Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-85) and index.

Overview -- Introduction -- Report findings -- Issues for policy discussion -- Note -- Context and framework -- The historical and social justice perspective--birth and evolution of the minimum wage -- Theoretical underpinnings--the classical economic view -- Two-sector economies--models with a "covered" and "uncovered" sector -- Empirical evidence from the OECD countries -- The Latin American research -- Notes -- Minimum wage institutions in LAC: what are they and who earns them? -- What is a minimum wage? -- There is no common "minimum wage system" for LAC -- Who earns the minimum wage? -- How high is the minimum wage in LAC? -- Notes -- The worker: how do minimum wages affect other wages and employment? -- Minimum wages are somewhat binding -- Minimum wage policies increase wages throughout the wage distribution -- The level of the minimum wage determines whether it increases or decreases wage inequality -- Wage benefits are not concentrated on any particular group of workers -- Minimum wages increase unemployment -- Subnational minimum wages are standard practice -- Notes -- The households: the minimum wage as an antipoverty tool -- The value of the minimum wage is below the household subsistence level -- The minimum wage decreases poverty rates, but does not help the most poor -- High minimum wages increase household income inequality -- Notes -- The state: the minimum wage implications for public expenditures -- The minimum wage may have large impacts on the public sector wage bill -- An increase in the minimum wage can have substantial impacts on the cost of social benefits -- Notes -- The international community: lessons from their experiences -- Setting and managing minimum wages -- Enforcement -- Note -- Report conclusions and policy considerations -- Report conclusions -- Considerations for policy debates -- Note -- References -- Appendix I: Research methodologies -- Notes -- Appendix II: Summary of literature-- Appendix III: Source of data for cross-country comparisons -- Appendix IV: Kernel density plots -- Index.

Electronic reproduction. [Washington, D.C.] : World Bank Group, [2007]. (World Bank e-Library)

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