Posted on 02/18/2020 8:40:07 AM PST by Olog-hai
The introduction of a nationwide minimum wage in Germany has spurred a growth in worker productivity, according to a study published Tuesday.
The government in Berlin first established a minimum wage in 2015, requiring firms to pay their employees €8.50 ($9.20) per hour. At the time, around 15% of the German workforce was earning less than that amount.
Research by University College London (UCL) and the German Institute for Labor Market Research (AIB) found that the change did not result in higher joblessness among low-wage workers — one of the fears before the policy was rolled out. […]
Instead, their analysis showed that lower-paid employees moved to bigger firms, where more full-time jobs requiring better qualifications were on offer. […]
The nationwide standard helped decrease pay gaps across regions, the study found. However, it also forced the closure of some small businesses — those with three or fewer staff — in areas that had the lowest pre-2015 average pay. …
(Excerpt) Read more at dw.com ...
It didn’t spur productivity. Firms fired those who weren’t producing enough to justify their new compulsory hourly rate, and so, productivity went up.
How on Hades does it spur productivity?
A minimum wage dictates that, at minimum, you pay the least productive the same as the most.
A biz has less money to reward more productive employees.
Unless what the article is really acknowledging is that hiking the minimum wage gooses the move to automation faster and with more dislocation that would occur if the market was left unmolested by the government. And automation is often more productive than people.
Giant fudge factor.
“The introduction of a nationwide minimum wage in Germany has spurred a growth in worker productivity”
ROTFLOL!
“growth in worker productivity” = a euphemistic way of saying “fewer workers doing more work” = increased numbers of ex-workers being paid nothing at all ...
Exactly!
Maybe if they paid 1 worker a million dollars he’d be REALLY productive!
But he’d have to support all the others.
Ach du lieber, Scheisskopf!
1. The inability easily to fire an employee after his probation discourages employment?
2. The expense of contributing to employees' health insurance reduces employment counts because employers are reluctant to hire more than part-time, that is in excess of €400 per month?
I always remember stories about how “productive” workers in Euro countries like France are compared to the US. Most of the time the article fails to mention high minimum wages, labor regulations, and payroll taxes makes hiring low productive workers impossible.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.