Minimum Wages, Unemployment and Informality: Evidence from Panel Data on Russian Regions

38 Pages Posted: 11 Jan 2014

See all articles by Alexander Muravyev

Alexander Muravyev

Saint Petersburg Branch National Research University Higher School of Economics; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Aleksey Y. Oshchepkov

National Research University Higher School of Economics

Abstract

This paper revisits labor market effects of the minimum wage by taking advantage of a unique institutional setting and rich data from Russia that cover 89 regions over 10 years, from 2001 to 2010. Our empirical analysis draws on the methodology introduced by Neumark and Wascher, in which labor market outcomes at the regional level are related to the relative minimum wage (captured by the Kaitz index) in a panel setting. We find that the minimum wage raises unemployment among young workers aged 15 to 24. In contrast, there is no evidence of disemployment effects of the minimum wage for workers aged 25-72, including women. In addition, minimum wage hikes are associated with an increase in informal employment.

Keywords: minimum wages, unemployment, informal employment, Russia

JEL Classification: J38, J23

Suggested Citation

Muravyev, Alexander and Oshchepkov, Aleksey Y., Minimum Wages, Unemployment and Informality: Evidence from Panel Data on Russian Regions. IZA Discussion Paper No. 7878, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2377614 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2377614

Alexander Muravyev (Contact Author)

Saint Petersburg Branch National Research University Higher School of Economics ( email )

Kantemirovskaya str. 3a
St. Petersburg, 194000
Russia

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.hse.ru/en/org/persons/127811036

Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) ( email )

Schaumburg-Lippe-Str. 5-9
Bonn, D-53113
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://www.iza.org/en/webcontent/index_html

Aleksey Y. Oshchepkov

National Research University Higher School of Economics ( email )

Myasnitskaya, 20
Moscow, 101000
Russia

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