The political economy of minimum wage setting: The Factories and Shops Act of Victoria (Australia), 1896–1913
研究了1896年维多利亚《工厂与商店法》中最低工资设定的政治经济因素，发现特别委员会在设定工资时受市场约束但有一定自由裁量权，且工资设定加剧了性别和年龄间的工资不平等。
Abstract The Victorian Factories and Shops Act of 1896, the second minimum wage law in the world, empowered administrative agencies (‘Special Boards’) to set trade‐specific minimum rates on the basis of age, sex, and occupation. Some Victorian supporters of minimum wages looked to end sweating and protect women and children, while others sought to use the law to protect adult men. Opponents argued that they would disrupt labour markets, increasing employers’ costs and creating unintended consequences for workers. Evidence from actual minimum wages suggests that boards were loosely constrained by market factors, but also that they had some discretion. Some Special Boards essentially followed the market for their trades while others set rates that were binding for some workers. To the extent that minimum rates were binding, they tended to reduce inequality among adult male workers, particularly after a 1907 federal law established a living wage covering employers with operations in multiple states. However, they also increased inequality across groups, increasing wages of adult men relative to those of women and youths. The act formally institutionalized gender‐based pay differences, a practice that continued in Australian minimum wage setting for more than 70 years.