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The national minimum wage in recession: evidence from UK Lei XU June 2016 Abstract The topic of my second chapter is to study age-dependent minimum wage. The National Minimum Wage (NMW) was first introduced in 1999 for two groups, those aged above 22 and 18-21 years old. The age-dependent minimum wage is used to regulate the flow of young workers into the labor market. In this paper I examine the effect of increase in minimum wage on employment opportunities by applying Sharp Regression Discontinuity (SRD). I argue that the effect of minimum wage increase on labor supply may be affected by local unemployment rate, leading to a crowding out effect coming from people with higher level of education. My initial results show that an increase in minimum wage results in higher employment opportunity for higher skilled workers and examines the existence of crowding out effect. Moreover, individuals with higher level of education tend to transfer from a temporary job into a more formal job easily after turning into higher minimum wage level. The evidence suggests that the labor market in which the minimum wage prevails is very competitive in a recessionary economy. JEL Classification: J22 Keywords: minimum wage, labor supply, regression discontinuity Lei Xu Economic Studies, University of Dundee E-mail: [email protected]

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Page 1: The national minimum wage in recession evidence from UK/file/A2_1_XU.pdf · The national minimum wage in recession: evidence from UK Lei XU June 2016 Abstract The topic of my second

Thenationalminimumwageinrecession:evidence

fromUK

LeiXU

June2016

Abstract

Thetopicofmysecondchapteristostudyage-dependentminimumwage.The

NationalMinimumWage(NMW)wasfirstintroducedin1999fortwogroups,

thoseagedabove22and18-21yearsold.Theage-dependentminimumwageis

usedtoregulatetheflowofyoungworkersintothelabormarket.InthispaperI

examinetheeffectofincreaseinminimumwageonemploymentopportunities

byapplyingSharpRegressionDiscontinuity(SRD).Iarguethattheeffectof

minimumwageincreaseonlaborsupplymaybeaffectedbylocalunemployment

rate,leadingtoacrowdingouteffectcomingfrompeoplewithhigherlevelof

education.Myinitialresultsshowthatanincreaseinminimumwageresultsin

higheremploymentopportunityforhigherskilledworkersandexaminesthe

existenceofcrowdingouteffect.Moreover,individualswithhigherlevelof

educationtendtotransferfromatemporaryjobintoamoreformaljobeasily

afterturningintohigherminimumwagelevel.Theevidencesuggeststhatthe

labormarketinwhichtheminimumwageprevailsisverycompetitiveina

recessionaryeconomy.

JELClassification:J22

Keywords:minimumwage,laborsupply,regressiondiscontinuity

LeiXu

EconomicStudies,UniversityofDundee

E-mail:[email protected]

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1Background

Theintroductionofminimumwagehasbeenextensivelyexaminedbothby

policy-makersandeconomists.Inthestandardeconomicstextbook,ahigher

minimumwageresultsinreducedemploymentinaperfectlycompetitivelabor

market.Mostexistingpapersexaminetheeffectofintroductionofminimum

wageonemploymentopportunitiesacrossgroups(CardandKrueger1994,

Guiliano2013,Machinetal2003).Aconsensusaboutminimumwageisthata

modestincreaseinminimumwagewillnotleadtolargereductionof

employmentempirically.Buttheeffectofminimumwageonthesestillremains

manyunaddressedquestionsfromdifferentdimensions(Metcalf2008).

TheNationalMinimumWage(NMW)inUKwasfirstintroducedin1999for

people,above22yearsoldorbelow21yearsoldandabove18yearsold

respectively,whereasindividualsunder18yearsoldwerenotaffectedbythe

minimumwage.In2004,aminimumwagefor16and17yearoldwas

introducedatalowerratethantheonefor18-21yearsold,whichcomposed

age-dependentminimumwage,buttheNMWin1999wasalsoagedependent.

Theage-dependentminimumwageisusedtoregulatetheflowofyoungworkers

intothelabormarket.TheminimumwageinUKisincreasingonthebasisof

worker’sageanditbeginsfrom16yearsold.Bydifferentiatingtheminimum

wageitgivesemployersmotivationtorecruityoungerworkerstominimizethe

cost.However,thisage-dependentsystemwillleaveemployersspaceto

discriminateemployeesontheirageandqualifications(suchasapprenticeships).

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Ithelpsyoungworkerswhoaremostvulnerableinthelabormarketinto

employment.Thediscriminationmayalsoexhibitsubstantialheterogeneitywith

regardstoworker’sage,qualificationsandsectorofemployment.Aftercoming

theagethresholdalreadymentionedabove,individualshavehigherexpected

wages,leadingtohighersearchintensityandmotivationforthejob.Potentially

itresultsinhighermatchingrateandproductivity.Ontheotherhand,italso

inducesmorecompetitiontolabormarketinwhichthetightnessisalreadyhigh.

Inthispaper,Ihighlightthepossibilityofacrowdingouteffecthappeningina

recessionaryeconomybroughtbyhighercompetitionafterincreaseinminimum

wage.Thestartingpointiscorrect,butthepolicycouldputmacro-economyinto

considerationtobalancethepositiveandnegativeeffects.

Atthetimeofintroductionofminimumwagebetween16-17,Education

MaintenanceAllowance(EMA)wasintroducedtofacilitateindividualstoobtain

moreeducationbetween16to18yearsold.Bothpoliciesaimtoreduceyoung

outofunemploymentbyeithergoingtofurthereducationorworkplace.After

introductionofthepolicy,theenrollmentratefor16-17yearsoldincreasedby

almost5%(NEET2005-2006).AlthoughEMAisdesignedforencouragingmore

peopleintoeducation,itmayinduceindividualsfromemploymentinto

educationeither.Theintroductionofminimumwageworksinasimilarwaytoo.

Soempiricallytheincreaseinenrollmentandemploymentratecouldbea

compositioneffectbybothpolicies.

Thepaperisorganizedasfollows.Insection2Iamgoingtointroducethe

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literaturereviewanddiscussmycontributionandproblems.Themethodologyis

discussedinsection3.Insection4,itistheintroductionofdataset.Theresults

andgraphsaregiveninsection5.

2.Literaturereview

Asabroadtopicminimumwageisrelatedwithanumberofdimensions.The

mostattractivedimensionistheunemploymenteffectandwagedistribution.As

ananti-povertytool,ithasbeenintensivelyandextensivelydiscussedintermsof

thebalancebetweenincomeinequalityanddis-employment.Moreover,some

studieshaveshownthatminimumwageislinkedtothedecisionbetween

education,temporaryandpermanentjob(Croftenetal2009,NunezandLivanos

2015).Ithasbeenwelldeveloped,butstillmanyproblemsareunaddressed.

