Minimum wages and firm training

Arbeitspapier

The paper analyzes the influence of minimum wages on firms' incentive to train their employees. We show that this influence rests on two countervailing effects: minimum wages (i) augment wage compression and thereby raise firms' incentives to train and (ii) reduce the profitability of employees, raise the firing rate and thereby reduce training. Our analysis shows that the relative strength of these two effects depends on the employees' ability levels. Our striking result is that minimum wages give rise to skills inequality: a rise in the minimum wage leads to less training for low-ability workers and more training for those of higher ability. In short, minimum wages create a "low-skill trap."

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Kiel Working Paper ; No. 1298

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials ; Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
• Subject: Firm Training ; Skills Inequality ; Minimum Wage ; Mindestlohn ; Betriebliche Bildungsarbeit ; Bildungsinvestition ; Qualifikation ; Ungelernte Arbeitskräfte ; Theorie ; Deutschland

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Lechthaler, Wolfgang ; Snower, Dennis J.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW)
• (where): Kiel
• (when): 2006

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/3884
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET