Inst. für Volkswirtschaftstheorie und -politik, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business
Abstract
Minimum wages in Austria are bargaining results between labour unions and entrepreneurs. This paper analyses the empirical effects of minimum wages ("Kollektivvertragslöhne") on employment. "Employment functions", based on a
"neo-classical" partial analytic framework, are estimated. The empirical analysis that
is done for aggregated Austrian industry and specific branches at first sight seems to support the standard theoretical thesis. In addition, problems caused by the used
method, which may occur in similar studies too, are shown. They give rise to the possibility that models of this kind are misspecified.Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Serie
