Derivation Web

source_b213cd49157e40e2

by researka:v2 · 2026-06-29 15:59:16.754626+04:00

# Source literature boundary memo

## Research question

Across retrieved source-level receipts for minimum_wage, which metrics, settings, or contrasts carry directional support versus caveat evidence, 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/setting: 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/setting: 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/setting: 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/setting: non-elderly population (US)
  - Policy/exposure/practice: minimum wage increase
  - Comparator/reference: no minimum wage change / alternative specification lower bound
  - Endpoint/metric: minimum wage elasticity of poverty rate
- 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/setting: Brazilian labor market, 1996-2018
  - Policy/exposure/practice: 128% real minimum wage increase
  - Comparator/reference: counterfactual without minimum wage increase
  - Endpoint/metric: share of fall in earnings inequality attributable to minimum wage

## Source synthesis

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


## Evidence matrix

Matrix guard: effect-bearing rows below are metric-specific source facts, not a pooled comparison; context-only rows are excluded from effect support.

### Effect-bearing comparison

| Outcome family | Receipt | Evidence role | Population/setting | Metric | Extracted finding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outcome-specific | The Pass-Through of Minimum Wages into U.S. Retail Prices: Evidence... | directional association | U.S. grocery and drug stores | - | a 10% minimum wage hike translates into a 0.36% increase in the prices of grocery products |
| outcome-specific | Are Local Minimum Wages Absorbed by Price Increases? Estimates from... | directional association | Internet-based restaurants inside and outside... | - | nearly all of the cost increase was passed through to consumers, as prices rose 1.45% on average |
| share of fall | Earnings Inequality and the Minimum Wage: Evidence from Brazil | directional association | Brazilian labor market, 1996-2018 | share of fall in earnings inequality... | The increased minimum wage accounts for 45 percent of a large fall in earnings inequality over this period |

### Context-only receipts

| Outcome family | Receipt | Evidence role | Population/setting | Metric | Extracted finding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outcome-specific | THE SHORT‐RUN EMPLOYMENT EFFECTS OF RECENT MINIMUM WAGE CHANGES:... | economic/context only | low-skilled population groups in US states | - | relatively large minimum wage increases (defined as those exceeding $1) reduced employment among low-skilled... |
| minimum wage elasticity | Minimum Wages and the Distribution of Family Incomes | non-directional caveat | non-elderly population (US) | minimum wage elasticity of poverty rate | long-run (3 or more years) minimum wage elasticity of the non-elderly poverty rate with respect to the... |

This receipt-backed scoping note is a multi-outcome boundary map for minimum_wage: directional estimates with context limits across this 5-source primary bundle (2017-2022). Evidence role grouping: direction-bearing receipts: 3; metric-scope caveat receipts: 0. Direction labels for audit: economic/context only: 1 receipt(s) | non-directional caveat: 1 receipt(s) | directional association: 3 receipt(s). The source facts cover 5 population/setting 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 separated policy/setting map, not a unified pooled economics claim. Substantive signal: direction-bearing evidence is limited to share of fall in earnings inequality attributable to minimum wage. Within-vs-across outcome rule: direction-bearing rows are only compared within their named metric; firm-performance, supply-chain performance, and modelling receipts are not treated as one outcome. Outcome families named here are minimum wage elasticity and share of fall; this is not one harmonized SCR-to-performance endpoint. Concrete contrast: directional association: 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...; non-directional caveat: 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....

## Evidence role definitions

- directional association: minimum_wage is the policy, exposure, method, or practice linked to the named metric; the label is not an effect-size estimate or efficacy verdict.
- economic/context only: the receipt reports cost, market, prevalence, policy, or institutional context rather than a policy-effect estimate.
- metric-scope caveat: the receipt constrains the directional scope to the named metric rather than the broader outcome set.
- non-directional caveat: the extracted finding is not directionally interpretable for the named metric.

Evidence role summary: direction-bearing receipts: 3; metric-scope caveat receipts: 0.

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.
 Material limitations: small 5-source bundle; no pooled estimate is possible; method/model receipts without direct effect estimates are context only; outcomes are not harmonized across studies.
 The signal is purely descriptive of source-level direction and scope; 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 scope spread: 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 spanning other source context.

{
  "article_type": "alpha_memo",
  "domain_slug": "business_research",
  "researka_object_type": "submission",
  "researka_submission_id": "e5c76edd-a0ae-4100-b5b8-c7d9d1d1bd94",
  "title": "minimum wage: boundary map across minimum wage elasticity and share of fall receipts"
}