Does increasing the minimum wage reduce poverty in developing countries?

Artikel

Do minimum wage policies reduce poverty in developing countries? It depends. Raising the minimum wage could increase or decrease poverty, depending on labor market characteristics. Minimum wages target formal sector workers—a minority of workers in most developing countries—many of whom do not live in poor households. Whether raising minimum wages reduces poverty depends not only on whether formal sector workers lose jobs as a result, but also on whether low-wage workers live in poor households, how widely minimum wages are enforced, how minimum wages affect informal workers, and whether social safety nets are in place.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Journal: IZA World of Labor ; ISSN: 2054-9571 ; Year: 2014 ; Bonn: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements ; Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials ; Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
• Subject: minimum wages ; developing countries ; poverty

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Gindling, T. H.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2014

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.15185/izawol.30
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/125259
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET