Increasing Minimum Wage in Seattle 2015 - 2018: What are the Effects of this Policy Change

• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Boston College
• Subjects: Minimum Wage; Unemployment; Employment; Elasticity; Monopsony
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/bc-ir:108496

Thesis advisor: Christopher Maxwell === Thesis advisor: === This paper aims to measure the impact of increases to Seattle minimum wage from the years 2015 – 2018 on total earnings of the greater Seattle area. My research concentrates on low-wage industries but also touches upon the effect on high wage industries and the overall economy. Also, to ensure continuity of results, models were replicated at the federal level. This question is important because of a modern movement for higher state and city minimum wages. There have been several research papers about this topic already; however many economists have come up with conflicting results. My methods are a combination of previously used methods in an attempt to provide an unbiased analysis. In addition, research that has been released on this topic only covers the initial increases in minimum wage from 2015 – 2016. My research expands on this time frame and analyzes the impact of minimum wage increases from 2015 – 2018. My results show a statistically significant positive impact of minimum wage on total earnings for the greater Seattle area, not just for low-wage industries but also for the overall economy. These results show that a high minimum wage can be beneficial for the economy. === Thesis (BA) — Boston College, . === Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. === Discipline: Departmental Honors. === Discipline: Economics.