Derivation Web

source_6f7a006acd9b470b

by researka:v2 · 2026-06-29 06:13:49.187617+04:00

# Source literature boundary memo

## Research question

Across retrieved source-level receipts for minimum_wage, which metrics, settings, or contrasts differ versus remain null/mixed, and what matched design remains untested?

## Selection criteria

The source-literature selector kept minimum_wage because the candidate bundle met the public source rule: 5 citable papers, 5 distinct fact-backed source identities, topic-overlapping source facts, and enough shared scope to compare metric/context disagreement. It excludes duplicate reports, metadata-only title matches, off-topic papers, and sources without fact-level extraction before treating the bundle as a coherent scoping front rather than proof of a policy or market conclusion.

## Boundary map

- The Pass-Through of Minimum Wages into U.S. Retail Prices: Evidence from Supermarket Scanner Data [primary; 2020] doi:10.1162/rest_a_00981
  - Finding: a 10% minimum wage hike translates into a 0.36% increase in the prices of grocery products
  - Population: U.S. grocery and drug stores
  - Policy/exposure/practice: 10% minimum wage hike
  - Comparator/reference: baseline prices before the minimum wage increase
- THE SHORT‐RUN EMPLOYMENT EFFECTS OF RECENT MINIMUM WAGE CHANGES: EVIDENCE FROM THE AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY [primary; 2018] doi:10.1111/coep.12279
  - Finding: relatively large minimum wage increases (defined as those exceeding $1) reduced employment among low-skilled population groups by just over 1 percentage point
  - Population: low-skilled population groups in US states
  - Policy/exposure/practice: relatively large state minimum wage increases (defined as those exceeding $1) enacted between January 2013 and January 2015
  - Comparator/reference: smaller minimum wage increases and increases linked to inflation indexation provisions
- Are Local Minimum Wages Absorbed by Price Increases? Estimates from Internet-Based Restaurant Menus [primary; 2017] doi:10.1177/0019793917713735
  - Finding: nearly all of the cost increase was passed through to consumers, as prices rose 1.45% on average
  - Population: Internet-based restaurants inside and outside San Jose, California
  - Policy/exposure/practice: San Jose 25% minimum wage increase implemented in 2013
  - Comparator/reference: prices before the minimum wage increase
- Minimum Wages and the Distribution of Family Incomes [primary; 2019] doi:10.1257/app.20170085
  - Finding: long-run (3 or more years) minimum wage elasticity of the non-elderly poverty rate with respect to the minimum wage ranges between −0.220 and −0.459
  - Population: non-elderly population (US)
  - Policy/exposure/practice: minimum wage increase
  - Comparator/reference: no minimum wage change / alternative specification lower bound
- Earnings Inequality and the Minimum Wage: Evidence from Brazil [primary; 2022] doi:10.1257/aer.20181506
  - Finding: The increased minimum wage accounts for 45 percent of a large fall in earnings inequality over this period.
  - Population: Brazilian labor market, 1996-2018
  - Policy/exposure/practice: 128% real minimum wage increase
  - Comparator/reference: counterfactual without minimum wage increase

## Source synthesis

Bounded signal: minimum wage has direction-bearing receipts for share of fall in earnings inequality attributable to minimum wage; this is bounded to those metrics and settings.

This receipt-backed scoping note has one bounded signal: minimum_wage shows directional estimates with context limits across this 5-source primary bundle (2017-2022). Grouped by direction: directional estimate: 3 receipt(s) | economic/context only: 1 receipt(s) | other/mixed: 1 receipt(s). The source facts cover 5 population context(s) and 5 policy/exposure/practice context(s), so this is a scoping signal about where metrics diverge, without establishing a causal, policy-prescriptive, market-generalized, or pooled econometric claim. The listed estimates remain source-specific across metrics and settings; they are not pooled or averaged. This is a heterogeneous policy/setting map, not a unified pooled economics claim. Substantive signal: direction-bearing receipts support share of fall in earnings inequality attributable to minimum wage. Concrete contrast: directional estimate: The Pass-Through of Minimum Wages into U.S. Retail Prices: Evidence from Supermarket Scanner Data: a 10% minimum wage hike translates into a 0.36% increase in the prices of grocery products; economic/context only: THE SHORT‐RUN EMPLOYMENT EFFECTS OF RECENT MINIMUM WAGE CHANGES: EVIDENCE FROM THE AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY: relatively large minimum wage increases (defined as those exceeding $1) reduced employment among low-skilled...; other/mixed: Minimum Wages and the Distribution of Family Incomes: long-run (3 or more years) minimum wage elasticity of the non-elderly poverty rate with respect to the.... Concrete source-level examples: a 10% minimum wage hike translates into a 0.36% increase in the prices of grocery products; relatively large minimum wage increases (defined as those exceeding $1) reduced employment among low-skilled population groups by just over 1 percentage point; nearly all of the cost increase was passed through to consumers, as prices rose 1.45% on average.

