tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1110014885778996459.post868042270530500401..comments2024-03-29T04:50:03.060-07:00Comments on Idiosyncratic Whisk: Minimum Wage, Labor Force, and Expected Job LossesKevin Erdmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07431566729667544886noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1110014885778996459.post-18482188657627818832014-05-06T17:01:42.611-07:002014-05-06T17:01:42.611-07:00Hmm. I didn't think it was very complex. May...Hmm. I didn't think it was very complex. Maybe I haven't explained the measures well.<br /><br />The y-axis is basically an employment rate - what percentage of the labor force is employed at minimum wage.<br />The x-axis is basically the wage rate of the minimum wage, normalized over time, so that it is meaningful.<br /><br />Since the relationship appears to be very stable and regular, it seems that this can tell us something about the level of minimum wage employment we could expect at a given minimum wage level.<br /><br />One advantage of this approach is that it avoids the problem of confounding variables. For instance, measuring changes in employment over time carries the problem of trying to separate changes due to the minimum wage from changes due to the business cycle or other policies. This comparison appears to be relatively immune to those issues, partly as a result of using these particular ratios.Kevin Erdmannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07431566729667544886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1110014885778996459.post-56237410518797135782014-05-05T19:03:59.987-07:002014-05-05T19:03:59.987-07:00This seems a rather strained analysis. Why not jus...This seems a rather strained analysis. Why not just measure employment rather than some complex proxy for it based on a historical ratio?Kaleberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05283840743310507878noreply@blogger.com