Research

Abstract:  This paper investigates the impacts of minimum wage policies in developing countries with a high share of people working in the informal sector, which is not covered by labor regulations. I exploit the 2008 introduction of regional variation in minimum wage levels in Vietnam and use individual-level survey data from 2004 to 2014 to examine the effects on employees in the formal and informal sectors. Using an event study design, this paper reveals a significant increase in labor force participation four years after an increase in the minimum wage, mainly driven by increased in informal employment. However, I observe negative short-run effects on formal sector employment, and fewer working hours in workers' primary jobs. I also find an increased likelihood of formal workers having informal secondary jobs. However, I do not observe any consistent reallocation of workers between formal and informal sectors across sectors and in and out of the workforce. 

We typically associate minimum wages with low-wage workers, but many countries set minimum wages by occupation, called wage floors, resulting in binding minimum wages for both unskilled and skilled workers. It has been argued that this institution contributes to unemployment of skilled youth in the Middle East and North Africa region. We examine this hypothesis in Tunisia. We focus on banks, where wage floors for all occupations and seniority levels saw large collectively bargained increases starting in 2014. Given that the increases are set at the national level, we exploit cross-bank-branch variation in exposure to this shock. Employers comply with the policy: we find positive responses in average worker earnings. While the effect on employment is negative but small, we find substantial heterogeneity by age. Young (< 45) workers separate, while older workers do not. Focusing on young workers, we find that separations are concentrated amongst high-wage workers and are largely followed by transitions to banks with higher skilled-unskilled wage gaps. We interpret our results through a model of monopsony with binding wage floors and skill-specific frictions. For low-wage workers, increases in a binding wage floor increase employment. For high-wage workers with a labor supply that depends both on their absolute wage and the skilled-unskilled wage gap, the policy increases quits. Taken together, our results challenge the widely held view that wage floors contribute to skilled youth unemployment. Wage floors in a monopsonistic market redistribute rents and induce reallocation of young skilled workers to firms with higher skilled-unskilled wage gaps.

Abstract: How does forced displacement affect the well-being of the victims upon their return? Using individual-level data from Kyrgyzstan spanning 2006 to 2019,

we examine the welfare impact of a four-day inter-ethnic conflict. We find that short-term displacement results in significant loss of well-being among the targeted ethnic group, but only when they lacked support networks during the event, where the most pronounced negative effects concern satisfaction with dwelling, health, security, and future outlook. The quality of life or displaced individuals eventually converges to that of the non-displaced, however, the recovery takes years.

Abstract: This paper examines the impact of minimum wage increases on labor market structure in regions characterized by high Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) levels. To do that, this paper exploits the unification of the minimum wage policy between Vietnam's private and foreign sectors in 2012 by applying a difference-in-difference approach. The preliminary results demonstrate the drop in household business is offset by the increase in private employment in a high FDI region. The effect is more profound in manufacturing, where most FDI jobs are located. Additionally, the minimum wage induces the migration decision and work in household business, and less likely to have a job in the foreign sector. 

This study examines the impact of Vietnamese immigrant labor supply shocks on wages in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishery from 1979 to 1990. Leveraging the post-Vietnam War immigration wave as a natural experiment, it compares shrimp catch-per-day-fishing in Texas and Louisiana (treatment) to Florida (control), where fewer Vietnamese settled. Using species-specific shrimp catch data (brown, white, pink) aligned with state fishing patterns, a difference-in-differences analysis reveals a significant but temporary 30–50% decline in real wages within the shrimp fishery during the initial years of the immigrant influx.