Raising the Minimum Wage Weeds Out Poor Working Conditions: An IMF Study Looking at China （含中文版）

Photo: Adjusting the minimum wage upward. Credit: Fufang Network.

（本文中文版在下面）

A friend of mine (and IMF economist) shared a 2014 IMF study with me on the effects of raising the minimum wage in developing countries, using China as a case study. The study, called "Does Raising the Minimum Wage Hurt Employment? Evidence from China", delivers the following upshots: (1) "a 10% increase in the minimum wage lowers employment by 1%" and (2) "in low-wage firms, raising the minimum wage lowers employment but raises wages more than in high-wage firms."

My take on this data: the employment lost from a higher minimum wage probably includes contracted temp workers or short-term workers, which are not really steady employment and usually include a number of other harmful labor practices, such as a lack of labor contracts or mandated social benefits, underage or child labor, unpaid work and overtime wages, etc. In short, assuming effective enforcement, raising the minimum wage weeds out some exploitative conditions and leaves more stable, fair employment in its place.

提高最低工资会减少恶劣工作条件：国际货币基金组织的研究

我的朋友（也是国际货币基金组织的经济学家）跟我共享了一个国际货币基金组织的研究，是论提高最低工资标准的影响，以中国为例。该研究文章叫做“提高最低工资会损害就业吗？中国的情况”，核心结论有两个：（1）“最低工资提高10%会导致就业下降1%”；（2）“在低工资企业，最低工资提高导致的就业下降幅度和工资增加幅度都大于高工资企业。”

我对研究的信息如下：更高的最低工资所导致失业情况可能包括外包临时工或短期工，二者均不属于稳定就业，也通常涉及若干恶劣用工行为，例如缺少劳动合同或法定社会福利、使用未成年工或童工、无偿工作或不支付加班费等等。简言之，在有效执法的情况下，提高最低工资标准会减少剥削就业，并留下更稳定地更公平的就业。