The Unemployment Effects of Minimum Wage Legislation

Authors

Dave Hansen, Brigham Young University
Dr. Bret Mackay, Brigham Young University
Dr. Norm Thurston, Brigham Young University

Keywords

unemployment effects, minimum wage legislation, unskilled labor

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Economics

Abstract

The unambiguous prediction of the competitive labor market model is that a minimum wage serves as a price floor, decreasing the quantity of unskilled labor demanded by firms. In a landmark survey paper, Brown, Gilroy, and Kohen survey 30 years of minimum wage studies and recommend the widely cited generalization that a 10% increase in the minimum wage is estimated to result in a 1% to 3% reduction in total teenage employment.1

Recommended Citation

Hansen, Dave; Mackay, Dr. Bret; and Thurston, Dr. Norm (2014) "The Unemployment Effects of Minimum Wage Legislation," Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2014: Iss. 1, Article 182.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2014/iss1/182