This study measures Americans' views on the minimum wage using dollars as a common scale and compares them to state policies.
Unlike previous work, we can directly compare these preferences with policy outcomes across states, revealing both responsiveness (how well policies track cross-state preferences) and bias (conservatism within individual states).
Key findings:
The average state's minimum wage is $2 less than public preference — a two-dollar gap. States with direct democratic tools show significantly reduced bias.
Why it matters:
This approach provides clearer insights into how policy representation functions in the U.S., especially regarding economic issues like wages.
| Responsiveness Without Representation: Evidence from Minimum Wage Laws in U.S. States was authored by Gabor Simonovits, Andrew Guess and Jonathan Nagler. It was published by Wiley in AJPS in 2019. |
