RT Journal Article
T1 Effects of the Minimum Wage (MW) on Income Inequality: Systematic Review and Analysis of the Spanish Case
A1 Paz Báñez, Manuela Adelaida de
A1 Sánchez López, Celia
A1 Asensio Coto, María José
AB The minimum wage has become a standard measure in the economic and social policiesof countries all over the world. The primary objective of this measure is to guarantee that workersreceive a minimum wage that allows them to lead a decent life, thereby reducing inequality andpoverty. However, studies on the minimum wage have not focused on assessing the effects on thesedimensions but only on employment. The objective of this study is to address this research gap byanalysing the effects of minimum wage increases on income inequality and poverty. To this end,firstly, a systematic review of the empirical analyses was conducted using the PRISMA methodology,with a view to ensuring that all empirical evidence was available. Secondly, the Spanish case wasexamined. The significant increase in minimum wage in Spain in 2019 (21.3% in real terms) presentsan invaluable opportunity to utilise this event as a natural experiment to generate new evidence.A difference-in-differences approach was employed to assess the impact of this phenomenon in theperiod 2018–2019 with microdata from European Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EUSILCfor Spain). In doing so, two basic scientific contributions were made. The first one, a systematic,exhaustive, and up-to-date literature review (up to June 2024), as there is, to our knowledge, norecent systematic review of this relationship (minimum wage vs. inequality). The available evidenceindicates a clear inverse relationship between the minimum wage and inequalities and poverty. Thesecond one, regarding the Spanish case, there has been a dearth of scientific studies on this subject.Thus, this paper provides new scientific evidence demonstrating that a significant increase in theminimum wage can significantly improve the income of low-wage earners, thereby reducing incomeinequality and in-work poverty. Furthermore, there is evidence of a spillover effect towards incomegroups closer to the treatment group.
PB MDPI
SN 2227-7099 (electrónico)
YR 2024
FD 2024-06
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10272/24098
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10272/24098
LA eng
NO Paz-Báñez, M. A., Sánchez-López, C., & Asensio-Coto, M. J. (2024). Effects of the Minimum Wage (MW) on Income Inequality: Systematic Review and Analysis of the Spanish Case. In Economies (Vol. 12, Issue 9, p. 223). MDPI AG. https://doi.org/10.3390/economies12090223
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 13 jun 2026