The aim of the research project is to assess the potential of administrative statistics on business level for evaluating the statutory minimum wage in Germany which was introduced on 1 January 2015 and subsequently increased. The project is focussed on the datasets which are part of the project “German administrative firm data (AFiD)” combining administrative firm data of the Research Data Centres of the Statistical Offices of the Federation and the Federal States in Germany or were part of a collaboration project of the Research Data Centres of the Statistical Offices of the Federation and the Federal States in Germany, the Institute for Employment Research and the Deutsche Bundesbank called “Combined firm data for Germany (KombiFiD)”. Furthermore, it will be investigated, if linking the “Structure of Earnings Survey” (Verdienststrukturerhebung – VSE) to the AFiD data offers further potential for the evaluation of the statutory minimum wage. Other potential datasets will be included if first analyses indicate that these datasets indicate a potential for evaluating the statutory minimum wage.
All relevant datasets are analysed considering their potential for implementing counterfactual impact analyses on the effects of a statutory minimum wage. This includes an analysis, if appropriate identification strategies can be implemented in the datasets. Finally, the project will investigate the potential for evaluating the effects of a statutory minimum wage on consumer prices. The results of the project will be included in the third evaluation report by the Minimum Wage Commission.