10.30-11.45
What can you expect?
During the twentieth century, almost all academic economists were highly sceptical about minimum wages. The reason for this was that conventional theory showed that increased minimum wages could not lead to anything else than reduced employment. Therefore, at the level of the individual firm a rise in the minimum wage would only lead to a proportional reduction in the number of employees. Nothing is gained.
However, the modern, empirically oriented labour market research has over the last decades shown that the correlation between minimum wages and employment is more complicated than what was previously assumed. Consequently, several countries have introduced minimum wages, and they have been substantially increased in many countries that already have it. Behind this development, there are broad-based intellectual and scientific steps forward.
Attila Lindner, is a professor of economics at University College London. He is an internationally well-known researcher on how minimum wages affect employment, productivity and other variables. Last autumn, he gave a keynote speech about this research at the yearly conference of the organization for European labour economists.