Higher Minimum Wages Reduce Capital Expenditures
利用美国各州最低工资是否受联邦标准约束的差异，发现最低工资上涨导致零售、餐饮和娱乐行业的上市公司削减资本支出，影响集中在法律生效后一到两年。
Using cross-state and intertemporal variation in whether a state’s minimum wage is bound by the federal minimum wage, we provide evidence that minimum wage increases lead U.S. public firms in minimum-wage-sensitive industries (i.e., retail, restaurant, and entertainment) to cut capital expenditures. These effects are concentrated one to two years after the law goes into effect. Prior to the minimum wage increase, investment trends are similar across minimum-wage-sensitive firms in bound versus unbound states, and we find little evidence that minimum wage changes affect U.S. public firm investment outside of these industries. This paper was accepted by Victoria Ivashina, finance. Supplemental Material: The internet appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4430 .