Wage Inequality in the United States During the 1980s: Rising Dispersion or Falling Minimum Wage?
利用1980年代美国联邦最低工资的地区差异，区分最低工资下降与潜在工资分散度上升对观察到的工资不平等的影响，发现最低工资下降能解释工资分布低端分散度的大部分上升，尤其对女性影响显著。
The magnitude of growth in “underlying” wage inequality in the United States during the 1980s is obscured by a concurrent decline in the federal minimum wage, which itself could cause an increase in observed wage inequality. This study uses regional variation in the relative level of the federal minimum wage to separately identify the impact of the minimum wage from nationwide growth in “latent” wage dispersion during the 1980s. The analysis suggests that the minimum wage can account for much of the rise in dispersion in the lower tail of the wage distribution, particularly for women.