Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/276229 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper Series No. 14
Publisher: 
University of Konstanz, Cluster of Excellence "The Politics of Inequality", Konstanz
Abstract: 
Women are more likely to work in jobs with low hours than men. Low-hour jobs are associated with lower hourly wages and are more likely impacted by minimum wages that set a floor on hourly wages. We document that the first German minimum wage significantly increased women's transition towards jobs with higher weekly hours. We construct and estimate an equilibrium search model with demographic and firm productivity heterogeneity. The model replicates observed gender gaps in employment, hours and wage and the positive relationship between hours and hourly wages. We implement the minimum wage in our model with a penalty to address non-compliance. Based on our model, the minimum wage primarily reduces the gender income gap through the gender wage gap. At its 2022 level, the German minimum wage reduces the gender employment and hours gap due to an upward reallocation effect, resulting in women's increased participation in higher-hour jobs with lower separation rates. The upward reallocation effect is the strongest for women with children and varies by marital state and spousal income. While the minimum wage only modestly discourages firms from posting jobs, it shifts job offers toward full-time positions.
Subjects: 
Minimum wage
gender gaps
equilibrium job posting
hour requirement
JEL: 
J08
J31
J16
E24
E64
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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