Economics presents: Christian Moser

Christian Moser is an Assistant Professor within the Economics Division at Columbia Business School. Professor Moser will discuss his study, "Earnings Inequality and the Minimum Wage: Evidence from Brazil" (co-authored with Niklas Engbom).

Abstract: We quantify the effect of a minimum wage on compression throughout the earnings distribution. Using the case of Brazil, which experienced a large decrease in earnings inequality while its real minimum wage increased from 1996-2012, we document that the inequality decrease was bottom-driven yet widespread, with compression up to the 75th earnings percentile. We develop an equilibrium search model with heterogeneous firms and workers and find that effects of the minimum wage are consistent with the above facts, explaining 70 percent of the observed inequality decrease, with half of the decrease due to spillovers further up the earnings distribution.

For more information, please contact Matt O'Keefe by email at mkokeefe@maxwell.syr.edu 
Sponsored by the Economics Department