2.1Employmentprobability,crowdingout,spillovereffectandwage

distribution

Largeamountofstudyinvestigatetheeffectofminimumwageonemployment

orwagedistribution,sinceaspolicyinstrumentofminimumwageisregardedas

atooltoregulatewagedistribution.Standardeconomicmodelsuggeststhat

increaseinminimumwagewillleadtodecreaseinemploymentespecially

youngerworkersandaspillovereffect.Afterthegeneralizationofstandard

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model,theconcept‘monopsony’providesanotherexplanationfortheeffectof

introductionofminimumwage.Amodestincreaseinminimumwagemayleadto

positiveemploymenteffect(CardandKrueger1995).Fromempirical

perspective,increaseinminimumwagedoesn’thavesignificantnegativeeffect

onemployment(CardandKrueger1994,Guiliano2013).InUK,Machin,Rahman

andManning(2003)examinetheeffectofintroductionofminimumwageon

wages,basedontheirowncollecteddata.Theirresultssuggestthatthe

minimumwagewillgreatlydecreaseincomeinequalityandonlyreduce

employmenttosomeextent.Increaseinminimumwagewillnotcausedamage

toyoungerworkersaslongastheminimumwageisnotsettoohigh.Thenby

risingupminimumwageitwillhelpyounggetintolabormarket.Stewart(2004)

examinestheeffectofNMWonemploymentprobabilitybyusing

Difference-in-DifferencebasedonBritishHouseholdPanelSurvey(BHPS),Labor

ForceSurvey(LFS)andNewEarningsSurveys(NES)andconcludesthatthereis

nosignificantnegativeeffectonemployment.However,theresultsmightbe

biasedduetospillovereffect.BrochuandGreen(2013)arguethathigher

minimumwageisassociatedwithlowerhiringrateandlowerjobseparation

rateusingCanadiandatafrom1979to2008.Unskilledworkersaremostlikely

affectedbytheincrease.Theyexaminethereasonbehindthetotaleffecton

employment.Dickens,RileyandWilkinson(2014)examinetheeffectofincrease

inminimumwageonemploymentpossibilitiesandreturnstoadultsbasedon

RDmethod.Theyarguethattheminimumwagewillincreasetheadult

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employmentformale.However,theydon’ttaketheeffectoflocalunemployment

rateintoconsideration.Theliteraturesuggeststhatalimitednegativeeffecton

employmentfromintroducingorincreasingminimumwage.Andsincetheir

datasetisfrom1999to2009,EMAandintroductionofnewbandofminimum

wagemayalsoinducebiastotheresultseither.Dickens,RileyandWilkinson

(2015)examinetheemploymenteffectonthemostvulnerablegroupintheUK,

namelypart-timefemales,basedonLFSandNESbyusingDID.Theyconclude

thattheincreaseinminimumwagewilldecreasetheemploymentprobabilityfor

part-timefemaleanditwillgetworseintherecession.Intheirwork,they

examinetheheterogeneityoftheeffectofminimumwage.Theeffectcanbevery

diversedependingonthegroups.TheambiguouseffectofEMAandnew

minimumwagestillmaybiastheresults.

Besidestheeffectofminimumwageoncoveredgroup,theremightbespillover

effectaswell.Byincreasingminimumwageitwillincreaserelativepriceforlow

skilledworkers,leadingtohigheremploymentopportunityandwageforhigher

skilledworkers.Second,duetoincreaseinminimumwage,employersmay

reorganizetheirproductionprocess,increasingproductivity.Third,itwillalso

raisethereservationpriceforunemployedworkers.However,besidesthe

severalreasonssometheoreticalmodelalsoriseuptoexplainthespillovereffect,

buttheempiricalresultsarestillcontroversial.Dependingonthetreatedgroup

byincreasinginminimumwage,theemploymentopportunity(dis-employment

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effect)canbebiasedduetoincludingspillovereffectcomingfromuntreated

group.DickensandManning(2004)arguethatthereislittleevidenceforthe

existenceoflargespillovereffectbasedonLee(1999)’sapproach.Stewart(2012)

alsosuggeststhatthereisaweakevidenceofspillovereffectinUK’slabor

market.HisresultsarebasedonDIDandcomparisonbetweenminimumwage

coveredgroupanduncoveredgroup.Thecounterfactualgroupinhisdatais

thoseindividualswhoarenotaffectedaboveminimumwagebecauseof

preexistingwage.

Atthemoment,mostexistingliteraturefocusedoneffectofminimumwage

withoutseriouslyconsideringtheeffectofmacro-side.Theminimumwagemay

haveadverseeffectindifferentperiod.Inarecessionaryeconomy,besidesthe

effectsImentionedbefore,theremayexistcrowdingouteffectinthegroup

coveredbyminimumwage.Theeffectmaydependonthetightnessoflabor,

especiallyforyoungerworkers.Addisonetal(2013)examinetheeffectof

increasinginminimumwageonemploymentandreturnintherecessionofU.S

basedonmoredescriptiveanalysis.TheyfocusontheFoodServicesand

DrinkingPlacessector.Inlinewithexistingliteraturetheydon’tfindsignificant

negativeeffectofminimumwageontotalemployment,buttheyfind

employmentofyoungerworkersissignificantlyaffectedbythetightnessof

youthlabormarketandalsoitmayvarybydifferentservices.Arulampalamand

Stewart(1995)examinetheeffectoflocalunemploymentrateonenteringand

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exitingunemploymentindifferenttime.Intheirdatathesecondperiodof

unemploymentrateisdoubledcomparedtothefirstperiod.Intheirwork,local

unemploymentrateisusedasanindexofdemandconstraint.Theirresults

suggestthatlocalunemploymentratehavestrongernegativeeffectonthe

exitingofunemployment.HaurinandSridhar(2003)examinethereservation

wageandsearchdurationinarecessionaryeconomy,basedonPSID.Boththeir

OLSand2SLSresultssuggestthatthereservationwageandsearchdurationwill

notbeaffectedbylocalunemploymentrate.However,theresultsmightbebased

bytheweaknessofcorrelationbetweenlocalunemploymentrateand

employmentoutcome.Gautieretal(2002)explorethecrowdingeffectoflower

educatedworkersinrecessionbasedonafirmleveldataset.Theydon’tfind

significanteducationupgradingduringrecession,althoughaverageeducationof

outflowincreasedduringrecession.Howevertheirresultsmightbebiaseddue

tothedefinedjobcomplexitylevelandeducationlevel,sinceupgradingmay

happeninaverymarginaleducationlevel.

Onlyfewpapersdevelopedtheoreticalmodeltoexplaintheeffectofminimum

wage.Gorry(2013)developatheoreticalmodelbasedonsearchandmatching

model(Pissarides1994)toexploretheeffectofminimumwageonyouth

unemployment.Doladoetal(2000)extendthesearchmodel(VanOusand

Ridder1995)toexplainthecrowdingouteffectinSpain.Buttheirassumption

regardingleisureisperhapstoostrong.Assomeworkerswillwaitopportunity

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forskilledjobinasubsequentperiod.Themodelcanbemoreendogeneous.

Thetypeofjobmayalsoimplythedifferenceofemploymentopportunity.

Comparedtotemporaryjobs,permanentjobwillmakefirmfacemoreriskwhen

theydecidetohireaworkerduetotheprotectionoflaborlaw.Althoughthe

costsoftemporaryjobislessthanpermanentjob,thereturnoftemporaryjobis

stilllowerthanpermanentjobduetolowerhumancapitalinvestmentand

personalabilityinpractice(Boothetal2002).Thechoicesarediversewhen

youngpeoplestarttheircareeraftercompletingeducation.Ontheonehand,

individualmayfacedifferentchoicesoutofdifferentmotivations.Ontheother

hand,employerswillalsobalancebenefitandcost.Employersfacemore

uncertaintycomingfrommarketandmayneedabufferoftemporaryworkersto

adjustproductionwithminimumcost.Sometimestheyarereluctanttoprovide

morepermanentjobforuntrainedyoungworkers.NunezandLivanos(2015)

discussseveralreasonsofindividualtostartfromtemporaryjobratherthan

findingapermanentjob.Firstly,doingatemporaryjobmayshowtheirtalentor

knowledgeinsomefieldtominimizetheasymmetricinformationbetween

workersandemployers.Thetemporaryjobcanbeseenasa“stepping-stone”for

theirlaterjob.Secondly,employersmayalsofacemorerisktorecruitayoung

workerduetothehighertrainingcost.Thentheyprefertogiveatemporary

contractfirst.Faccini(2013)arguesthattemporarycontractasascreening

devicehassignificanteffectonreducingunemploymentrateinEuropean

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countries.Thirdly,bothsideswillconfrontopportunitycost.Italsovariesgiven

thestrengthofemployersandworkers.Lastly,duetotheinefficiencyoflabor

bargainingpowermarket,itishardtomatchperfectlybetweentwosides.Booth

etal(2002)examinethedifferencebetweentemporaryandpermanentjobinUK.

