A Measure of Fairness: The Economics of Living Wages and Minimum Wages in the United States / Edition 1

by Robert Pollin, Mark Brenner, Stephanie Luce, Jeannette Wicks-Lim

Overview

In early 2007, there were approximately 140 living wage ordinances in place throughout the United States. Communities around the country frequently debate new proposals of this sort. Additionally, as a result of ballot initiatives, twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia, representing nearly 70 percent of the total U.S. population, maintain minimum wage standards above those set by the federal minimum wage.In A Measure of Fairness, Robert Pollin, Mark Brenner, Jeannette Wicks-Lim, and Stephanie Luce assess how well living wage and minimum wage regulations in the United States serve the workers they are intended to help. Opponents of such measures assert that when faced with mandated increases in labor costs, businesses will either lay off workers, hire fewer low-wage employees in the future, replace low-credentialed workers with those having better qualifications or, finally, even relocate to avoid facing the increased costs being imposed on them.The authors give an overview of living wage and minimum wage implementation in Louisiana, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Massachusetts, and Connecticut to show how these policies play out in the paychecks of workers, in the halls of legislature, and in business ledgers. Based on a decade of research, this volume concludes that living wage laws and minimum wage increases have been effective policy interventions capable of bringing significant, if modest, benefits to the people they were intended to help.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801473630
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	01/24/2008
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.75(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Robert Pollin is Professor of Economics and Codirector of the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He is the author of Contours of Descent and coauthor with Stephanie Luce of The Living Wage. Mark Brenner is Codirector of Labor Notes. Jeannette Wicks-Lim is Assistant Research Professor at the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Stephanie Luce is Associate Professor at the Labor Center of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. She is coauthor of Fighting for a Living Wage, also from Cornell.

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures     ix
Preface     xiii
What Are the Questions?     1
Introduction     3
The Economic Logic and Moral Imperative of Living Wages     14
Debating Living Wage Laws: Paul Krugman versus Robert Pollin     34
Impacts on Business     43
A {dollar}6.15 Minimum Wage for New Orleans: What It Would Have Meant for Businesses     49
The Santa Fe Citywide Living Wage Measure: The Impact on Business of the {dollar}8.50 Standard     70
Spending Injections from the Arizona Minimum Wage Increase: How Businesses Benefit     102
Benefits to Workers and Families     107
What Is a Living Wage? Considerations for Santa Monica, California     111
How Santa Monica Workers Would Have Benefited from a {dollar}10.75 Living Wage     118
How Workers and Their Families Will Benefit from the Arizona Minimum Wage Increase     134
Retrospective Analysis     143
Living Wage Laws in Practice: Retrospective Studies on Boston, Hartford, and New Haven     147
Technical Studies and Debates     193
Mandated Wage Floors and the Wage Structure: New Estimates of the Ripple Effects of Minimum Wage Laws     199
Employment Effects of Higher Minimum Wages: A State-by-State Comparative Analysis     216
Comments on Aaron Yelowitz, "Santa Fe's Living Wage Ordinance and the Labor Market"     223
Detecting the Effects of Living Wage Laws: A Comment on Neumark and Adams     233
Notes     253
References     271
Acknowledgments     279
Index     283

What People are Saying About This

Richard B. Freeman

The study of living wages in the United States has moved from an odd peripheral topic to a major issue in economic policy analysis largely because of the research reported in A Measure of Fairness. This volume defines the issues and provides a glow of empirical sunlight on an economic topic traditionally shrouded with ideology instead of evidence.

Jen Kern

As organizers in this movement, we often say 'We don't win because we're right—we win because we out-organize our opponents.' But it also doesn't hurt to be right. This book—like all the great work it compiles—reminds us that we are indeed right. It should make the job of every living wage—organizer that much easier.

Ann Markusen

Robert Pollin and his colleagues give us a thorough and original look at that popular and enduring American institution, the minimum wage. They show that minimum wage hikes have not eliminated jobs or been bad for business, rebutting the naysayers with impeccable econometric evidence. Economists, they make the moral case, too, with powerful normative reasoning.

Carol Oppenheimer and Morty Simon

Beginning with an insightful, inspiring history of the living wage movement, A Measure of Fairness provides an indispensable and user-friendly guide to understanding the economic consequences of living wage policies. It is a must-read for local activists, economists, and all political leaders concerned with economic justice. Bravo.

Ariel Rubinstein

Beyond the clear economic arguments and the fascinating presentation of facts, this book's great merit is the authors' deep and sincere concern for those individuals who contribute to the economy to the best of their ability but are rewarded so little.

Editorial Reviews

"As organizers in this movement, we often say 'We don't win because we're right--we win because we out-organize our opponents.' But it also doesn't hurt to be right. This book--like all the great work it compiles--reminds us that we are indeed right. It should make the job of every living wage--organizer that much easier."

--Jen Kern, Director of Living Wage Resource Center, ACORN

"Beginning with an insightful, inspiring history of the living wage movement, A Measure of Fairness provides an indispensable and user-friendly guide to understanding the economic consequences of living wage policies. It is a must-read for local activists, economists, and all political leaders concerned with economic justice. Bravo."

--Carol Oppenheimer and Morty Simon, activists with the Santa Fe Living Wage Network

"Beyond the clear economic arguments and the fascinating presentation of facts, this book's great merit is the authors' deep and sincere concern for those individuals who contribute to the economy to the best of their ability but are rewarded so little."

--Ariel Rubinstein, Tel Aviv University and New York University

"Robert Pollin and his colleagues give us a thorough and original look at that popular and enduring American institution, the minimum wage. They show that minimum wage hikes have not eliminated jobs or been bad for business, rebutting the naysayers with impeccable econometric evidence. Economists, they make the moral case, too, with powerful normative reasoning."

--Ann Markusen, Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota

"The study of living wages in the United States has moved from an odd peripheral topic to a major issue in economic policy analysis largely because of the research reported in A Measure of Fairness. This volume defines the issues and provides a glow of empirical sunlight on an economic topic traditionally shrouded with ideology instead of evidence."

--Richard B. Freeman, Harvard Economics, Labor and Worklife Program, Harvard Law School, and National Bureau of Economic Research

From the Publisher

"The study of living wages in the United States has moved from an odd peripheral topic to a major issue in economic policy analysis largely because of the research reported in A Measure of Fairness. This volume defines the issues and provides a glow of empirical sunlight on an economic topic traditionally shrouded with ideology instead of evidence."

Richard B. Freeman

"Robert Pollin and his colleagues give us a thorough and original look at that popular and enduring American institution, the minimum wage. They show that minimum wage hikes have not eliminated jobs or been bad for business, rebutting the naysayers with impeccable econometric evidence. Economists, they make the moral case, too, with powerful normative reasoning."

Ann Markusen

"Beyond the clear economic arguments and the fascinating presentation of facts, this book's great merit is the authors' deep and sincere concern for those individuals who contribute to the economy to the best of their ability but are rewarded so little."

Ariel Rubinstein

"Beginning with an insightful, inspiring history of the living wage movement, A Measure of Fairness provides an indispensable and user-friendly guide to understanding the economic consequences of living wage policies. It is a must-read for local activists, economists, and all political leaders concerned with economic justice. Bravo."

Carol Oppenheimer and Morty Simon

"As organizers in this movement, we often say 'We don't win because we're right—we win because we out-organize our opponents.' But it also doesn't hurt to be right. This book—like all the great work it compiles—reminds us that we are indeed right. It should make the job of every living wage—organizer that much easier."

Jen Kern