The national minimum wage and young workers: implications for employment and training in urban and rural areas

Sehkaran, Shobana N. (2001) The national minimum wage and young workers: implications for employment and training in urban and rural areas. UNSPECIFIED. Manchester Metropolitan University. ISSN 1471-857X

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Abstract

Theoretical and empirical work on minimum wage policy can be characterised as being located within two main perspectives. On the one hand, there is strong opposition to this policy (e.g. neo-classical models) on the grounds that interference in the free labour market will lead to negative employment consequences. On the other hand, more recent approaches (e.g. dynamic monopsony model, radical segmentation model, efficiency wage theory) support this policy and oppose the role played by an 'invisible hand' in the market. Given the conflicting findings in the literature about minimum wage policy, the influence of the National Minimum Wage on employment is reconsidered in this paper by examining the minimum wage's influence on the employment of young workers within the hospitality sector in urban and rural areas. Preliminary findings based on an exploratory study of 29 hospitality firms suggest that the National Minimum Wage has had little impact on employment practices, and has not led to the substitution of young workers for older workers in either the rural or urban areas.