Data and Code for: Minimum Wage Increases and Low-Wage Employment: Evidence from Seattle

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Ekaterina Jardim, Amazon; Mark Long, University of Washington; Robert Plotnick, University of Washington; Emma van Inwegen, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Jacob Vigdor, University of Washington; Hilary Wething, Pennsylvania State University

Version: View help for Version V1

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
AEJEP_2018_0578			03/02/2021 12:40:PM
revisions_0921			09/10/2021 02:55:PM
README_SMWS_0721.pdf	application/pdf	118.4 KB	07/20/2021 09:37:AM
table_revisions.xlsx	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet	18.6 KB	03/02/2021 07:37:AM

Project Citation:

Jardim, Ekaterina, Long, Mark, Plotnick, Robert, van Inwegen, Emma, Vigdor, Jacob, and Wething, Hilary. Data and Code for: Minimum Wage Increases and Low-Wage Employment: Evidence from Seattle. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2022. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2022-04-22. https://doi.org/10.3886/E133921V1

Project Description

Summary: This repository contains code and the publicly disclosed data to accompany the article, "Minimum Wage Increases and Low-Wage Employment: Evidence from Seattle."
Seattle raised its minimum wage to as much as $11 in 2015 and as much to $13 in 2016. We use Washington State administrative data to conduct two complementary analyses of its impact. Relative to outlying regions of the state identified by the synthetic control method, aggregate employment at wages less than twice the original minimum, measured by total hours worked, declined. A portion of this reduction reflects jobs transitioning to wages above the threshold; the aggregate analysis likely overstates employment effects. Longitudinal analysis of individual Seattle workers matched to counterparts in outlying regions reveals no change in the probability of continued employment, but significant reductions in hours particularly for less-experienced workers. Job turnover declined, as did hiring of new workers into low-wage jobs. Analyses suggest aggregate employment elasticities in the range of -0.2 to -2.0, concentrated on the intensive margin in the short run and largest among inexperienced workers.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms: price floor; employment; earnings; synthetic control; aggregate

JEL Classification:
J20 Demand and Supply of Labor: General
J38 Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs: Public Policy

Geographic Coverage: Washington State

Time Period(s): 2005 – 2016 (Quarterly data ranging from 2005Q1 to 2016Q3)

Data Type(s): administrative records data; program source code

Methodology

Data Source: Administrative Records, Washington State Employment Security Department

Geographic Unit: Public Use MIcrodata Area (PUMA)

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Published Versions

V1 [2022-04-22]

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