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Minimum wage hikes during that period actually drove up wage inequality as the higher salaries dampened hiring by companies and many workers ended up in informal, low-paying jobs or earning less than the minimum wage. As we argue in the book, there are two areas where governments can support the growth with equality: education and productivity.

Minimum wages affect the wage distribution in both the formal and, especially, the informal sector, both at the minimum wage and at multiples of the minimum. The minimum does not uniformly benefit low-wage workers: in countries where the minimum wage is relatively low compared to mean wages, the minimum wage affects the more disadvantaged segments of the labor force, namely informal sector workers, women, young and older workers, and the low skilled, but in countries where the minimum wage ...

The minimum does not uniformly benefit low-wage workers: in countries where the minimum wage is relatively low compared to mean wages, the minimum wage affects the more disadvantaged segments of the labor force, namely informal sector workers, women, young and older workers, and the low skilled, but in countries where the minimum wage is relatively high compared to the wage distribution, it primarily affects wages of the high skilled.

The authors provide an overview of minimum wage levels in Latin America and their true impact on the distribution of wages, using both numerical measures and kernal . Measuring the impact of minimum wages : evidence from Latin America

With 189 member countries, staff from more than 170 countries, and offices in over 130 locations, the World Bank Group is a unique global partnership: five institutions working for sustainable solutions that reduce poverty and build shared prosperity in developing countries.

II. Numerical Measures of the Incidence of Minimum Wages Raw comparisons of the real minimum wage across countries are of limited use. From both the perspective of improving equity and minimizing labor market distortions, what is of interest is the level of the minimum wage relative to the distribution of remuneration in the individual country.

This paper documents an inverse U-shape in the evolution of wage inequality in Latin America since 1995, with a sharp reduction starting in 2002. The Gini coefficient of wages increased from 42 to 44 between 1995 and 2002 and declined to 39 by 2015. Between 2002 and 2015, the 90/10 log hourly earnings ratio decreased by 26 percent.

5.1 Minimum Wage Relative to the Household per Capita Poverty Lines—US$2 per Day or the Consumption-Basket Poverty Line52 5.2 Impact of the Minimum Wage on Household Income in Mexico, 199956 Tables 3.1 Main Institutional Characteristics Affecting Minimum Wages in Selected Latin American Countries21 3.2 Ratio of Each Subgroup’s Share of the Minimum

increases in the minimum wage are likely to exacerbate unemployment and the prevalence of informal employment, which could have negative consequences for labor productivity and for businesses as a result of reduced investment in employee training and loss of productive workers.