評論
打印
Leaders
社論
Minimum wages
最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)
The logical floor
多少才合理
Moderate minimum wages do more good than harm. They should be set by technocrats not politicians
實(shí)施適度的最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)利大于弊，但是它們應(yīng)該由技術(shù)專家而不是領(lǐng)導(dǎo)層來設(shè)定。
ON BOTH sides of the Atlantic politicians are warming to the idea that the lowest-paid can be helped by mandating higher wages.
歐美各國領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人逐漸開始贊同提高工資水平可以幫助貧困人群這一觀點(diǎn)。
Barack Obama wants to raise America's federal minimum wage by 40% from 7.25 to 10.10 an hour, and more than three-quarters of Americans support the idea.
奧巴馬總統(tǒng)打算將聯(lián)邦最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)提高40%，時薪從7.25美元升為10.10美元，對此四分之三以上的美國人表示支持。
In Germany, one of the few big rich-world countries still without a national wage floor, the incoming coalition government has just agreed on an across-the-board hourly minimum of 8.50 from 2015.
尚且沒有設(shè)定最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的發(fā)達(dá)國家寥寥可數(shù)，德國是其中之一，但新成立的聯(lián)合政府已經(jīng)協(xié)商達(dá)成一致，計(jì)劃于2015年起全面實(shí)行時薪8.50歐元的最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。
In Britain, which has had a minimum wage since 1999, the opposition Labour Party is keen to cajole firms into voluntarily paying higher living wages.
而英國在1999年起就已經(jīng)實(shí)施最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，其反對黨工黨比較擅長于游說企業(yè)主們自愿支付更高的最低生活工資。
For free-market types, including The Economist, fiddling with wages by fiat sets off alarm bells.
對于包括本刊《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》在內(nèi)的勞動力自由市場而言，通過法律規(guī)定來調(diào)整工資水準(zhǔn)的做法會帶來一定弊端。
In a competitive market anything that artificially raises the price of labour will curb demand for it, and the first to lose their jobs will be the least skilled—the people intervention is supposed to help.
對于競爭激烈的市場而言，任何人為提高勞動力成本的舉措都會抑制勞動力的需求，而且首當(dāng)其沖的失業(yè)者會是那些缺乏專業(yè)技術(shù)的工人們—這樣一來人為干預(yù)是有一定作用的。
That is why Milton Friedman called minimum wages a form of discrimination against the low-skilled; and it is why he saw topping up the incomes of the working poor with public subsidies as a far more sensible means of alleviating poverty.
這就是為什么米爾頓·弗里德曼稱最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)是對那些沒有專業(yè)技術(shù)的勞動者的歧視；此外，他認(rèn)為通過分發(fā)國家補(bǔ)貼的方式來提高貧困人群的收入從而緩解他們貧困狀況這種做法更為明智。
Scepticism about the merits of minimum wages remains this newspaper's starting-point.
本刊對于實(shí)行最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的好處一直持懷疑態(tài)度。
But as income inequality widens and workers' share of national income shrinks, the case for action to help the low-paid grows.
但是，隨著收入差距擴(kuò)大以及工人們所獲收入占社會總工資比例下降，幫助貧困工人一事顯得日益緊迫。
Addressing the problem through subsidies for the working poor is harder in an era of austerity, when there are many other pressing claims on national coffers.
在今天這個法制社會里，通過給貧困工人們分發(fā)國家補(bǔ)貼的方式來解決此問題甚是艱難，因?yàn)檫€有諸多其他方面需要政府開支。
Other policy options, such as confiscatory taxes, are unattractive.
諸如征收沒收性賦稅等措施也并不可取。
Nor is a moderate minimum wage as undesirable as neoclassical purists suggest.
正如新古典主義純粹主義者所言，設(shè)定適度的最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)同樣不會取得理想效果。
Unlike those in textbooks, real labour markets are not perfectly competitive.
不同于書本上的描述，現(xiàn)實(shí)中的勞動力市場其實(shí)并不屬于絕對競爭市場。
Since workers who want to change jobs face costs and risks, employers may be able to set pay below its market-clearing rate.
由于那些想跳槽的工人們面臨著一定成本和風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，雇主們便可能以低于其公開規(guī)定工薪的水平來支付他們的工資。
A minimum wage, providing it is not set too high, could thus boost pay with no ill effects on jobs.
只要最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)設(shè)定的不算太高，那么它就能夠在不影響就業(yè)的情況下提高工資水平。
French lessons
法國的前車之鑒
Empirical evidence supports that argument.
歷史的經(jīng)驗(yàn)驗(yàn)證了以上觀點(diǎn)。
In flexible economies a low minimum wage seems to have little, if any, depressing effect on employment.