Theirresultssuggestthattemporaryjobhavelowerjobsatisfactionand

well-being,butthereisalsoevidenceofsteppingstoneeffectamongtemporary

job.However,Isuspecttheremayexistendogeneityoftheirtransitionresults.

EngellandtandRiphahn(2005)arguethatworkerswithtemporarycontract

mayexpresshighereffortinordertotransferintopermanentcontractunderthe

hypothesisthatemployerswillscreenworkersthroughtemporarycontract.That

impliestheevidencethattemporaryhassteppingstoneeffect.Intheirpaper,

theyselectwhetherworkerwillprovideunpaidworkhoursandabsentreasons

asmeasureofemploymenteffect.Duetoalackofidentificationstrategyfor

individualstakingpermanentortemporaryjob,theresultsstillcouldbebiased,

leadingtoambiguousconclusions.

Amountofliteraturehascommentedontransitionbetweenpermanentand

temporaryjob.Moreover,severalreasonshavebeenproposedtoexplainthe

behaviorofindividual’stransition,theoreticallyandempirically.But,tomy

knowledgefewliteratureshaveexaminethetransitioncausedbyincreasein

minimumwage.

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2.2Mywork

Inthispaper,Iamgoingtofirstlyexaminetheeffectofminimumwageon

employmentopportunity.Secondly,Iamgoingtoexaminetheeffectonfinding

whichtypeofjobfordifferentgroups.

Aftertheintroductionoftheminimumwage,theemployersneedtimeandeffort

toreorganizeproductionprocessinordertominimizethecost.Thewagegap

betweenagegroupsmayencourageemployerstoreplaceolderworkerswith

youngerone.Unlikestudyofintroductionofminimumwage,thispaperfocuson

theeffectofincreasingminimumwageonlaborsupply,ratherthanthe

equilibriumoflabordemandandlaborsupply.Thispaperfocusesontheeffect

onlaborsupplywhenindividualsturninto21yearsoldandgethigherwages.

Afterturningintohigherminimumwageband,thereturnofindividualswhofind

ajobcoveredbyminimumwageareexpectedtobelargelyrisenup,leadingto

highersearchintensityforthoseunemployedindividualsandemployedworkers

whowanttofindamoreformaljob.Thatwillresultinhighermatching

probabilityandcompetitionamonglabormarket.Onthecontrary,firmswillface

moreproductioncost.Sincetheincreaseinminimumwageisananticipated

event,Idon’tseestrongreasonsemployerswillreorganizetheirproduction

processonceagain.Butstillemployersmaydecreaseemploymentorreplacing

youngerworkertosavethecost.MyworkissimilartoDickensetal(2014)in

whichtheyalsouseLFSandRD.TheRDisbasedonthedurationbetweenmonth

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ofsurveyandmonthofbirth.Thiswillcomposeapairofcomparabletreatment

groupandcontrolgroupwhichcangiveusacausaleffectincurredbyminimum

wage.

Oneassumptionhereisthatthereisnoadministrativecosttoemployer,since

theemployermaypreferstableworkersiftheadministrativeisnon-negligible.

Thentheresultswillbebiasedupduetotheemployer’spreferencefrom

employeeside.Inthiscase,itisareliableassumptionsinceemployerpostsajob

giventheirlabordemandofproductionprocessandtheworkersacrosscut-off

pointwouldbeidenticaltoemployer.Anotherpotentialbiascomesfromthe

unemployedsiderelatingtoreplacementofyoungerworkers.Thisismore

ambiguous.Duetothenatureofagedependentminimumwage,employerhas

motivetoreplacetheworker,althoughworkersareidenticalaroundcut-off

point,thenumberofworkersonthelefthandsideofcutoffpointislessthanthe

righthandside.Butemployer’sfiringdecisionmaynotonlydependon

individual’sagebutalsotheirownproductionprocess.Thereisnoclear

conclusionthatwhetheremployerswillfireindividualsonlyonemonthbefore

theyturnintohigherwagelevelortheywillreplaceworkerswhentheyfindthe

substitute.However,fromthesimpleobservationofthedatathemotivationmay

beweakoritmayhappenindifferentperiod.Moreover,thereisnosignificant

changefromtheperspectiveofmacro-economygiventhecurrentdata

generatingprocess.Mywholesamplesareinarecessionaryperiod.AllofthoseI

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describedabovemakesurethatthereisnochangeindemandsideacrossthe

cut-offpoint.

Increasingminimumwagewillleadtotwodiscontinuities.Firstly,higherreturns

leadtohighersearchintensity.Undersameconditions,thenumberofvacancyin

labormarketremainsconstant,leadingtohighermatchingrate.Secondly,across

thecut-offpointsearchintensityofeachskillgroupwillincrease,leadingto

crowdingouteffectfromhigherskilledworkerstolowerskilledworkers,

reducingtheopportunityforthatgroup.Thecrowdingouteffectwillmostly

happeninrecession,sincetheincreaseinlaborsupplycouldnottransforminto

employmentexpectedly.Higherskilledworkersmayhavehigheremployment

opportunitycomparedtolowerskilledworkers.Thefactthattheyarecompeting

forthesamejobonlymakesitharderforlowerskilledworkers.Therefore,the

overalleffectofincreasingminimumwageonindividualswithlowerlevelof

educationbasedonthisstrategymaycomefromthecombinedeffectsofincrease

insearchintensityandcrowdingouteffectcomingfromindividualswithhigher

levelofeducation.However,itisnoteasytoidentifyinpractice.Comparing

employmentopportunityoverqualificationsisambiguouswhenhigherskilled

workermayfindajobuncoveredbyminimumwage.Oneobviousargumentis

individualwithlesseducationwillbemoreaffectedbyminimumwage.Givenmy

results,minimumwagewillmostlyaffectindividualswithqualificationbelow

A-levels.AboveIdescribedpicturesthemovementofemploymentindifferent

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qualifications.Besidesemploymentopportunity,individualsmaychangetheir

choiceaboutworkafterthechangeofreturniftheyhavechoicetochange.

Individualswithhigherlevelofeducationarestilllookingforminimumwage

leveljobnormallytendtofacethischoice.JustlikeIdemonstratedabovein

literaturereview,individualsmaypreferamorepermanentjobdueto

opportunitycostwhentheirreturnisincreased.Crowdingouteffectmaybe

moresignificantintheseresults.

Asforthefirstquestion,mycurrentresultssuggestthatthereisasignificant

positiveeffectofincreaseinminimumwageonindividualswithqualificationof

morethanfiveGCSEsorhighergradesofGCSE,butnotsostrongnegativeeffect

onindividualswithqualificationoflowergradesofGCSE.Moreover,bothyears

ofeducationandnumberofGCSEhasbeenincreasedaftercrossingthecut-off

point,showingthatthereexistcrowdingouteffectonindividualswith

qualificationlowerthanfiveGCSEs.ComparedtoDickensetal(2014),apossible

explanationisduetohigherlocalunemploymentrate,theincreaseinsearch

intensitytransfernegativeeffectonindividualswithlowerlevelofeducation.In

thispartmycontributionistoexaminetheheterogeneouseffectsandexplainthe

laborflowacrossthecut-offpoint.Althoughtheemploymentopportunityis

clearforobservationswithlessthanfiveGCSE,Istilldon’tknowthemagnitude

ofnegativecrowdingouteffectcomingfromhigherlevelofeducation.Crowding

outeffectisexpectedtobeheterogeneousgivendifferentlevelofeducation.

