Raising wages at a low-skill employer (e.g., Walmart) via a voluntary premium would cause 'job gentrification': higher pay attracts higher-skilled applicants, so the marginal low-skill workers the policy was meant to help become unemployed rather than earning the higher wage.

causalpending

Speaker

Russ Roberts

Evidence Quote

suppose we go from $9 to $12 an hour at Walmart and the people who at the margin were the last ones to take that $9 per hour are not as competitive

Source

Mike Munger on Fair Trade and Free Trade 12/3/2007EconTalk
Created: 6/17/2026, 10:31:24 AM

My Notes

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