Minimum Wages & Employment

Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania

David Card; Alan B. Krueger

The American Economic Review, Vol. 84, No. 4. (Sep., 1994), pp. 772-793.

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Abstract
On April 1, 1992, New Jersey's minimum wage rose from $4.25 to $5.05 per hour. To evaluate the impact of the law we surveyed 410 fast-food restaurants in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania before and after the rise. Comparisons of employment growth at stores in New Jersey and Pennsylvania (where the minimum wage was constant) provide simple estimates of the effect of the higher minimum wage. We also compare employment changes at stores in New Jersey that were initially paying high wages (above $5) to the changes at lower-wage stores. We find no indication that the rise in the minimum wage reduced employment.

Follow-up

Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania: Comment

David Neumark; William Wascher

The American Economic Review, Vol. 90, No. 5. (Dec., 2000), pp. 1362-1396.

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Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania: Reply

David Card; Alan B. Krueger

The American Economic Review, Vol. 90, No. 5. (Dec., 2000), pp. 1397-1420.

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