Assessing the impact of statutory minimum wages in developing countries

Research which evaluates the impact of past statutory minimum wage decisions ought to constitute an integral component of a well-administered minimum wage programme. However, such studies have rarely been conducted in developing countries. Systematic efforts to assess the effects of mandatory minimum wages can clarify issues, improve understanding of the probable magnitude of socio-economic repercussions and disprove the more extreme assertions on possible consequences. In the present publication the impact of the statutory minimum wage is assessed in four developing countries: Botswana, Brazil, Mexico and Sri Lanka. The four coumtrv studies illustrate quite different approaches to evaluation and interpretation. While the approaches employed may not be totally applicable to other countries, the ILO trusts that they will provide administrators of minimum wage programmes with some useful deals for the evaluation of their own programmes.