This paper attempts to test the degree of responsiveness of Canadian provincial governments to different political groups in establishing their relative minimum wage policies over the 1975–1982 period. It discusses alternative explanations of minimum wage policies and focuses on the political...

In descending order of robustness and strength, the four major conclusions are: (i) the experience of industrial countries in the postwar period indicates that a large welfare state has been associated with a high rate of economic growth; (ii) the Olson thesis that powerful special interest...