Auswirkungen des gesetzlichen Mindestlohns auf Betriebe und Unternehmen

Abstract

"This second project report contains the results of the research project “Effects of the Minimum Wage on Establishments and Businesses”. The research project was conducted by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) on behalf of the German Minimum Wage Commission. The report focuses on detailed empirical effect-analyses of the introduction and the first three increases of the statutory minimum wage on various establishment-level outcomes. The central analytical tool is the difference-in-differences approach, which is well established in minimum wage research. In this report, the approach is largely applied at the establishment level. The panel data of the IAB Establishment Panel is analyzed as the main data source. However, causal analyses based on the IAB Job Vacancy Survey, the Linked Personnel Panel and the Establishment History Panel are also performed. The analyses mainly demonstrate effects of the introduction of the minimum wage. Accordingly, the minimum wage led to statistically significant wage increases with very moderate negative employment effects. The increased labor costs due to the minimum wage led to declining profits in the affected establishments, while the wage satisfaction of the affected employees increased. In the short term, establishments reacted to the introduction of the minimum wage by reducing their investments. In the long term (2017-2018), there was a slight reduction in domestic outsourcing activities. The number of small establishments decreased in the year after the introduction of the minimum wage. At the same time, foundations and closures increased. In the short term, employers were less willing to make compromises when considering new hires. On the other hand, the analysis of the minimum wage increases in 2017, 2019 and 2020 does not reveal any additional effects of the minimum wage, which can be explained by the absence of minimum wage-induced wage increases that go beyond the general wage trend." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Bossler, M., Gürtzgen, N., Börschlein, E. & Wiemann, J. (2022): Auswirkungen des gesetzlichen Mindestlohns auf Betriebe und Unternehmen. (IAB-Forschungsbericht 09/2022), Nürnberg, 224 p., Anhang. DOI:10.48720/IAB.FB.2209