The Minimum Wage
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Description
Published as Chapter 24 in The Oxford Handbook of the Law of Work, Guy Davidov, Gillian Lester & Brian Langille, eds. (Oxford University Press 2024).
The minimum wage remains a popular but controversial policy instrument. This chapter addresses two issues in the minimum wage debate. The first is about the value of the minimum wage. What should the minimum wage be for: does it enhance the efficiency of the labour market, redistribute income (at some cost to efficiency), or protect other social goods such as respect and dignity at work? This first issue also asks how efficacious the minimum wage is at achieving income redistribution, especially in light of alternatives such as income tax. The second issue examines the minimum wage in the larger environment for regulating employment standards. Strong unions, which set minimum wage standards through collective bargaining rather than legislation, fear that statutory minimum wages undermine union power. This attitude questions the wisdom of legislated minimum wages, which may have the unintended effect of making it harder for weak unions to rebuild themselves.
Publication Date
11-15-2024
Publisher
Oxford University Press
ISBN
9780192870360
First Page
337
Last Page
348
Disciplines
Labor and Employment Law | Law
Recommended Citation
Matthew Dimick, The Minimum Wage in The Oxford Handbook of the Law of Work (Guy Davidov, Gillian Lester & Brian Langille, eds., Oxford University Press 2024).
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