Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01nz805z704
 Title: The Effects of Minimum Wage Legislation: A Case Study of California, 1987-89 Authors: Card, David Keywords: minimum wage workersstate legislation Issue Date: 1-Dec-1990 Citation: Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 46, October, 1992 Series/Report no.: Working Papers (Princeton University. Industrial Relations Section) ; 278 Abstract: In July 1988 California's minimum wage rose from $3.35 to$4.25. During the previous year, ll percent of California workers and fully one-half of its teenage workers earned less than the new state minimum. The state-specific nature of the California increase provides a valuable opportunity to study the effects of minimum wage legislation. As in a conventional non-experimental program evaluation, labor market trends in other states can be used to infer what would have happened in California in the absence of the law. Drawing on published labor market statistics and microdata samples from the Current Population Survey, I apply this strategy to estimate the effects of the rise in the minimum wage on various groups and industries in the state. Special attention is paid to teenage workers and employees in retail trade. The results are striking. The increase in the minimum raised wages of teenagers and other low wage workers by 5-10 percent. Contrary to conventional predictions, however, the employment rate of teenage workers rose, while their school enrollment rate fell. Overall employment in retail trade was similarly unaffected. URI: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01nz805z704 Related resource: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0019-7939%28199210%2946%3A1%3C38%3ADMWREA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-% Appears in Collections: IRS Working Papers