the distribution. Yet, there was still a significant amount of non-compliance shortly after the reform. Additionally, previous evidence points to small negative employment effects mainly driven by a reduction in mini-jobs. Contrary to expectations, though, there were no effects on poverty and general inequality found in the short run. This is mostly due to the fact that working hours were reduced and the increase of hourly wages was therefore not reflected in monthly wages. The third chapter identifies whether the job losses predicted in ex-ante studies materialized in the short run and, if so, which type of employment was affected the most. To identify the effects, this chapter (as well as chapter four) uses a regional difference-in-difference approach to estimate the effects on regular employment (part- and full-time) and mini-jobs. Our results suggest that the minimum wage has slightly reduced overall employment, mainly due to a decline in mini-jobs. The fourth chapter has the same methodological approach as the previous one. Its motivated by the fact that women are often overrepresented among low-wage employees. Thus, the primary research question in this chapter is whether the minimum wage has led to a narrowing of the gender wage gap. In order to answer that, we identify the effects on the wage gap at the 10th and 25th percentiles and at the mean of the underlying gender-specific wage distributions. Our results imply that for eligible employees the gender wage gap at the 10th percentile decreased by 4.6 percentage points between 2014 and 2018 in high-bite regions compared to low-bite regions. We estimate this to be a reduction of 32% compared to 2014. Higher up the distribution – i.e. at the 25th percentile and the mean – the effects are smaller and not as robust. The fifth chapter keeps the gender-specific emphasis on minimum wage effects. However, in contrast to the rest of the dissertation, it widens the scope to other European Union countries. Following the rationale of the previous chapter, women could potentially benefit particularly from a minimum wage. However, they could also be more prone to suffer from the possibly induced job losses or reductions in working hours. Therefore, this chapter summarizes existing evidence from EU member states dealing with the relationship between wage floors and the gender wage gap. In addition, it provides a systematic summary of studies that examine the impact of minimum wages on employment losses or changes in working hours that particularly affect women. The evidence shows that higher wage floors are often associated with smaller gender wage gaps. With respect to employment, women do not appear to experience greater employment losses than men per se. However, studies show that the minimum wage has a particular impact on part-time workers. Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that the negative correlation between the minimum wage and the gender wage gap is related to the job losses of these lower-paid, often female, part-time workers. This working arrangement should therefore be specially focused on in the context of minimum wages. KW - minimum wage KW - employment effects KW - gender wage gap KW - Beschäftigungseffekte KW - Mindestlohn KW - geschlechtsspezifische Lohnlücke Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-556977 ER -