Minimum Wages, Labor Market Institutions, and Youth Employment: A Cross-National Analysis
利用17个OECD国家1975-2000年的数据，研究发现最低工资总体上导致青年就业减少，但影响因国家而异：青年低工资条款可缓解就业损失，而严格的劳动标准和工会覆盖率会加剧损失，就业保护法和积极劳动力市场政策则能抵消部分影响。
We estimate the employment effects of changes in national minimum wages using a pooled crosssection time-series data set comprising 17 OECD countries for the period 1975-2000, focusing on the impact of cross-country differences in minimum wage systems and in other labor market institutions and policies that may either offset or amplify the effects of minimum wages.The average minimum wage effects we estimate using this sample are consistent with the view that minimum wages cause employment losses among youths.However, the evidence also suggests that the employment effects of minimum wages vary considerably across countries.In particular, disemployment effects of minimum wages appear to be smaller in countries that have subminimum wage provisions for youths.Regarding other labor market policies and institutions, we find that more restrictive labor standards and higher union coverage strengthen the disemployment effects of minimum wages, while employment protection laws and active labor market policies designed to bring unemployed individuals into the work force help to offset these effects.Overall, the disemployment effects of minimum wages are strongest in the countries with the least regulated labor markets.