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Minimum wage coverage and compliance in developing countries
Author(s) -
RANI Uma,
BELSER Patrick,
OELZ Martin,
RANJBAR Setareh
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
international labour review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.433
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1564-913X
pISSN - 0020-7780
DOI - 10.1111/j.1564-913x.2013.00197.x
Subject(s) - minimum wage , enforcement , compliance (psychology) , legislation , developing country , wage , informal sector , labour economics , developed country , economics , business , economic growth , political science , population , medicine , psychology , social psychology , environmental health , law
Abstract Using household and labour force survey data from 11 developing countries, the authors calculate rates of minimum wage compliance for formal/informal employees covered by current legislation and assess the average “depth” of violations. Though compliance is negatively related to the ratio of minimum to median wages, countries with a national minimum wage set at a meaningful level typically achieve higher compliance rates than countries with occupational or industry‐specific minimum wage systems. However, better compliance – especially for women, ethnic groups, and unskilled and informal workers – also depends on contextualized yet comprehensive minimum wage policies combining union/employer involvement, awareness‐raising and credible enforcement.