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Title: Three essays in labor economics

Citation Type: Dissertation/Thesis

Publication Year: 2020

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Abstract: This dissertation has three chapters that discuss issues regarding the U.S. labor market. The first chapter investigates how establishments adjust their production on various mar- gins when wage rates rise. Exploiting state-by-year variation in minimum wage laws, I analyze U.S. manufacturing plants responses over a 23-year period using restricted-access Census Microdata. A one-percent increase in production workers hourly wages reduces total production worker hours by 0.7 percent and increases capital investment on machines by 2.7 percent. Manufacturing plants reduce average hours per production worker more than number of production workers. The elasticity of substitution between capital and labor is 0.85. In addition, when wage rates increase, manufacturing plants are also more likely to exit. Finally, suggestive evidence shows that when minimum wage laws increase wages paid by some of the establishments in a firm, the firm also increases the wages paid at its other establishments.

Url: https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/items/116326

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Authors: Chen, Yuci

Institution: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Department: Economics

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Pages: 1-210

Data Collections: IPUMS USA, IPUMS CPS

Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure

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