| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立成功大學 === 政治經濟研究所 === 89 === The established policy of the standard minimum wages is complicated by the incorporation of social, economic, and political consideration. The thesis shall focus on the policy-making process of minimum wages, and then estimate the systematic influence on general wages. We hereby expect the findings of the thesis can be useful for the government authorities in formulating a minimum wages standard that can be accepted by the working party and capitalists, in terms of social fairness and international competitiveness.
The effectiveness of the ordinances or policies depends on their criteria, their objects concerned, and their performance. Hence, we employed data from the Taiwan Human Resources Data Bank of the EPS/AREMOS, and the Survey of the Human Resources Utilization Report to compile the coverage and compliance rates of the standard minimum wages. In turn, the compliance rate is incorporated into Kaitz index as a proxy variable for effective minimum wages (KIC). The purpose is to measure the impact of the effective minimum wage on the general wages of the whole nation, and industrial and service sectors. Additionally, the possible structural change caused by introducing foreign labour to domestic industries is also considered in the model to avoid misspecification and further refine the estimated results.
The estimated results are different from previous researches. We found that the increase in minimum wages is significantly (rather than insignificantly) conducive to the increase of general wages in the economy, as well as in the industrial and service sectors. According to statistical data, the ratios of minimum wages to general wages, on average, increase by 0.21% - 0.23%. Take the coverage and compliance rates into consideration, the estimated results suggest that the rise in effective minimum wage will cause the general wages to increase 0.33% - 0.44% quarterly. In addition, the introduction of foreign labour may suppress, with a diminishing degree, the general wage inflation.
The traditional roles of minimum wages are to sustain the living standard of the marginal workers, and affect the structure of wages and various social insurances. However, in light of the impact of minimum wage increase on the general wage inflation, the government authorities should not neglect the impact in raising minimum wages.
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