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SecondlyIamgoingtoexaminethetypeofjobforemployeesaffectedby

increaseinminimumwage.Notonlyemploymentopportunitiesbutalsothe

typesofjobwillbeaffectedbythechangingofrelativeprice.Putitdifferently,

thechangeoftypeofjobforindividualsacrossthresholdmayhaveclearerimage

forusintermsofhowtheemploymentopportunityisaffected.Iassumethe

motivationofindividualstowardtoajobissimilar.Workersaremorewillingto

findamoreformaljobwhenreturnishigher.Giventhisdatageneratingprocess,

thetotalnumberofmatchedandvacantjobremainsunchanged.Weexpectthe

decreaseinvacancyorthechangeoftypesofjobbetweengroupswithdifferent

qualification.Giventhegloomyeconomyandthepreviousresults,theresults

maypresentcrowdingouteffecttosomeextent.Iftheincreaseinemployment

opportunityofaformaljobforindividualswithhigherlevelofeducationisatthe

expenseofcorrespondingdecreaseinemploymentopportunityforindividuals

withlowerlevelofeducation,thenonehastosuspecttheoverallbenefitsof

increasinginminimumwage.

Boththeemploymentopportunityandtypeofjobwillhelpexplainthe

accumulationofhumancapitaloflowpaidworker.Thatwillhelpexplainthe

statedependenceinthefutureoftheircareer.Differenttypesofjobmayprefer

differentworkers.Boththeeducationandtrainingcanhelpaccumulatethe

humancapital.Forsomestudentsarenotwillingtoobtainmoreeducation,

vocationaltraining,work-relatedtrainingorapprenticeshipmayhelpthemmore

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inpractice.Butalowqualifiedtrainingorlowprobabilityofreceivingthose

trainingcanleadtolowerprobabilityofemploymentinthefuture.Thatmaygive

animplicationtostatedependence.Asforthewageandprobabilityofreceiving

jobortrainingatthebeginningofthecareermaydependontheelasticityof

differenttypesofworker.Thatbelongstoclassiceconomicmodel.

ThirdlyIhopetodescribethebehavioroflaborflow.Thestrategyisstillbased

onRD,butthedifferencehereisIusedurationbetweenmonthofjobstartedor

jobendedtomonthofbirthcomparedtothefirstone.Thiswilldescribethe

effectofincreaseinminimumwageonworkerandfirm’sbehavior.Thejob

accessionrateandjobseparationratewouldchangeonthebasisofdistance

betweenworker’sbirthmonthtothemonthofjobstartorjobend.Thefirstdata

generatingprocessdoesn’tincludetheinformationofthebehaviorofbothsides.

Thestockofjobsinlabormarketlargelydeterminedbyproductionprocessof

firms,determinedbyoutputprice,inputpriceandproductiontechnologygiven

theclassicaleconomicmodel.Atcertainpoint,ifweassumebothtechnologyand

outputpriceareholdconstant,thequestionhereiswhetherincreaseininput

pricewillchangethestockoflabororthecharacteristicsoflabor.Toanswerthat

questionweneedtolookatamoredynamicpictureratherthanstaticinwhich

justpicturesthefeaturesoflaborstock,suchasthechangesinjobcharacteristics,

workerscharacteristicsandthepatternoflaborflow.

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3.Regressiondiscontinuityregression

3.1FoundationofRD

RDdesignisaquasi-experimentaldesigninwhichtheprobabilityofreceiving

treatmentwillbechangeddiscontinuouslyacrossthethresholdasafunctionof

controlvariables(Hahnetal2001).Itisaincreasinglypopularmethodin

appliedeconometrics(ImbensandLemieux2008).Inthispaper,Iamgoingto

examinetheagediscriminationbasedonsharpdiscontinuitywhichthe

treatmentvariabledependsonasetofobservablevariables.Thereisanother

discontinuitycalledfuzzydiscontinuitywhichthetreatmentvariabledependson

asetofrandomvariablesbuttheprobabilityisknownaroundthethreshold

(Hahnetal2001).Thiseconometricframeworkexploitsthediscriminationfrom

employersbasedonfuzzyregressiondiscontinuitymodel:

𝑌!" = 𝛼 + 𝛽𝑇𝑅𝐸𝐴𝑇!" + 𝛿(𝑎)+ 𝛾𝑋!+𝜀!" (1)

where 𝑌!" isinterestedoutcomevariableforindividualiofagea. 𝑋! arethe

controlvariables.HereTREATisourinterestvariablewhichcapturesthe

employmentprobabilityinducedbydurationtobirthmonth.Itequalstooneif

individualis21yearsold. 𝛿(𝑎) iscalledagefunctionwhichcapturestheeffect

ofage.AkeyassumptioninRDstrategyisthat 𝛿 (𝑎) iscontinuousfunction.

Anotherassumptionisthatthesamplebeforeandafterbirthdayshouldbe

randomlyassigned.Thatmeansthetreatmentvariableistheonlysourceof

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discontinuity.

𝛿(𝑎) = 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 + 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛! + 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 ∗ 𝑇𝑅𝐸𝐴𝑇 + (𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 ∗ 𝑇𝑅𝐸𝐴𝑇)! (2)

And 𝛽! istheeffectofdiscontinuityinducedbyemployer’sdiscrimination.Itis

difficulttoselectagecontrolfunction.Herelargelyrobusttestinpracticeis

necessary.Byincludingcontrolvariablestominimizetheerrortermweneedto

mimictheparametricform.Undertheparametricframework,theestimates

mightbebiasedduetootherexogeneities.AfterthetestofvalidityofRDdesign,

thecontrolvariablesareusedtodecreasethevariability,wecaneliminatethe

externalitytosomeextents,butthenumberofobservationsisdecreasingaswell.

Thisisthetradeoffbetweenprecisionandbias.

TheessenceofRDistocomparethetreatmentgroupontherighthandsideof

thecut-offpointandcomparisongroupontheleftsideofthepointandthe

controlgroupfrommarginallybelowthresholdisvalidcounterfactualfor

treatmentgroupfrommarginallyabovethreshold(Hahnetal2001).Aroundthe

thresholdthetreatmentstatusisindependentofallvariablesnomatter

observableandunobservablejustlikerandomassignment(Lee2008).

Thevalueofinstrumentcan’taffecttheoutcomeindependently.Justlike

exclusionrestrictiontheinstrumentcanonlyaffectoutcomeinonechannel.

Heretheinstrumentsarethedistancefromthebirthmonth.Putitdifferently,

individualshaveimprecisecontrolofthetreatmentstatus.Inthiscase,the

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randomnessofbirthmonthcanguaranteetherandomnessofthedistancefrom

threshold.Theminimumwageisintroducedin1999,thereforeincreaseinwage

isanticipatedbyyoungworkersandemployer.Apotentialbiasisthatthe

anticipationmaychangethebehaviorofbothsidestosomeextent.Sinceifthe

individualscanpartiallycontrolthevaluearoundthreshold,thenthiswillleadto

somebias(Lee2008).Underthenoadministrativecosttheremightnothave

significantbias.

3.2ValiditytestofRD

GraphsareextremelypopularinpracticalworkofRDduetoitstransparency.

However,visualpresentationwouldbeambiguousinsomecases.Various

validitytestsareneededinthiscase.

