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Still Evidence-Based? The Role of Policy Evaluation in Recession and Beyond: The Case of the National Minimum Wage

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2020

Tim Butcher
Tim Butcher*
Affiliation:
Low Pay Commission
*
1 E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

This article explains the role of evidence in determining the recommendations made by the Low Pay Commission (LPC) for the National Minimum Wage (NMW). First, it sets out the process of recommending the minimum wage including the role of evidence. Second, it summarises the evidence available on the impact of the minimum wage before discussing how that evidence has informed the recommendations for the adult rate of the minimum wage in the LPC's reports. It concludes by assessing the extent to which the NMW might be regarded as a success and considers whether the recent financial crisis will alter the evidence-based approach so far adopted by the LPC.

Keywords

Minimum wageswage level and structurewage distributionevaluationJ31J38
Type
Research Articles
Information
National Institute Economic Review , Volume 219 , January 2012 , pp. R26 - R40
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 National Institute of Economic and Social Research

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Footnotes

I would like to thank Steve Palmer, Alex Bryson and David Wilkinson for giving me detailed and helpful comments.

JEL Classifications: J31; J38

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