The guideline system of the Japanese minimum wage law and the regional economy ― Does it have a statistical validity? ―

摘要

The Japanese minimum wage system adopts the guidelines system. Under this system all prefectures are classified into several groups, with considering the regional social and economic conditions. A standard of the rise of minimum wage width is also shown for each group, and the minimum wage of the prefecture is determined by referring the standard. Therefore, in which group each prefecture is ranked has an important economic and political implication, because it determines the regional minimum wage indirectly. In this paper, by adapting the more analytical and statistical technique than the method the current guideline depends on, we examine the validity of the current ranking system. It was shown that, under the guideline system, some prefectures are ranked more higher or lower than the real economic condition suggests. Furthermore, its influence on regional economy depends strongly on a skewness of the wage-income distribution.