ManyideashavebeenproposedwhenitcomestoexaminethevalidityofRD.

Firstlyoneshouldexamineifthetwogroupsarerandomlyassignedby

examiningthecovariatesbalancebeforetheregressions.Thecovariatescan’tbe

influencedbytreatmentsincethosearedeterminedpriortotheassignment

variableandtreatmentvariable(LeeandLemieux2009).Putitdifferently,

variablesintwogroupsshouldbeirrelevanttothetreatmentstatusexceptfor

outcomevariables.Ifthecovariatesshowreasonablefeaturesaroundthecut-off

point,thenitimpliesthattreatmentgroupandcontrolgrouparesimilartosome

extents.

Secondly,onecantestthegoodnessoftheparametricmodeltocalculatethe

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residualandexaminethefeaturesoftheresidual(LeeandLemieux2009).

Thirdly,onecanapplyacomparisontestinthecircumstancewithouttreatment

effect.

4Dataandstatistics

ThespeciallicenseofLaborForceSurveycontainsmonthofbirthwhichisused

tocalculatethedistancefrommonthofsurveytomonthofbirth.Itisfiveyears

from2008to2012andtheminimumwageofapprenticewasintroducedin2010.

Thesampleisrestrictedtoindividualsagedfrom16to30ofthosewhoare

employed.IntheUK,theminimumageforworkingis16yearsoldwith

completingcompulsoryschooling.Theminimumwageisdividedintothreeage

bands,16-17,18-21andabove21.Employersalwayswanttorecruitproductive

workerwithgoodexperiences.Thenitgiveslittlespaceforyoungworkerssince

theyareyoungandlackexperiences.Shannon(2011)arguesthatabolishmentof

minimumwagewillsignificantlydecreasetheemploymentfor15-16yearsold

workersinCanadabasedonDID.Bydifferentiatingtheminimumwage,itwill

giveemployersmotivetohireandtrainyoungworkers.

BeforeOct2010,theincreaseinminimumwageistargetedin22yearsold,but

theageischangedinto21after2010.Thesamplesinthispaperareindividuals

whoare20,21and22yearsold.A-levelgraduatesmayalsofindajobinthe

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rangeofminimumwage.Thentheremightbenon-negligibleeffecton

employmentopportunityofindividualswithlowerlevelofeducation.Therefore,

insteadoffocusingon18yearsoldthreshold,Iamgoingtolookfortheeffectof

increaseinminimumwageonemploymentopportunityofindividualswhoare

turninginto21yearsold.Ialsodropindividualswhoarestillinschool.The

datasetincludemonthofbirthwhichcanbeusedtocalculatethedistance

betweenmonthofsurveyto21yearsold.Aftercleaningthedata,itincludes

individualswhoarejustpassing20yearsoldandverycloseto22yearsold.

Thereare22monthsaltogether.

5Results

5.1Employmentopportunities

Traditionallyindividualswithlowerlevelofeducationareexpectedtobemore

affectedbyincreaseinminimumwage.Althoughindividualswithmoreyearsof

educationmaystillfindajobwhichispaidinminimumwage,inmyresultsthe

employmentopportunityofindividualswithA-levelsarenotlargelyaffectedby

minimumwage.However,theytendtofindamorepermanentjobafterincrease

inreturns.Theresultsfocusonallsamplesregardlesstheirsex,mostlydueto

limitedsamplesize.Theinterestvariableisthedummyofcut-offpoint,which

willshowthecausaleffectofincreaseinminimumwageonemployment

opportunity.Eachregressionincludes11monthseithersideofthe21stbirthday.

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Inordertobalancebetweenexogeneityandefficiency,Iexaminethe

discontinuityindifferentperiodforeachregressionandadddifferent

polynomialtermsasagefunction.

Graph1describestheemploymentrategivendifferentqualificationsbydifferent

distancefrommonthofsurveytomonthofbirth.Thegraphofupperleftisthe

employmentrateofindividualswithqualificationlowerthanGCSE.Upperright

andlowerleftistheemploymentrateofindividualswithlowerthanfiveGCSEs

andmorethanfiveGCSEs.Thelastisforindividualswhosehighestqualification

isA-level.Fromthesimplepatternofemploymentrateindifferentperiod,there

isnoclearevidenceintermsoftherelationbetweenminimumwageand

employmentopportunityforindividualswithanyqualificationsexceptfor

individualswithmorethanfiveGCSEs.Fromthelowerleftgraph,the

employmentrateofpositiveperiodisevidentlylargerthanthelefthandside.

Thatmayimplyincreaseinminimumwagemayhavelargereffectonthose

workers.However,thosegroupswhoarenotaffectedbyminimumwagemay

notcomefromthesamereasons.ObviouslyA-levelstudentstendtohavebetter

chancetogetajobcomparedwithindividualswithlesseducation.

<Graph1Here>

Table1showstheProbitregressionresultsofindividualswithqualification

lowerthanGCSEandGCSEgivendifferentperiodandpolynomialtermsfor

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checkingtherobustness.Itsuggeststhatincreaseinminimumwagedoesn’t

incuranychangetoemploymentopportunitiesforthesetwogroupsofpeople.

IndividualsbelowGCSEareveryambiguoussincethequalificationsarevery

diverse.AsIdemonstratebefore,thediscontinuityaroundcut-offpointisa

compositioneffect,combiningtheeffectofincreaseinsearchintensityandlabor

demandduetohigherlocalunemploymentrateinarecessionaryperiod.

<Table1Here>

Table2focusesontheeffectamongindividualswithGCSEastheirhighest

qualification.IndividualswithmorethanfiveGCSEshavemoreemployment

opportunityontherighthandsideofthecut-offpoint,butthereisnosignificant

effectonindividualswithlessthanfiveGCSEs.Itsuggeststhatincreasein

minimumwagewillleadmoreindividualswithmoreGCSEsintoemployment.

Thereisasignificantdifferencebetweenindividualswithhighernumberof

GCSEsandlowernumberofGCSEs.Themotivationoftwogroupsofobservation

willingtofindajobisidentical.Onemaywonderifthereexistscrowdingout

effectcomingfromobservationswithhigherqualifications.

<Table2Here>

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Thegraph2picturestheemploymentprobabilitygivendifferentperiodsfor

individualswithhighernumberandgradesofGCSEanditiscalculatedbythe

meanofindividual’semploymentprobabilityineachperiod.Thefirstgraphis

theemploymentopportunityofindividualswithfiveofmoreGCSEs.Thesecond

graphistheemploymentopportunityofindividualswithGCSEofA-Cgrades.

Acrossthethreshold,thereisaclearjumpabout5%causedbytheincreasein

minimumwage.

<Graph2Here>

Thegraph3showstheemploymentprobabilityofindividualswithlower

numberandgradesofGCSE.Theevidenceofindividualswithlowerlevelof

educationisnotasstrongashigherlevelofeducation.Theeffecttendstobe

negativeforthisgroupandthejumpisalsoclearforindividualswithlower

gradesofGCSE.AsIdemonstratedabove,theeffectisacompositioneffectof

increaseinminimumwageandcrowdingouteffect.

<Graph3Here>

Table3usesanothermethodtotestifytheresultsagain.LFSincludesthe

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numberofGCSEsheldandgradesofGCSEsaswell.Individualswithhigher

gradesofGCSEmaystillgivethemmoreedgetogainmoreemployment

opportunities.TheresultsshowthatindividualswithlowergradesofGCSEhave

loweremploymentopportunityafterincreaseinminimumwage.Sincethe

increaseinminimumwagewillonlyincurpositiveeffectonlaborsupplyandI

assumethatthereisnosignificanteffectfromlabordemand,itisnaturaltothink

thereisacrowdingouteffectfromindividualswithhigherorbetter

qualifications.

