Does minimum wage affect hours worked of paid employment in Indonesia?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of a change in minimum wage on hours worked of paid employment in Indonesia. This study used the Indonesian Labor Force Survey (Sakernas) data from 1996 to 2003. Design/methodology/approach – This study employs Bourguignon-Fournier-Gurgand two-step procedure of sample selection corrections based on a multinomial logit model for a potential selection bias from a non-random sample. This study extends the specification by examining the effects of minimum wage on hours worked of paid employment separately across individuals in different groups of gender (male-female workers) and residences (urban-rural areas). Findings – This study generally found that an increase in the minimum wage increases hours worked of the existing paid employees. The effects of the minimum wage on hours worked are stronger for female workers than male workers particularly in urban areas due to that female workers, particularly in urban areas, are mostly employed in industries which contain more low-wage workers. Comparing residences, the minimum wage coefficient in rural areas is slightly higher because of the structural transformation in Indonesia marked by a shift in employment from the agriculture sector to the other sectors that require more working hours. Originality/value – The empirical studies of the effect of minimum wage on hours worked in developing countries are very limited. This study contributes to the literature by employing the sample selection corrections based on a multinomial logit for a potential selection bias from a non-random sample This study also extends the hours worked specification by analyzing the effects of minimum wage on hours worked separately across individuals in different groups of workers, in terms of gender (male-female workers) and their residences (urban-rural areas).