Approximately 90% of countries worldwide have implemented some form of minimum wage legislation. In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced the minimum wage law as part of the New Deal response to the Great Depression. The UK implemented its National Minimum Wage Act in 1998, and Germany's minimum wage law came into effect in 2015. China began enforcing the Minimum Wage Regulations in 2004, after which provincial minimum wage standards have been continuously revised upward.
The 2021 Nobel Prize in Economics was jointly awarded to David Card of UC Berkeley "for his empirical contributions to labor economics," and to Joshua D. Angrist (MIT) and Guido W. Imbens (Stanford University). Notably, Card's groundbreaking work, particularly his natural experiment study with Alan Krueger, challenged conventional views on the perceived "destructive" employment effects of minimum wage policies.
As a fundamental labor and social security mechanism in China, the minimum wage system is mandated under Article 48 of the Labor Law, which requires employers to pay wages no lower than locally defined minimum standards. All provincial-level administrative units in mainland China have officially enacted and implemented regional minimum wage standards.
The determination of minimum wage levels involves comprehensive considerations of:
- Local urban residents' living expenses
- Employees' social insurance contributions
- Housing provident fund payments
- Average wages
- Unemployment rates
- Regional economic development levels
These standards undergo annual adjustments by local governments based on evolving socioeconomic conditions. Consequently, minimum wage data provides critical insights into regional economic development, employment trends, and related dynamic factors.
The CnOpenData team presents a comprehensive Minimum Wage Database, featuring district/county-level classification standards, wage amounts, and adjustment timelines.
Temporal Coverage
- Classification standards: June 1, 1999 - March 1, 2023
- Wage amounts: July 1, 1999 - March 1, 2023
Field Descriptions
Classification Standards by District/County
Minimum Wage Amounts by District/County
Sample Data
Classification Standards by District/County
Minimum Wage Amounts by District/County
Related Literature
- Ma Shuang, Xiao Han, Li Ding, & Zhang Peng. (2023). "Minimum Wages and Heterogeneous Human Capital Demand: Evidence from Online Job Postings," World Economy, No. 12.
- Wang Huanhuan, Hu Dongmin, & Zhang Ji. (2022). "Minimum Wage System, Labor Contract Duration, and Enterprise Employment Patterns," Economics (Quarterly), No. 4.
- Qing Tao & Huang Xianhai. (2022). "Minimum Wage and Corporate Technology Advancement Paths: Technology Import vs. Independent Innovation," Economic Perspectives, No. 8.
- Xie Jie, Guo Chongyang, Chen Kejie, & Guo Jia. (2022). "Minimum Wage, Industrial Automation, and Skill Premium," China Industrial Economics, No. 9.
- Coviello, D., Deserranno, E., & Persico, N. (2022). "Minimum Wage and Individual Worker Productivity: Evidence from a Large US Retailer," Journal of Political Economy.
Update Frequency
Annual updates