Minimum wages and earnings inequality in urban Mexico. Revisiting the evidence

Bosch, Mariano and Manacorda, Marco (2008) Minimum wages and earnings inequality in urban Mexico. Revisiting the evidence. CEPDP (880). London School of Economics and Political Science. Centre for Economic Performance, London, UK. ISBN 9780853282877

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Abstract

This paper explores the contribution of the minimum wage to the well documented rise in earnings inequality in Mexico between the late 1980 and the late 1990s. In contrast to the view that sees minimum wages as an ineffective redistributive tool in developing countries, we find that the deterioration in the real bite of the minimum wage is responsible for the entire rise in inequality at the bottom of the distribution. Our result challenges the widespread perception that trade induced shocks are the single most important factor behind the recent rise in earnings inequality in several less developed economies.

Item Type:	Monograph (Discussion Paper)
Official URL:	http://cep.lse.ac.uk
Additional Information:	© 2008 the authors
Divisions:	Centre for Economic Performance
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Date Deposited:	17 Jul 2008 09:27
Last Modified:	15 Sep 2023 23:11
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/19561

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