The Minimum Wage Revisited in the Enlarged EU

This book provides in-depth and innovative analysis of the minimum wage in Europe. The authors explore its role and scope within the enlarged EU, and address the question of whether there should be harmonization between the individual member states or even a common EU minimum wage. They also examine the impact of the minimum wage at the national level, looking at trends and effects through case studies of specific policy issues and industrial sectors. Minimum wage fixing has returned quite prominently to the core of policy debates as evidenced by the adoption of a statutory minimum wage in Ireland and the UK, a minimum wage agreement in Austria and the ongoing discussions in Germany and Sweden. Proposals to have common rules at the EU level have also multiplied since enlargement, in particular to minimize “social dumping” and allow increased transnational mobility. This book assesses the renewed interest in the minimum wage in Europe, identifying the concrete effects of minimum wage fixing on employment, low pay, wage disparity, collective bargaining and migration. Bringing together 15 national studies from noted European specialists in the field, this timely collection aims to stimulate the current debate. It will appeal to academics, students, researchers and policy-makers working in labour economics in particular, and European studies more generally.

1. Minimum wage revival in the enlarged EU: Explanatory factors and developments 2. Bulgaria: A shift in minimum wage policy 3. Croatia: Moving towards a more active minimum wage policy 4. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania: Minimum wages in a context of migration and labour shortages 5. France: Towards the end of an active minimum wage policy? 6. Germany: What role for minimum wages on low-wage work? 7. Greece: Neglect and resurgence of minimum wage policy 8. Hungary: The consequences of doubling the minimum wage 9. Ireland: A successful minimum wage implementation? 10. The Netherlands: Minimum wage fall shifts focus to part-time jobs 11. Poland: Minimum wage, employment and labour migration 12. Sweden: A minimum wage model in need of modification? 13. Turkey: Minimum wage in tension between economic and social concerns 14. United Kingdom: Developing a progressive minimum wage in a liberal market economy 15. Towards an EU minimum wage policy?