Der trügerische Charme des Mindestlohns

Open Access

Abstract

Binding minimum wages of whatever form not only cost jobs, they also frequently fail to achieve their generally socio-politically motivated objectives. The introduction of a minimum wage for some postal services and the decisions made by the coalition committee in June 2007 therefore constitute economic policy failures of a grand scale. The negative employment effects of binding minimum wages are well documented in the literature. Specific exceptions do not alter this. This negative verdict also applies to the implicit minimum wages that already exist in Germany. The law on the posting of workers as the vehicle to introduce a minimum wage constitutes a protectionist measure and gives rise to diverse evasive reactions. The recommendation is: hands off the minimum wage.