We use Canadian data over the period of 1991Q1 to 2019Q2 to examine the effect of higher minimum wages on consumption, measured as the real retail trade sales per adult population. Such an examination is rare in the extant literature and it is timely given the increasing debate concerning the stimulus versus inflationary effects arising from wage polices because of COVID-19 global pandemic. We apply the autoregressive distributed lag model to determine the causal relationship between these variables. We find one long-run cointegrating relationship that runs from the real minimum wage to the real retail trade sales. In addition, we find that a 1% increase in the minimum wage is associated with almost a 0.5% increase in real retail trade sales in the long run. While our findings rest on several statistical assumptions, there is strong evidence in support of the position that minimum wage strengthens aggregate consumer spending, and thereby the standard of living, economic growth and stability. This is a position that differs from the conclusions drawn from mainstream academic and policy debates on the economic usefulness and efficacy of minimum wage increases.

Mendoza is the main wine-producing province of Argentina, and the government is currently implementing a range of policies that seek to improve grape grower profitability, including a vineyard replanting program. This study uses a dataset of all grape sales recorded in Mendoza from 2007 to 2018, totaling 90,910 observations, to investigate the determinants of grape prices. Key findings include: smaller volume transactions receive lower-average prices per kilogram sold; the discount for cash payments is higher in less-profitable regions; and the effect of wine stock levels on prices is substantial for all varieties. Long-run predicted prices are also estimated for each variety, and region; and these results suggest that policymakers should review some of the varieties currently used in the vineyard replanting program. (JEL Classifications: Q12, Q13, Q18)