The Employment Effects of the October 2003 Increase in the National Minimum Wage

Initial research on the employment impact of the introduction of the National Minimum Wage has shown no evidence of any significant employment loss (Stewart, 2002, 2003, 2004). Against this background the NMW was raised substantially in October 2003 from £4.20 to £4.50 and again in October 2004 to £4.85. These are quite large increases in the NMW and they have been predicted to raise the wages for a substantial proportion of employees in the UK. Some concerns have been raised in the business community about the size of these increases, with some large employers claiming that for the first time the NMW will affect their pay structures. In this report we examine the impact of the October 2003 increase in the NMW on employment. We use a methodology first proposed by Linneman (1982) and used more recently by Stewart (2003, 2004) to examine the introduction of the minimum wage. This essentially examines individual transitions out of employment, comparing a group of workers directly affected by the NMW with a similar but unaffected group.Minimum wages, Employment transitions, Wages

The Employment Effects of the October 2003 Increase in the National Minimum Wage

There is a growing body of research that measures employment effects of the minimum wage by using longitudinal data on individuals to compare job loss of workers affected by a minimum wage increase with those who are not directly affected. This sort of study requires good quality wage data in order to clearly identify these treatment and control groups. Much of the evidence on the impact of the UK minimum wage uses this technique with poor quality wage data. This paper examines the impact of the October 2003 increase in the National Minimum Wage (NMW) using a much better measure of the wage. We find insignificant negative effects on the employment retention rates of all adults and, most notably, male workers. Analysis of the probability of employment retention across different hourly wage rates also show how sensitive this methodology can be to different definitions of the treatment and control group.Minimum Wages, Employment Transitions, Wages

Crime rates in the UK have been falling, but the reversal of policies that contributed to this trend means that ‘something will give’

Mirko Draca explains the factors behind falling crime rates in the UK, examining research he and colleagues have conducted. The evidence suggests that education and labour market policies, and increased spending on police resources are amongst the reasons for this trend. However, as the economy struggles to emerge from recession and inequality worsens, and as police budgets are curtailed, we can expect crime rates to level out and potentially rise

Reagan’s innovation dividend? Technological impacts of the 1980s US defense build-up

US government spending since World War II has been characterized by large investments in defense related goods, services and R&D. In turn, this means that the Department of Defense (DoD) has had a large role in funding corporate innovation in the US. This paper looks at the impact of military procurement spending on corporate innovation among publicly traded firms for the period 1966-2003. The study utilizes a major database of detailed, historical procurement contracts for all Department of Defense (DoD) prime contracts since 1966. Product-level spending shifts – chiefly centered around the Reagan defense build-up of the 1980s – are used as a source of exogenous variation in firm-level procurement receipts. Estimates indicate that defense procurement has a positive absolute impact on patenting and R&D investment, with an elasticity of approximately 0.07 across both measures of innovation. In terms of magnitudes, the contribution of defense procurement to innovation peaked during the early Reagan build-up, accounting for 11.4% of the total change in patenting intensity and 6.5% for R&D. This compares to a defense sector share in output of around 4%. The later defense cutbacks under Bush Senior and Clinton then curbed the growth in technological intensity by around 2%

Panic on the Streets of London: Police, Crime and the July 2005 Terror Attacks

In this paper we study the causal impact of police on crime by looking at what happened to crime before and after the terror attacks that hit central London in July 2005. The attacks resulted in a large redeployment of police officers to central London boroughs as compared to outer London – in fact, police deployment in central London increased by over 30 percent in the six weeks following the July 7 bombings. During this time crime fell significantly in central relative to outer London. Study of the timing of the crime reductions and their magnitude, the types of crime which were more likely to be affected and a series of robustness tests looking at possible biases all make us confident that our research approach identifies a causal impact of police on crime. Implementing an instrumental variable approach shows an elasticity of crime with respect to police of approximately -0.3, so that a 10 percent increase in police activity reduces crime by around 3 percent.Crime; Police; Terror attacks.

Panic on the Streets of London: Police, Crime and the July 2005 Terror Attacks

In this paper we study the causal impact of police on crime by looking at what happened to crime before and after the terror attacks that hit central London in July 2005. The attacks resulted in a large redeployment of police officers to central London boroughs as compared to outer London – in fact, police deployment in central London increased by over 30 percent in the six weeks following the July 7 bombings. During this time crime fell significantly in central relative to outer London. Study of the timing of the crime reductions and their magnitude, the types of crime which were more likely to be affected and a series of robustness tests looking at possible biases all make us confident that our research approach identifies a causal impact of police on crime. Implementing an instrumental variable approach shows an elasticity of crime with respect to police of approximately -0.3, so that a 10 percent increase in police activity reduces crime by around 3 percent.crime, police, terror attacks

Panic on the Streets of London: Police, Crime and the July 2005 Terror Attacks

In this paper we study the causal impact of police on crime by looking at what happened to crime before and after the terror attacks that hit central London in July 2005. The attacks resulted in a large redeployment of police officers to central London boroughs as compared to outer London - in fact, police deployment in central London increased by over 30 percent in the six weeks following the July 7 bombings. During this time crime fell significantly in central relative to outer London. Study of the timing of the crime reductions and their magnitude, the types of crime which were more likely to be affected and a series of robustness tests looking at possible biases all make us confident that our research approach identifies a causal impact of police on crime. Implementing an instrumental variable approach shows an elasticity of crime with respect to police approximately -0.3, so that a 10 percent increase in police activity reduces crime by around 3 percent.crime, police, terror attacks

Minimum Wages and Firm Profitability

Although there is a large literature on the economic effects of minimum wages on labour market outcomes (especially employment), there is hardly any evidence on their impact on firm performance. This is surprising: minimum wages appear to have a significant impact on wages, but only a limited impact on jobs, so it is natural to imagine there must be a stronger impact on other aspects of firm behaviour. In this paper we consider the impact of minimum wages on firm profitability by exploiting the introduction of a minimum wage to the UK labour market in 1999. We use pre-policy information on the distribution of wages to construct treatment and comparison groups and implement a difference in differences approach. We show evidence that firm profitability was significantly reduced (and wages significantly raised) by the minimum wage introduction. This emerges from separate analyses of two distinct types of firm level panel data (one on firms in a very low wage sector, UK residential care homes, and a second on firms across all sectors). Interestingly, we find no evidence that the profitability reductions resulted in increases in firm exit, so our findings may be consistent with redistribution of quasi-rents towards low wage employees.Minimum Wage, Profitability, Exit

Trade Induced Technical Change? The Impact of Chinese Imports on Innovation, IT and Productivity

We examine the impact of Chinese import competition on broad measures of technical change - patenting, IT, R&D, TFP and management practices - using new panel data across twelve European countries between 1996-2007. We correct for endogeneity using the removal of product-specific quotas following China's entry into the World Trade Organization. Chinese import competition (1) led to increased technical change within firms; and (2) reallocated employment between firms towards more technologically advanced firms. These within and between effects were about equal in magnitude, and appear to account for 15% of European technology upgrading over 2000-2007 (and even higher when allowing for offshoring to China). Rising Chinese import competition also led to falls in employment, profits, prices and the share of unskilled workers. By contrast, import competition from developed countries had no effect on innovation. We develop a simple "trapped factor" model that is consistent with these empirical findings.China, technical change, trade, firm survival, employment