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Journal of Labor Economics Vol. 19 No. 3 2001

Minimum Wages and Training Revisited

David Neumark1; William Wascher2,3

1 National Bureau of Economic Research · 2 Federal Reserve · 3 Federal Reserve Board of Governors

Abstract

Theory predicts that minimum wages will reduce employer‐provided on‐the‐job training designed to improve workers' skills on the current job, but it is ambiguous regarding training that workers obtain to qualify for a job. We estimate the effects of minimum wages on both types of training received by young workers, exploiting cross‐state variation in minimum wage increases. Much of the evidence supports the hypothesis that higher minimum wages reduce formal training to improve skills on the current job. But there is little or no evidence of offsetting increases in training undertaken to qualify for or obtain jobs.

DOI
10.1086/322073
Volume
19
Issue
3
Pages
563-595
Language
en
Sources
openalex crossref

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