Minimum Wage, “Lighthouse Effect” and Poverty

ABSTRACT This paper evaluates the effectiveness of the minimum wage policy in various segments of Brazilian labor markets. Our basic technique is to quantify corner solutions imposed by the minimum wage. These points are later used as a focalization mechanism in the simulation of upper bounds of the effects of the minimum wage on poverty measures. We highlight the importance of two unusual effects of the minimum wage, i) The high percentage of informal employees receiving exactly one minimum wage, this enhances the effects of the minimum on poverty, and ii) The use of the minimum wage as a numeraire in wage determination, in particular within the formal sector.

摘要 本研究评估了巴西劳动力市场各细分领域最低工资政策的实施效果。本研究的核心方法为量化最低工资政策所催生的角点解，后续将这些角点解作为聚焦机制，用于模拟最低工资政策对贫困测度指标影响的上限边界。本研究重点阐释了最低工资政策两种罕见效应的重要性：其一，恰好领取单倍最低工资的非正规就业人员占比颇高，这会放大最低工资政策对贫困状况的影响；其二，最低工资被用作工资决定的计价基准，尤其在正规就业部门中。