TY - JOUR A1 - Burauel, Patrick F. A1 - Caliendo, Marco A1 - Grabka, Markus M. A1 - Obst, Cosima A1 - Preuss, Malte A1 - Schröder, Carsten A1 - Shupe, Cortnie T1 - The impact of the German minimum wage on individual wages and monthly warnings JF - Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik = Journal of economics and statistics N2 - This paper evaluates the short-run impact of the introduction of a statutory minimum wage in Germany on the hourly wages and monthly earnings of workers targeted by the reform. We first provide detailed descriptive evidence of changes to the wage structure in particular at the bottom of the distribution and distinguish between trends for regularly employed and marginally employed workers. In the causal analysis, we then employ a differential trend adjusted difference-in-differences (DTADD) strategy to identify the extent to which these changes in wages and earnings can be attributed to the minimum wage introduction. We find that the minimum wage introduction can account for hourly wage growth in the order of roughly 6.5 % or (sic)0.45/hour and an increase in monthly earnings of 6.6 % or (sic)53/month. Despite finding wage growth at the bottom of the distribution, the paper documents widespread non-compliance with the mandated wage floor of (sic)8.50/hour. KW - minimum wage KW - wage and earnings structure KW - inequality Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1515/jbnst-2018-0077 SN - 0021-4027 SN - 2366-049X VL - 240 IS - 2-3 SP - 201 EP - 231 PB - De Gruyter CY - Berlin 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 -