Negative impacts of minimum wage and anti sweatshop legislation
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to combat economic illiteracy concerning poverty, minimum wages, sweatshops and working conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
The objectives were achieved by (among others) making a proper economic analysis of the unemployment effects of minimum wage laws. The main method(s) used for the research are empirical and theoretical.
Findings
The results point to laissez‐faire capitalism as the last best hope for the poor, whether in third world countries or in advanced economies. If the minimum wage were ended, and sweat shop conditions allowed to be bargained competitively, the poor would be much better off. Happily, in the nineteenth century, these regulations were not in force, and as a result the advanced economies were allowed to advance.
Research limitations/implications
The implication of the present research is deregulation in the labor market.
Practical implications
The practical implications of such a legal change would be lowered unemployment rates, and an improvement in economic welfare on the part of the poor.
Originality/value
The present paper combines an analysis of minimum wages laws and sweatshop working conditions.
Keywords
Citation
Greene, Z., Henry, S., Nathanson, C. and Block, W. (2007), "Negative impacts of minimum wage and anti sweatshop legislation", Humanomics, Vol. 23 No. 2, pp. 83-92. https://doi.org/10.1108/08288660710751335
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2007, Emerald Group Publishing Limited