PB 13/29 - Minimum Wage Enforcement in the Developing World

Author: 
Haroon Bhorat and Benjamin Stanwix

Date of Publication: 
May 2013

Abstract: 
Drawing on evidence from developing country studies, this paper considers several key issues. We discuss the impact of minimum wages in the developing world based on a selection of recent studies and highlight non-compliance with minimum wage laws as an important research and policy issue. We then briefly review the existing empirical evidence on non-compliance, which reveals relatively high levels of violation in the cases for which data is available.  Reflecting on this evidence we have suggested a new Index of Violation to measure absolute and relative levels of minimum wage violation.

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