Minimum Wage Standard And Urban-rural Income Gap

The 19 th national congress of the communist party of China clearly stated that "China's development must adhere to the people-oriented,constantly promote the comprehensive development of people and achieve common prosperity." However,for a long time,the income of the bottom-level workers in China,especially rural residents,has been at a low level,which has led to the widening of the income gap between urban and rural areas.This has become a concentrated reflection of many contradictions in Chinese dual economic and social structure.A large low-income group is not only harmful to the growth of middle-income groups and the formation of an "olive-shaped" distribution pattern,but also detrimental to high-quality economic development.Besides,it is not conductive to building a well-off society and achieving common prosperity.To reasonably narrow the income gap,we must "increase the income of low-income people,expand middle-income groups,and limit high-income groups".Raising the income level of the bottom workers is the top priority.Minimum Wage Standard aims to ensure that low-income workers receive reasonable labor compensation and play an important regulatory role in income distribution.In recent years,the adjustment of the minimum wage standard has shown the characteristics of high frequency,wide range and large amplitude.At the same time,although the income gap between urban and rural areas in China is still large,but the trend of continuous shrinking has been formed.Can the improvement of the minimum wage standard be effectively reduce the income gap between urban and rural areas? However,according to relevant theoretical analysis,the paper did not explore the relationship between them.Therefore,this paper will systematically explain and demonstrate the relationship between them in theory and evidence,and enrich relevant research results.Theoretical analysis shows that the increase of the minimum wage standard can significantly increase the labor remuneration of low-income people with migrant workers as the main body.And with the increase of the minimum wage,it can promote the transfer of rural surplus labor to the city,which is conducive to raising the income level of this group and alleviating the long-term pressure of rural population and the margin of agriculture.The problem of low output has improved the efficiency of agricultural production and increased the income of agricultural production.In addition,as the adjustment of the minimum wage standard will improve the quality of low-skilled workers and promote the formalization of their employment,thus benefiting the bottom workers.The above ways are beneficial to narrow the income gap between urban and rural areas.However,according to relevant theoretical analysis,if the minimum wage standard is raised above the equilibrium wage level of the labor market,the employment opportunities of low-skilled workers will be squeezed out,resulting in a decrease in the income source of the group,which will greatly reduce the policy effect.In the empirical study,this paper uses the panel data of 218 cities nationwide from 2008 to 2016.Through empirical test analysis,the following conclusions are drawn:(1)The improvement of the minimum wage standard can effectively narrow the income gap between urban and rural areas,and there is no nonlinear relationship.(2)There are obvious regional differences in the impact of the minimum wage on the urban-rural income gap.Specifically,the minimum wage standard in the east has no significant impact on the urban-rural income gap.The minimum wage in the central and western regions has significantly narrowed the urban-rural income gap,and the western region has the greatest impact.(3)Through the mechanism test,the improvement of the minimum wage standard narrows the urban-rural income gap by increasing the income of low-and middle-income workers,narrowing the absolute gap in income and promoting the transfer of rural labor.Finally,based on relevant conclusions,we propose targeted policy recommendations,hoping to provide some help for China to build a well-off society in an all-round way and narrow the gap between the rich and the poor.