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The rhetoric and reality: employer responses to the national minimum wage
Author(s) -
Crossman Alfred
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
economic affairs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.24
H-Index - 18
eISSN - 1468-0270
pISSN - 0265-0665
DOI - 10.1111/1468-0270.00327
Subject(s) - minimum wage , speculation , rhetoric , value (mathematics) , politics , economics , wage , labour economics , political rhetoric , political science , law , macroeconomics , linguistics , philosophy , machine learning , computer science
The national minimum wage (NMW) was introduced to Britain in April 1999 amid much speculation. This paper considers the political reasons for introducing the NMW and the economic effects of doing so. It also addresses the issue of the additional costs created by the NMW and the strategies adopted by employers to defray them. The paper provides evidence from the hotel sector that suggests some wage gains but no significant disemployment effects. The value of conventional labour market models as predictive tools is questioned.