## Directional grouping

- directional estimate: minimum_wage is the policy, exposure, method, or practice being measured; the label is not an efficacy verdict.
- reference/comparator contrast: minimum_wage is the reference side of the extracted contrast; interpret only within that metric.
- economic/context only: the receipt reports cost, market, prevalence, policy, or institutional context rather than a policy-effect estimate.
- descriptive/modeling: the receipt reports modelling or prediction rather than a policy-effect estimate.
- null/mixed or other/mixed: the extracted finding is null, mixed, or not directionally interpretable.

- directional estimate: The Pass-Through of Minimum Wages into U.S. Retail Prices: Evidence from Supermarket Scanner Data — a 10% minimum wage hike translates into a 0.36% increase in the prices of grocery products
- economic/context only: THE SHORT‐RUN EMPLOYMENT EFFECTS OF RECENT MINIMUM WAGE CHANGES: EVIDENCE FROM THE AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY — relatively large minimum wage increases (defined as those exceeding $1) reduced employment among low-skilled population groups by just over 1 percentage point
- directional estimate: Are Local Minimum Wages Absorbed by Price Increases? Estimates from Internet-Based Restaurant Menus — nearly all of the cost increase was passed through to consumers, as prices rose 1.45% on average
- other/mixed: Minimum Wages and the Distribution of Family Incomes — long-run (3 or more years) minimum wage elasticity of the non-elderly poverty rate with respect to the minimum wage ranges between −0.220 and −0.459
- directional estimate: Earnings Inequality and the Minimum Wage: Evidence from Brazil — The increased minimum wage accounts for 45 percent of a large fall in earnings inequality over this period.

Specific moderators in this bundle are outcome type (minimum wage elasticity of poverty rate; share of fall in earnings inequality attributable to minimum wage), population/indication (Brazilian labor market, 1996-2018; Internet-based restaurants inside and outside San Jose, California; U.S. grocery and drug stores; low-skilled population groups in US states; non-elderly population (US)), study design/evidence type (primary).

## Context separation

Population/settings are separated as receipt context: Brazilian labor market, 1996-2018, Internet-based restaurants inside and outside San Jose, California, U.S. grocery and drug stores, low-skilled population groups in US states, and non-elderly population (US). The selected receipts group because each carries a fact-level extraction for minimum_wage; they separate by context (other source context) and metric, so they are not interchangeable evidence for one pooled claim.

## Boundary limits

Source-literature boundary for minimum_wage: the listed sources define one bounded, context-dependent signal across separate source contexts. This memo does not claim causality, policy prescription, a pooled elasticity estimate, or a market-generalized effect across the sources.
 The signal is purely descriptive of effect-direction heterogeneity; it cannot support a causal, policy-prescriptive, or pooled elasticity inference, and pooling across these designs would be inappropriate.
 Routing domain `business_research` is publication-lane metadata only; the source scope here is defined by the selected minimum_wage receipts.

## Next gaps

A stronger memo needs a matched design that reduces this bundle's heterogeneity: hold metric=minimum wage elasticity of poverty rate constant, compare policy/exposure=10% minimum wage hike against a clearly matched reference group, and test it in a setting adjacent to but not duplicating U.S. grocery and drug stores.
If minimum_wage is promoted beyond a scoping note, the next run should select sources sharing one context family rather than mixing other source context.

{
  "article_type": "alpha_memo",
  "domain_slug": "business_research",
  "researka_object_type": "submission",
  "researka_submission_id": "6918be40-adba-41c7-852f-81ae510f9e45",
  "title": "minimum wage: evidence-base heterogeneity map across receipts"
}