Institut français de recherche sur le Japon à la Maison franco-japonaise (Umifre 19, MEAE-CNRS)

The (statutory) minimum wage has recently created the controversy in the world. The Japanese Cabinet Office, apart from the Minimum Wage Council, discussed the raise of minimum wage by 5 percent or by 3 percent. Jean-Claude Juncker repeatedly suggests the introduction of EU-wide minimum wage. In this short lecture, Ryo Kambayashi will summarize the economic mechanism of minimum wage, especially along with the deflationary state such as Japan. The Japanese institute of minimum wage is particular in the world, in that the law does not allow any exemption, and it provides us a good example to see the effect of minimum wage hike. Besides, the lecture suggests another aspect of minimum wage, from the view point of political economy, related to the controversy about the introduction of EU-wide minimum wage.

Speaker: KAMBAYASHI Ryô (Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University)

Earned a doctorate in economics from the Graduate School of Economics, University of Tokyo. Has served as an associate professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University, a visiting scholar at Stanford University, Yale University and in other positions. Joined Hitotsubashi University in 2000. He stayed at OECD as a consultant for two years between 2010 and 2012.