The effects of minimum wage on unemployment for OECD countries: a dynamic fixed effects panel threshold model perspective

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to shed new light on the incidence of the minimum wage on the unemployment rate on 33 OECD countries during 1980–2020 period applying a dynamic fixed effects panel threshold model. Controlling for the usual macroeconomic and demographic factors, the best model estimates a minimum wage threshold of 9.1667. Specifically, the higher the minimum wage the lower the unemployment rate, however the marginal effect is larger above the threshold value. A single-threshold model is identified for 25–74, secondary and long-term unemployment. The possibility of a double-threshold model is rule out for all the unemployment indicators.