<Table3Here>

Table4givesestimatesofthechangeintermsofyearsofeducationand

proportionofhighervolumeGCSEs.Itshowscrowdingouteffectdirectly.Inthe

firstpartofresults,itistheaverageeducationofworkerswhoareemployed

givendifferentperiods.Acrossthecut-offpoint,theaverageeducationrisesup

0.3year.Inthesecondpartofresults,itsuggeststhattherearemoreindividuals

withqualificationhigherthanfiveGCSEscomparedtothelefthandsideof

cut-offpoint.

<Table4Here>

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5.2Whichjob?

TheemploymentopportunitiesIdiscussedaboveafterincreasingminimum

wagewillpossiblyreflecttheworker’sattitudeintermsoffindingajobandthe

competitionacrossqualifications.Butthetypeofjobortheattitudetowardto

thejobisambiguous.Thetypeofjobhassignificantinfluenceontheirreturnand

stability,aswellastheaccumulationofhumancapital.Investigatingthetypeof

jobwilldeepentheunderstandingtheemploymentopportunitiesacross

differentgroups.Individualswillfaceopportunitycostwhentheydecidetofind

amore“formal”job.Theedgemightbedifferentgivendifferentgroupsorthey

mightbesimilar.Sotheimportancehereistoinvestigateifindividualstendto

findapermanentjobwhenthereturnishigherandwhethertheyfinda

permanentjobiftheywantedto.Atthebeginning,Iexaminetheemploymentof

findingafull-timejob.Butafull-timejobcanbeatemporaryaswellanda

permanentpositioncouldbeapart-timejobeither.So,Icallajobthatisboth

full-timeandpermanentagood“Job”.The“Job”shouldbemoreformaland

advancedsometime.Thejobshouldownsomegoodcharacteristics,suchas

higherreturn,higherstability,moreon-the-jobtrainingandsoon.

Graph4istheproportionofindividualinafull-timejob.Thesub-panelsgraphs

identifydifferentgroupsofpeople,justlikeGraph1.AfteraglanceoftheGraph4,

individualshavingqualificationslessthanGCSEandA-leveldon’thave

significantdifferenceacrosscut-offpoint.Butfromindividualswithlowerand

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highernumberofGCSE,thereisacleartrendforthosegroups.Individualswith

highernumberofGCSEtendtofindafull-timejobafterincreaseminimumwage.

Liketheresultsofemploymentopportunities,theproportionofindividualswith

lessnumberofGCSEsfindingafull-timejobdecreasesaftercut-offpoint.Graph

5istheproportionofindividualhavinga“job”.Thepatternisquitesimilarto

Graph4.

<Graph4Here>

<Graph5Here>

FromTable5to9Ipresenttheresultsofemploymentopportunitiesindifferent

typesofjobonthebasisoflevelofeducation.Thereismoreevidencefor

individualswithhigherlevelofeducationfindingamoreformaljobcompared

withindividualswithlowerlevelofeducation.TogetherwithGraph4and5,I

concludethatindividualswithhigherlevelofeducationtendtofindamore

formaljobafterincreaseinminimumwage.However,thereisnosignificant

increaseofproportionofformaljobforindividualswithlowerlevelofeducation.

GiventheassumptionIdescribedabove,differenttypesofworkerhavesimilar

motivationtowardtoamoreformaljob.Theresultsofindividualswithlower

levelofeducationcouldbeexplainedbyacompositioneffect,combingtheeffects

ofincreaseinsearchintensityandcrowdingouteffect.

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<Table5Here>

<Table6Here>

<Table7Here>

<Table8Here>

<Table9Here>

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6Conclusions

Inthefirstpartofthepaper,Iexaminetheemploymenteffectofincreasein

minimumwagefordifferentgroups.Literaturemainlyfocusesonthe

introductionofminimumwage.Intheirstudies,thechangeinemployment

probabilityisfoundtobemainlycausedbothbyemployersandemployees.

Commonlytheresultssuggestthatthereisnosignificantnegativeeffectonlabor

market.

Inthispaper,Iexaminetheeffectofage-dependentminimumwageonlabor

supply.Afterseveralyearsofintroductionofminimumwage,employershave

alreadyreorganizedtheproductionprocess.Acrossthethreshold,wecan

observetheeffectofincreasingminimumwageonthemotivationofindividuals

findingajob.

Theresultsfirstlysuggestthatthereisnosignificanteffectofanincreasein

minimumwageontheemploymentprobabilityofindividualscoveredby

minimumwage.Thismightbeduetoacompositioneffect,combiningthe

positiveeffectofincreaseinmotivationofworkingandthenegativecrowding

outeffectcomingfromhigherlevelofeducation.Individualswithhighernumber

orgradesofGCSEhavehigherprobabilityofbeinginemployment.Andthe

resultsofindividualswithlowernumberofgradesofGCSEsuggestthatthereis

amodestnegativeeffectandtherearenosignificantresultsforindividuals

belowGCSE.Inordertoexaminethecrowdingouteffect,Iexaminetheaverage

levelofeducationandtheproportionofhighernumberofGCSEsacrossthe

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cut-offpoint.Theresultsshowthatbothnumbersincreaseacrossthethreshold.

Theimplicationofthispaperisthatweshouldnotneglectthepotentialnegative

effectofincreaseinminimumwage,especiallyinarecessionaryperiod.Duetoa

tightlabormarket,theincreasingminimumwagewillnotonlyincreasethe

averageemploymentbutalsomayberesultinmoreovereducatedworkersin

labormarket.Theminimumwagepolicyshouldbemoreflexibleonthebasisof

tightnessoflabormarket.

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Tablesandgraphs

Graph1.Employmentratefordifferentqualifications

Notes:Thevariable“lessthanGCSE”includesindividualswhosehighestqualificationislower

thanGCSEaccordingtovariable'HIQUAL'inLFS.LowernumberofGCSEincludesindividuals

whosehighestqualificationisGCSEandholdlessthan5GCSEs.HighernumberofGCSEincludes

individualswhosehighestqualificationisGCSEandhold5ormorethan5GCSEs.

Source,LFS

.6.6

5.7

.75

Per

cent

age

of e

mpl

oym

ent

-10 -5 0 5 10dur

Less than GCSE

.65

.7.7

5.8

.85

Per

cent

age

of e

mpl

oym

ent

-10 -5 0 5 10dur

Lower number of GCSE

.75

.8.8

5.9

.95

Per

cent

age

of e

mpl

oym

ent

-10 -5 0 5 10dur

Higher number of GCSE.7

.8.9

1

Per

cent

age

of e

mpl

oym

ent

-10 -5 0 5 10dur

A-level

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Table1.EffectofincreasingminimumwageonindividualswithGCSEandbelow

GCSEqualification

Being

employed

Employ(lessthanGCSE) Employ(GCSE)

Polynomial

terms

Windowlength Windowlength

22months 12months 4months 22months 12months 4months

Constant 0.036

[0.044]

0.023

[0.060]

0.001

[0.107]

0.100

[0.047]

0.037

[0.064]

0.035

[0.113]

Linear 0.001

[0.095]

-0.092

[0.138]

0.046

[0.100]

0.057

[0.145]

Quadratic -0.077

[0.163]

0.180

[0.268]

-0.056

[0.172]

0.396

[0.286]

Cubic 0.068

[0.264]

0.195

[0.540]

0.464*

[0.277]

1.10*

[0.570]

Observation 3613 1960 638 3602 1950 669

Notes:Thedependentvariableiswhetherindividualisinemployment.Thecategoryoflessthan

