EVALUATING MINIMUM WAGE AS A LEGAL PRICE Research Paper

EVALUATING MINIMUM WAGE AS A LEGAL PRICE - Research Paper Example Equilibrium wage price in this case, is the price of labour in which the supply is equal to the demand. The thesis statement for this paper is that the minimum wage, which varies from time to time, has great impact to the labour market and it is the same throughout the nation. The topic studied in this research paper is very important to the economists. It serves the purpose of exploring the minimum wage as a legal price in depth. The topic has a great impact to different economic actors. One of its impacts is that it enables policy makers to determine the gains and losses that should be expected from a policy to raise minimum wage (Welch & Welch, 2009). It also enables the human rights advocates to know the extent to which they can force the government to increase minimum wage. For the government, it could enable it to realize how it can control its economy using the minimum wage. The first major point in this research paper was that the minimum wage has a great impact to the labour market. As Mankiw (1998) indicates, minimum wage raises the income of the working people but increases unemployment. In terms of demand as supply curve for labor, we can say that if the minimum wage is above the equilibrium price for labor, employers will employ fewer laborers. As a result, there will be an increase in unemployment. However, if the minimum wage is below the equilibrium price for labor, it will not have any effect to the levels of unemployment. Another major point in this research was that minimum wage as a legal price has been changing from time to time. Currently, a proposal was made to increase minimum wage and it has already been implemented by some states (Brux, 2007). This was an effort to keep the minimum wage in-line with the economic situation in the country. The economic situation in the country has been worsening with inflation increasing on annual basis. Therefore, the value of money declined and hence there was a need to