在較靈活的經(jīng)濟(jì)體中，實(shí)施最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)似乎對就業(yè)的影響即使有也是很小的。
America's federal minimum wage, at 38% of median income, is one of the rich world's lowest.
美國聯(lián)邦最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)是其中值工資的38%，這一標(biāo)準(zhǔn)是發(fā)達(dá)國家里最低的。
Some studies find no harm to employment from federal or state minimum wages, others see a small one, but none finds any serious damage.
一些研究表明聯(lián)邦或者州設(shè)的最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)并不會對就業(yè)產(chǎn)生消極影響，另一些研究也表明這種影響很小，但是目前還沒有數(shù)據(jù)顯示設(shè)定最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)會嚴(yán)重影響就業(yè)，
Britain's minimum wage, at around 47% of median income, with a lower rate for young people, also does not seem to have pushed many people out of work.
英國的最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)是其人均工資水平的47%，并且對于年幼者而言更是有所下降，但是這似乎也并未使很多人失業(yè)。
High minimum wages, however, particularly in rigid labour markets, do appear to hit employment.
然而，如果最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)較高，尤其是在那些管制較嚴(yán)的勞動力市場，就業(yè)似乎也會受到影響。
France has the rich world's highest wage floor, at more than 60% of the median for adults and a far bigger fraction of the typical wage for the young.
法國的最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)是發(fā)達(dá)國家中最高的，其中成年人的占中值工資的60%以上，年幼者的最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)占中值工資的比例則更大。
This helps explain why France also has shockingly high rates of youth unemployment: 26% for 15- to 24-year-olds.
這也是為什么法國的失業(yè)率較高的原因——法國15到24歲年輕人的平均失業(yè)率為26%。
Theory and practice suggest two lessons for governments contemplating setting or changing minimum wages.
理論與實(shí)踐兩方面的經(jīng)驗(yàn)給了各國領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人關(guān)于是否設(shè)定或者更改最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)兩點(diǎn)啟示。
The first is to ensure that the level is pretty low—say, less than 50% of the median, with lower levels for less productive people such as the young and long-term unemployed. Germany risks breaking this rule.
其一是要確保最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)相對較低，務(wù)必要低于中值工資的50%，并且對于那些生產(chǎn)效率較低人群，比如年幼者和長期失業(yè)者這一標(biāo)準(zhǔn)要更低。
Its proposed level is, by one calculation, 62% of the median wage.
德國的做法很可能與此相背，他們的最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)為中值工資的62%。
One in six German workers is paid less than that, suggesting that jobs will be lost, especially in the less productive east of the country.
而六分之一德國人的工資低于這一水平，這意味著很多人將面臨失業(yè)，尤其是在勞動力效率較低的東德。
Similarly the living wage which campaigners are calling for in Britain is 20% higher than the minimum wage.
與此類似，在英國一些人倡導(dǎo)的最低生活工資比最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)還要高出20%，
That could hit employment.
這會嚴(yán)重影響到就業(yè)。
Though America's proposed increase is huge, the minimum wage would still be only about 50% of the median.
盡管美國對最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的提升幅度較大，但是其最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)仍然將只占中值工資的50%。
A second lesson is that politicians should give the power to set minimum wages to technocrats.
其二是領(lǐng)導(dǎo)層應(yīng)該將設(shè)定最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)一事留給技術(shù)專家們解決。
In Britain, the floor is adjusted annually on the advice of economists and statisticians in the Low Pay Commission; it has generally advanced gradually.
在英國，這一標(biāo)準(zhǔn)每年都會根據(jù)低工資委員會的經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家和統(tǒng)計(jì)學(xué)家的建議予以適當(dāng)調(diào)整；并且總體來看呈逐年上升趨勢。
In America, the federal floor is set by politicians and adjusted irregularly in huge increments.
而美國聯(lián)邦最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)是由領(lǐng)導(dǎo)層設(shè)定的，而且每次調(diào)整增幅較大，也沒什么規(guī)律可言，
That does no favours to American workers or their employers.
這對美國的勞動者和企業(yè)雇主而言都沒有益處。
Finally, governments should remember that minimum wages are a palliative.
最后，各政府應(yīng)該謹(jǐn)記實(shí)施最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)只能起到有限的作用。
They should not distract attention from more fundamental causes of low wages—such as a lack of education and skills—and the efforts to address them.
他們不能忽略導(dǎo)致部分勞動者工資水平過低的根源—例如受教育程度不高和缺乏相關(guān)技術(shù)培訓(xùn)，當(dāng)然各國在此問題上所做的努力也是不夠的。