GCSEincludesindividualswithqualificationlowerthanGCSEaccordingtovariableof“HIQUAL”in

LFSandGCSEincludesallindividualswhosehighestqualificationisGCSE.Theresultsarebasedon

differentpolynomialtermsandwindowlength.Controlvariablesarelocalunemployment,dummy

fordisable,andyears.(*)significantat10%;*significantat5%;**significantat1%;***significantat

0.1%respectively

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Table2.Effectofincreasingminimumwageonindividualswith

lessormorethanfiveGCSEs

Being

employed

Employ(5-GCSEs) Employ(5+GCSEs)

Polynomial

terms

Windowlength Windowlength

22months 12months 4months 22months 12months 4months

Constant 0.011

[0.058]

-0.068

[0.080]

-0.148

[0.152]

0.283***

[0.084]

0.252**

[0.115]

0.353*

[0.198]

Linear -0.084

[0.124]

-0.137

[0.184]

0.328*

[0.176]

0.448*

[0.256]

Quadratic -0.250

[0.218]

0.438

[0.370]

0.281

[0.292]

0.207

[0.471]

Cubic 0.345

[0.352]

1.02

[0.722]

0.594

[0.462]

1.15

[1.01]

Observation 2224 1192 388 1378 758 281

Notes:Thedependentvariableiswhetherindividualisinemployment.Thecategoryof5-GCSE

includesindividualswithlessthan5GCSEand5+GCSEincludesindividualswith5ormorethan

5GCSE.Theresultsarebasedondifferentpolynomialtermsandwindowlength.Control

variablesarelocalunemployment,dummyfordisable,andyears.(*)significantat10%;

*significantat5%;**significantat1%;***significantat0.1%respectively.

Page 39: The national minimum wage in recession evidence from UK/file/A2_1_XU.pdf · The national minimum wage in recession: evidence from UK Lei XU June 2016 Abstract The topic of my second

Table3..EffectofincreasingminimumwageonindividualswithGCSEofA-Cand

GCSEofD-G

Being

employed

Employ(D-GGCSE) Employ(A-CGCSE)

Polynomial

terms

Windowlength Windowlength

22months 12months 4months 22months 12months 4months

Constant -0.054

[0.101]

-0.297**

[0.142]

-0.434*

[0.257]

0.151***

[0.054]

0.130*

[0.074]

0.140

[0.131]

Linear -0.344

[0.211]

-0.560*

[0.312]

0.192*

[0.116]

0.255

[0.168]

Quadratic -0.606*

[0.367]

1.16*

[0.615]

0.131

[0.199]

0.353

[0.332]

Cubic 0.384

[0.581]

0.156

[1.23]

0.521

[0.322]

1.34**

[0.666]

Observation 761 405 119 2841 1545 524

Notes:Thedependentvariableiswhetherindividualisinemployment.Theresultsarebasedon

differentpolynomialtermsandwindowlength.Controlvariablesarelocalunemployment,

dummyfordisable,andyears.(*)significantat10%;*significantat5%;**significantat1%;

***significantat0.1%respectively.

Page 40: The national minimum wage in recession evidence from UK/file/A2_1_XU.pdf · The national minimum wage in recession: evidence from UK Lei XU June 2016 Abstract The topic of my second

Table4.Crowdingouteffect

Dependent

variable

Yearofeducation ProportionofhigherthanfiveGCSEs

Polynomial

terms

Windowlength Windowlength

22months 12months 4months 22months 12months 4months

Constant 0.468***

[0.025]

0.292***

[0.035]

0.129**

[0.062]

0.123***

[0.032]

0.10**

[0.044]

0.185**

[0.086]

Linear 0.031

[0.056]

0.026

[0.080]

0.390**

[0.196]

0.075

[0.070]

0.159

[0.102]

Quadratic 0.063

[0.095]

0.141

[0.154]

0.193

[0.114]

0.195

[0.160]

Cubic 0.063

[0.153]

0.621**

[0.312]

0.214

[0.151]

0.029

[0.194]

Observation 18129 9844 3305 6370 3485 1214

Notes:Thedependentvariablearethefulltimeofyearsofeducationandifindividualshold5or

morethan5GCSE.Theresultsarebasedondifferentpolynomialtermsandwindowlength.

Controlvariablesarelocalunemployment,dummyfordisable,andyears.(*)significantat10%;

*significantat5%;**significantat1%;***significantat0.1%respectively.

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Graph2.Estimatedprobabilityofemploymentforhighergradesornumbersof

GCSE

Notes:Thegraphplotstheestimatedaverageprobabilityofemploymentratewhichiscalculated

byaveragingindividual’sestimatedemploymentprobabilityindifferentperiod.

Source,LFS

.8.8

2.8

4.8

6.8

8

Pro

babi

lity

of b

eing

em

ploy

men

t

-10 -5 0 5 10dur

Higher number of GCSE

.76

.78

.8.8

2.8

4

Pro

babi

lity

of b

eing

em

ploy

men

t

-10 -5 0 5 10dur

Higher grades of GCSE

Page 42: The national minimum wage in recession evidence from UK/file/A2_1_XU.pdf · The national minimum wage in recession: evidence from UK Lei XU June 2016 Abstract The topic of my second

Graph3.Estimatedprobabilityofemploymentforlowergradesornumbersof

GCSE

Notes:Thegraphplotstheestimatedaverageprobabilityofemploymentratewhichiscalculated

byaveragingindividual’sestimatedemploymentprobabilityindifferentperiod.

Source,LFS

.7.7

1.7

2.7

3.7

4

Pro

babi

lity

of b

eing

em

ploy

men

t

-10 -5 0 5 10dur

Lower number of GCSE

.65

.7.7

5.8

Pro

babi

lity

of b

eing

em

ploy

men

t

-10 -5 0 5 10dur

Lower grades of GCSE

Page 43: The national minimum wage in recession evidence from UK/file/A2_1_XU.pdf · The national minimum wage in recession: evidence from UK Lei XU June 2016 Abstract The topic of my second

Graph4.Employmentrateforindividualswithafull-timejob

Notes:Thegraphplotstheemploymentrateoffull-timejob.Thevariable“lessthanGCSE”

includesindividualswhosehighestqualificationislowerthanGCSEaccordingtovariable

'HIQUAL'inLFS.LowernumberofGCSEincludesindividualswhosehighestqualificationisGCSE

andholdlessthan5GCSEs.HighernumberofGCSEincludesindividualswhosehighest

qualificationisGCSEandhold5ormorethan5GCSEs.

Source,LFS

.31

.32

.33

.34

.35

.36

Per

cent

age

of fu

ll-tim

e jo

b

-10 -5 0 5 10dur

Less than GCSE

.32

.34

.36

.38

.4

Per

cent

age

of fu

ll-tim

e jo

b

-10 -5 0 5 10dur

Lower number of GCSE.3

6.3

8.4

.42

.44

Per

cent

age

of fu

ll-tim

e jo

b

-10 -5 0 5 10dur

Higher number of GCSE

.35

.4.4

5

Per

cent

age

of fu

ll-tim

e jo

b

-10 -5 0 5 10dur

A-level

Page 44: The national minimum wage in recession evidence from UK/file/A2_1_XU.pdf · The national minimum wage in recession: evidence from UK Lei XU June 2016 Abstract The topic of my second

Graph5.Employmentrateforindividualswitha“formal”job

Notes:Thegraphplotstheemploymentrateofbothfull-timeandpermanentjob.Thevariable

“lessthanGCSE”includesindividualswhosehighestqualificationislowerthanGCSEaccordingto

variable'HIQUAL'inLFS.LowernumberofGCSEincludesindividualswhosehighestqualification

isGCSEandholdlessthan5GCSEs.HighernumberofGCSEincludesindividualswhosehighest

qualificationisGCSEandhold5ormorethan5GCSEs.

