Brian Cushing

Document Type

Working Paper

Publication Date

2003

Document Number

RESEARCH PAPER 2003-3

Abstract

A substantial literature considers migration of the poor, mostly focusing on the relative importance of welfare programs versus labor market opportunities in the migration decisions of the poor. Likewise, a growing literature investigates the effect of changes in the minimum wage on U.S. poverty, focusing exclusively on the federal minimum wage. These two literatures have not intersected to examine how minimum wage laws influence migration decisions of the poor. Real federal minimum wages, minimum wage coverage, and state minimum wage laws all vary spatially. This research investigates the extent to which federal and state minimum wage laws affected migration choices of low-income households in the United States during the 1985-90 period. The study finds that the level of state minimum wages and the extent of federal minimum wage coverage both alter migration choices of the poor.

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