Post by account_disabled on Nov 26, 2023 0:02:11 GMT -5
In the political, social and media arena of many countries, the debate on the Interprofessional Minimum Wage (SMI) has long been a point of controversy, often being used as a weapon. Although there is still considerable reluctance, voices in favor of raising wages have intensified in recent years, despite the evident division between economists, employers and unions. Given the rise in inflation in the month of September, which has once again brought up the possibility of further increasing the SMI, the General Council of Economists of Spain (CGE) and Labor Advisory Economists (EAL) have held a colloquium in in which two of the greatest experts on the subject – the director of Research in the labor area of FEDEA, Marcel Jansen, and the coordinator of the Economic Cabinet of the CCOO Trade Union Confederation , Luis Zarapuz – have analyzed the evolution that the SMI has had in Spain in recent years and its effect; If there is still room for growth, and what impact this could have on employment. The event is part of the "Meetings on employment in Spain" , directed by Valentín Pich and Roberto Pereira , president of the CGE and president of EAL-CGE , respectively. «Raising the SMI does not destroy employment» For the professor at the Autonomous University of Madrid and Doctor in Economics from the European University Institute of Florence , Marcel Jansen , "that the minimum wage destroys employment is a falsehood, it has been known for 30 years that this is not the case . " The problem, he assures, is that many times there is no data to exhaustively evaluate this type of policy. «Mainly because we need a counterfactual, to know what would happen if the SMI were not raised.
Additionally, there are many other variables happening at the same time. The labor market in recent years has been behaving in a strange way in which economies grow little, but cr Phone Number List eate many jobs. Many things are happening and any possible bad data to the rise of the SMI is pushing the lines of causality ," explains the economist. The data seem to converge in that the measure has not had significant negative effects on employment. For Jansen, the question to be solved now is to find the limit. «The limit is set by the offer. We have examples like the United States, a country with an enormous level of inequality that, however, has reduced it because the salaries of workers who earned the lowest salaries are growing much faster than those of those who earned the most," she says . . What has been the impact of the rise? According to Luis Zarapuz , coordinator of the Economic Cabinet of the CCOO Trade Union Confederation , the positive evolution of employment in recent years despite the chain of negative impacts – pandemic, recession, war and inflation – leads to completely ruling out the predicted labor apocalypse . before each increase in the SMI in recent years. «The negative impact on employment, if it existed, has been very small, and focused on somewhat less intense job creation than expected. The various studies published by the Bank of Spain or the OECD on the impact of the SMI on employment have progressively qualified and reduced the possible negative impact on employment, and limited it in any case to a reduced effect on the intensity of job creation. "employment ," maintains the coordinator.
Among the positive aspects that the unions affirm that the increase has brought, the reduction of inequality and the risk of poverty stands out by increasing the income of households located in the lower deciles to a greater extent. The increase in the SMI narrows the competitive space of those business projects that are not capable of generating sufficient added value and offering decent and sufficient salaries, and gives more scope for action to companies that do generate greater added value and can offer better conditions. labor to its workers. Can the SMI continue to be raised? "I would ask for caution," said Marcel Jansen , and then went on to add that "there is a certain consensus among experts that the adverse effects of SMI are less than what used to b those aged 45 to 55 and 10.3% of those aged 55 and over. By type of contract, it has benefited more intensely the population with a temporary contract (21.6%) than those with a permanent contract (11.5%). By sectors, the highest incidence has been among workers in agriculture (46.9%), services (14.5%), industry (7.6%) and the lowest in construction (3.8%). 77% of the people benefiting from the increase in the SMI work in the services sector. The communities with the highest percentage of their salaried population benefiting from the increase are Extremadura (22.4%), Murcia (22.2%), the Canary Islands (20.6%) and Andalusia (18.8%). In absolute terms, Catalonia, Andalusia and Madrid account for half of the population benefiting from the increase in the SMI.
Additionally, there are many other variables happening at the same time. The labor market in recent years has been behaving in a strange way in which economies grow little, but cr Phone Number List eate many jobs. Many things are happening and any possible bad data to the rise of the SMI is pushing the lines of causality ," explains the economist. The data seem to converge in that the measure has not had significant negative effects on employment. For Jansen, the question to be solved now is to find the limit. «The limit is set by the offer. We have examples like the United States, a country with an enormous level of inequality that, however, has reduced it because the salaries of workers who earned the lowest salaries are growing much faster than those of those who earned the most," she says . . What has been the impact of the rise? According to Luis Zarapuz , coordinator of the Economic Cabinet of the CCOO Trade Union Confederation , the positive evolution of employment in recent years despite the chain of negative impacts – pandemic, recession, war and inflation – leads to completely ruling out the predicted labor apocalypse . before each increase in the SMI in recent years. «The negative impact on employment, if it existed, has been very small, and focused on somewhat less intense job creation than expected. The various studies published by the Bank of Spain or the OECD on the impact of the SMI on employment have progressively qualified and reduced the possible negative impact on employment, and limited it in any case to a reduced effect on the intensity of job creation. "employment ," maintains the coordinator.
Among the positive aspects that the unions affirm that the increase has brought, the reduction of inequality and the risk of poverty stands out by increasing the income of households located in the lower deciles to a greater extent. The increase in the SMI narrows the competitive space of those business projects that are not capable of generating sufficient added value and offering decent and sufficient salaries, and gives more scope for action to companies that do generate greater added value and can offer better conditions. labor to its workers. Can the SMI continue to be raised? "I would ask for caution," said Marcel Jansen , and then went on to add that "there is a certain consensus among experts that the adverse effects of SMI are less than what used to b those aged 45 to 55 and 10.3% of those aged 55 and over. By type of contract, it has benefited more intensely the population with a temporary contract (21.6%) than those with a permanent contract (11.5%). By sectors, the highest incidence has been among workers in agriculture (46.9%), services (14.5%), industry (7.6%) and the lowest in construction (3.8%). 77% of the people benefiting from the increase in the SMI work in the services sector. The communities with the highest percentage of their salaried population benefiting from the increase are Extremadura (22.4%), Murcia (22.2%), the Canary Islands (20.6%) and Andalusia (18.8%). In absolute terms, Catalonia, Andalusia and Madrid account for half of the population benefiting from the increase in the SMI.