Keynote Speech | Attila Lindner “Minimum Wages in the 21st Century”
About this Session
Time
Thu. 16.04. 13:30
Room
Plenary Hall
Speaker
Minimum wage policies have evolved from a narrowly contested intervention into one of the most widely used tools for shaping low-wage labor markets worldwide. Over the past three decades, both the policy debate and the underlying economic evidence have shifted dramatically. Once viewed with deep skepticism by economists, minimum wages are now central to discussions of inequality, labor market fairness, and inclusive growth, and are actively promoted by governments and international institutions across diverse economic contexts.
This keynote synthesizes key insights from the modern minimum wage literature, with a focus on what we have learned since the turn of the 21st century and what remains unresolved. A substantial body of empirical evidence now suggests that, at moderate levels and in many settings, minimum wages have raised earnings for low-wage workers with limited direct effects on aggregate employment. While the evidence is not uniform, this finding represents a major departure from earlier views and has reshaped how economists think about low-wage labor markets and policy design.
At the same time, the research frontier has moved well beyond the narrow question of whether minimum wages reduce employment. New evidence highlights the importance of adjustment margins such as prices, productivity, firm entry and exit, amenities, and worker composition. These findings point to a richer set of mechanisms through which minimum wages operate and underscore the limitations of overly simple competitive models. The keynote will discuss how these insights are reshaping theoretical frameworks and improving our understanding of labor market imperfections.
Looking forward, the central policy challenge is no longer whether minimum wages should exist, but how they should be designed. This requires a deeper understanding of heterogeneity—across workers, firms, regions, and policy levels—as well as clearer identification of thresholds beyond which employment effects may become more pronounced. It also demands greater attention to how minimum wages interact with taxes, transfers, and other labor market institutions.
By taking stock of recent evidence and outlining key directions for future research, this keynote aims to inform a more nuanced and policy-relevant discussion of minimum wages—one that balances equity, efficiency, and institutional context in an era of rapid global policy adoption.
This keynote synthesizes key insights from the modern minimum wage literature, with a focus on what we have learned since the turn of the 21st century and what remains unresolved. A substantial body of empirical evidence now suggests that, at moderate levels and in many settings, minimum wages have raised earnings for low-wage workers with limited direct effects on aggregate employment. While the evidence is not uniform, this finding represents a major departure from earlier views and has reshaped how economists think about low-wage labor markets and policy design.
At the same time, the research frontier has moved well beyond the narrow question of whether minimum wages reduce employment. New evidence highlights the importance of adjustment margins such as prices, productivity, firm entry and exit, amenities, and worker composition. These findings point to a richer set of mechanisms through which minimum wages operate and underscore the limitations of overly simple competitive models. The keynote will discuss how these insights are reshaping theoretical frameworks and improving our understanding of labor market imperfections.
Looking forward, the central policy challenge is no longer whether minimum wages should exist, but how they should be designed. This requires a deeper understanding of heterogeneity—across workers, firms, regions, and policy levels—as well as clearer identification of thresholds beyond which employment effects may become more pronounced. It also demands greater attention to how minimum wages interact with taxes, transfers, and other labor market institutions.
By taking stock of recent evidence and outlining key directions for future research, this keynote aims to inform a more nuanced and policy-relevant discussion of minimum wages—one that balances equity, efficiency, and institutional context in an era of rapid global policy adoption.