Source,LFS

.31

.32

.33

.34

.35

.36

Per

cent

age

of fu

ll-tim

e jo

b

-10 -5 0 5 10dur

Less than GCSE

.32

.34

.36

.38

.4

Per

cent

age

of fu

ll-tim

e jo

b

-10 -5 0 5 10dur

Lower number of GCSE.3

6.3

8.4

.42

.44

Per

cent

age

of fu

ll-tim

e jo

b

-10 -5 0 5 10dur

Higher number of GCSE

.35

.4.4

5

Per

cent

age

of fu

ll-tim

e jo

b

-10 -5 0 5 10dur

A-level

Page 45: The national minimum wage in recession evidence from UK/file/A2_1_XU.pdf · The national minimum wage in recession: evidence from UK Lei XU June 2016 Abstract The topic of my second

Table5.Effectofincreasingminimumwageonjobtypeforindividualswithless

thanGCSE

Dependent

variable

Full(lessthanGCSE) Job(lessthanGCSE)

Polynomial

terms

Windowlength Windowlength

22months 12months 4months 22months 12months 4months

Constant 0.055

[0.042]

0.042

[0.058]

0.037

[0.102]

0.057

[0.042]

0.050

[0.058]

0.053

[0.102]

Linear 0.024

[0.091]

-0.033

[0.132]

-0.192

[0.326]

0.050

[0.091]

0.017

[0.132]

-0.197

[0.326]

Quadratic -0.039

[0.155]

0.082

[0.256]

0.002

[0.155]

0.041

[0.256]

Cubic 0.019

[0.251]

-0.060

[0.513]

0.023

[0.251]

-0.037

[0.514]

Observation 3613 1960 638 3613 1960 638

Notes:Thedependentvariableiswhetherindividualisinfull-timejoborbothfull-timeand

permanentjob.Theresultsarebasedondifferentpolynomialtermsandwindowlength.Control

variablesarelocalunemployment,dummyfordisable,andyears.(*)significantat10%;

*significantat5%;**significantat1%;***significantat0.1%respectively.

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Table6.Effectofincreasingminimumwageonindividual’schoiceofjobtype:

D-GGCSE

Dependent

variable

Full(D-GGCSE) Job(D-GGCSE)

Polynomial

terms

Windowlength Windowlength

22months 12months 4months 22months 12months 4months

Constant 0.015

[0.094]

-0.114

[0.387]

-0.112

[0.237]

0.030

[0.094]

-0.091

[0.132]

0.063

[0.246]

Linear -0.126

[0.199]

-0.269

[0.291]

0.739

[0.806]

-0.025

[0.197]

0.038

[0.290]

1.06

[0.829]

Quadratic -0.473

[0.338]

0.195

[0.565]

-0.127

[0.331]

0.347

[0.566]

Cubic 0.168

[0.054]

-0.544

[1.147]

0.485

[0.540]

-0.387

[1.143]

Observation 761 405 119 761 405 119

Notes:Thedependentvariableiswhetherindividualisinfull-timejoborbothfull-timeand

permanentjob.Theresultsarebasedondifferentpolynomialtermsandwindowlength.Control

variablesarelocalunemployment,dummyfordisable,andyears.(*)significantat10%;

*significantat5%;**significantat1%;***significantat0.1%respectively.

Page 47: The national minimum wage in recession evidence from UK/file/A2_1_XU.pdf · The national minimum wage in recession: evidence from UK Lei XU June 2016 Abstract The topic of my second

Table7.Effectofincreasingminimumwageonindividual’schoiceofjobtype:

5-GCSE

Dependent

variable

Full(5-GCSE) Job(5-GCSE)

Polynomial

terms

Windowlength Windowlength

22months 12months 4months 22months 12months 4months

Constant 0.025

[0.054]

0.019

[0.075]

0.043

[0.139]

0.031

[0.054]

0.050

[0.075]

0.094

[0.137]

Linear 0.066

[0.118]

0.017

[0.176]

0.618

[0.459]

0.138

[0.118]

0.150

[0.175]

0.754*

[0.451]

Quadratic -0.114

[0.206]

0.242

[0.348]

0.018

[0.203]

0.294

[0.345]

Cubic 0.237

[0.336]

0.80

[0.691]

0.416

[0.331]

0.901

[0.686]

Observation 2224 1192 388 2224 1192 388

Notes:Thedependentvariableiswhetherindividualisinfull-timejoborbothfull-timeand

permanentjob.“5-”includesindividualswithlessthan5GCSEs.Theresultsarebasedon

differentpolynomialtermsandwindowlength.Controlvariablesarelocalunemployment,

dummyfordisable,andyears.(*)significantat10%;*significantat5%;**significantat1%;

***significantat0.1%respectively.

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Table8.Effectofincreasingminimumwageonindividual’schoiceofjobtype:

A-CGCSE

Dependent

variable

Full(A-CGCSE) Job(A-CGCSE)

Polynomial

terms

Windowlength Windowlength

22months 12months 4months 22months 12months 4months

Constant 0.169***

[0.048]

0.164**

[0.068]

0.156

[0.118]

0.166***

[0.048]

0.180**

[0.066]

0.116

[0.115]

Linear 0.193*

[0.104]

0.192

[0.152]

0.840**

[0.393]

0.225**

[0.104]

0.180

[0.151]

0.933**

[0.383]

Quadratic 0.087

[0.179]

0.460

[0.297]

0.059

[0.177]

0.343

[0.294]

Cubic 0.575**

[0.291]

0.825

[0.602]

0.505*

[0.288]

0.937

[0.594]

Observation 2841 1545 524 2841 1545 524

Notes:Thedependentvariableiswhetherindividualisinfull-timejoborbothfull-timeand

permanentjob.Theresultsarebasedondifferentpolynomialtermsandwindowlength.Control

variablesarelocalunemployment,dummyfordisable,andyears.(*)significantat10%;

*significantat5%;**significantat1%;***significantat0.1%respectively.

Page 49: The national minimum wage in recession evidence from UK/file/A2_1_XU.pdf · The national minimum wage in recession: evidence from UK Lei XU June 2016 Abstract The topic of my second

Table9.Effectofincreasingminimumwageonindividual’schoiceofjobtype:

5+GCSE

Dependent

variable

Full(5+GCSE) Job(5+GCSE)

Polynomial

terms

Windowlength Windowlength

22months 12months 4months 22months 12months 4months

Constant 0.297***

[0.071]

0.225**

[0.096]

0.250

[0.163]

0.292***

[0.071]

0.229**

[0.094]

0.188

[0.158]

Linear 0.202

[0.149]

0.211

[0.211]

0.582

[0.535]

0.209

[0.149]

0.167

[0.209]

0.608

[0.526]

Quadratic 0.085

[0.249]

0.492

[0.405]

0.020

[0.247]

0.287

[0.401]

Cubic 0.074*

[0.404]

0.034

[0.839]

0.552

[0.402]

0.267

[0.830]

Observation 1378 758 281 1378 758 281

Notes:Thedependentvariableiswhetherindividualisinfull-timejoborbothfull-timeand

permanentjob.“5+”includesindividualswith5ormorethan5GCSEs.Theresultsarebasedon

differentpolynomialtermsandwindowlength.Controlvariablesarelocalunemployment,

dummyfordisable,andyears.(*)significantat10%;*significantat5%;**significantat1%;

***significantat0.1%respectively.