The 2019 increase in the Greek minimum wage: evidence on wages, employment, and worker reallocation

Manolis Galenianos will present joint work with Effrosyni Adamopoulou (ZEW, Deutsche Bundesbank, University of Mannheim, and CEPR), Nicholas Giannakopoulos (University of Patras), and Ioannis Laliotis (University of Patras).

We study the effects of the 2019 Greek minimum wage increase using matched employer-employee administrative records covering nearly all private-sector employment. The reform raised hourly wages by 7.2 percent among directly affected workers and by 3.1 percent among workers earning between one and two times the minimum wage, indicating substantial spillovers. We find no evidence of adverse employment effects: employment retention, days worked, and local employment growth remained broadly unchanged. Nor did the reform induce worker reallocation across firms. Exposed workers were no more likely to change employers or move to higher-paying or larger firms. The reform operated primarily through within-job wage adjustments.

Meet our speaker and chair

Manolis Galenianos is Professor of Economics at Royal Holloway, University of London. Manolis is also the director of Greece In Numbers, a data hub that collects, organizes, and presents data that describe the Greek economy and society.His research focuses on macroeconomics, labour economics and applied theory. He is an active participant in the policy debate about economic reform in Greece and a frequent op-ed contributor in Greek newspapers and blogs on economics-related issues. He collaborated in the 2020 "Pissarides Report" on how to reform the Greek economy and co-authored a chapter in the collective volume "Beyond Austerity" on how to move beyond the Greek crisis.

Professor Vassilis Monastiriotis is Director of the LSE Centre for Research on Contemporary Greece and Cyprus - Hellenic Observatory, Professor in Political Economy and Eleftherios Venizelos Chair of Contemporary Greek Studies at the European Institute, LSE.

The Hellenic Observatory (@HO_LSE) is internationally recognised as one of the premier research centres on contemporary Greece and Cyprus. It engages in a range of activities, including developing and supporting academic and policy-related research; organisation of conferences, seminars and workshops; academic exchange through visiting fellowships and internships; as well as teaching at the graduate level through LSE's European Institute.

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LSE holds a wide range of events, covering many of the most controversial issues of the day, and speakers at our events may express views that cause offence. The views expressed by speakers at LSE events do not reflect the position or views of the London School of Economics and Political Science.