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Joseph J. Sabia

San Diego University, USA, and IZA, Germany

IZA World of Labor provides a unique opportunity for policymakers and academics to interact on important labor policy issues. I hope that my collaboration with IZA World of Labor will contribute to our understanding of the major shortcomings of minimum wage policy as a tool to reduce poverty and spur economic growth

IZA World of Labor role

Author

Current position

Associate Professor of Economics, San Diego State University (August 2013–present); Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Economics, San Diego State University (June 2013–present)

Research interest

Economics of health behaviors, the human capital effects of health policy, and the poverty effects of minimum wages

Website

https://economics.sdsu.edu/faculty/sabia.html

Positions/functions as a policy advisor

Testimony before Senate Finance Committee on Minimum Wage Policy, Participant at Korea Labor Institute conference on “Wage, Distribution, and Growth: Policy Agenda for a Better Future”

Past positions

Assistant Professor of Economics, United States Military Academy, West Point, NY (August 2010–July 2011); Assistant Professor of Public Policy, American University, Washington, DC (August 2008–July 2010); Assistant Professor of Consumer Economics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA (August 2005–July 2008)

Qualifications

PhD Economics, Cornell University, 2004

Selected publications

  • “When good measurement goes bad: New evidence that New York State’s minimum wage reduced employment.” Industrial and Labor Relations Review (Forthcoming) (with R. V. Burkhauser and B. Hansen).

  • “Sexual violence against women and labor market outcomes.” American Economic Review 103:3 (2013): 274–278 (with A. Dills and J. DeSimone).

  • “Minimum wages and gross domestic product.” Contemporary Economic Policy 33:4 (2015): 587–605.

  • “When war comes home: The effect of combat service on domestic violence.” Review of Economics and Statistics (Forthcoming) (with R. Cesur).

  • “Minimum wages: An antiquated ineffective anti-poverty tool.” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 33:4 (2014): 1028–1036.

article(s)

  • Do minimum wages stimulate productivity and growth?

    Minimum wage increases fail to stimulate growth and can have a negative impact on vulnerable workers during recessions

    Joseph J. Sabia, December 2015
    Proponents of minimum wage increases have argued that such hikes can serve as an engine of economic growth and assist low-skilled individuals during downturns in the business cycle. However, a review of the literature provides little empirical support for these claims. Minimum wage increases redistribute gross domestic product away from lower-skilled industries and toward higher-skilled industries and are largely ineffective in assisting the poor during both peaks and troughs in the business cycle. Minimum wage-induced reductions in employment are found to be larger during economic recessions.
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