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.

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