Publications by T. William Lester
Minimum Wage Shocks, Employment Flows and Labor Market Frictions
July 1, 2016 • Scholarly Publications • By Arindrajit Dube, T. William Lester and Michael Reich
Journal of Labor Economics, 34(3):663-704. April 2016. [accordions] [accordion title="Abstract" load="hide"]We provide the first estimates of the effects of minimum wages on employment flows in the US labor market, identifying the impact by using policy discontinuities at state borders. We find that minimum wages have a sizable negative effect on employment flows but not on stocks. Separations and accessions fall among affected workers, especially those with low tenure. We do not find changes in the duration of nonemployment for separations or hires. This evidence is consistent with search models with endogenous separations. [/accordion] [/accordions]
Minimum Wage Shocks, Employment Flows and Labor Market Frictions
April 1, 2012 • Working Papers • By Arindrajit Dube, T. William Lester and Michael Reich
Abstract We provide the first estimates of the effects of minimum wages on employment flows in the US labor market, identifying the impact by using policy discontinuities at state borders.
Do Frictions Matter in the Labor Market?: Accessions, Separations and Minimum Wage Effects
June 1, 2011 • Working Papers • By Arindrajit Dube, T. William Lester and Michael Reich
Minimum Wage Effects Across State Borders: Estimates Using Contiguous Counties
November 1, 2010 • Working Papers • By Arindrajit Dube, Michael Reich and T. William Lester
Abstract We use policy discontinuities at state borders to identify the effects of minimum wages on earnings and employment in restaurants and other low-wage sectors. Our approach generalizes the case…
Minimum Wage Effects Across State Borders: Estimates Using Contiguous Counties
November 1, 2010 • Scholarly Publications • By Arindrajit Dube, Michael Reich and T. William Lester
Review of Economics and Statistics, 92(4):945-964. November, 2010. [accordions] [accordion title="Abstract" load="hide"]We use policy discontinuities at state borders to identify the effects of minimum wages on earnings and employment in restaurants and other low-wage sectors. Our approach generalizes the case study method by considering all local differences in minimum wage policies between 1990 and 2006. We compare all contiguous county pairs in the United States that straddle a state border and find no adverse employment effects. We show that traditional approaches that do not account for local economic conditions tend to produce spurious negative effects due to spatial heterogeneities in employment trends that are unrelated to minimum wage policies. Our findings are robust to allowing for long-term effects of minimum wage changes. [/accordion] [/accordions]
September 1, 2009 • Working Papers • By T. William Lester
Traditional local economic development policies entice private businesses to create highpaying jobs in a given jurisdiction through direct subsidies or by projecting a positive “business climate” within regional and global…