'Groundhog day' all over again: Minimum wage research under 'thought style compulsion'.
Before the introduction of a statutory, nationwide minimum wage in Germany in 2015, labour market economics largely agreed that this 'social experiment' would come at the cost of significant job losses. However, accompanying research on the implementation of the minimum wage failed to confirm the pr...
| Publicado en: | Cambridge Journal of Economics Vol. 50; no. 4; pp. 649 - 673 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Oxford University Press / USA
Jul2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=195714139&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 195714139 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 0309166X CEC jtl: Cambridge Journal of Economics issn: 0309166X maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jul2026 vid: 50 iid: 4 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 195714139 10.1093/cje/beag022 ppf: 649 ppct: 24 formats: tig: atl: 'Groundhog day' all over again: Minimum wage research under 'thought style compulsion'. aug: au: Heise, Arne affil: University of Hamburg, Germany su: Germany Minimum wage Labor market Paradigm (Theory of knowledge) Economic research Philosophy of science sug: subj: Minimum wage Labor market Germany Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities Regulation, Licensing, and Inspection of Miscellaneous Commercial Sectors Paradigm (Theory of knowledge) Economic research Philosophy of science keyword: copyrightHolder:Cambridge Political Economy Society copyrightYear:2026 employment inLanguage:en labour market minimum wage publisher:Oxford University Press sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cje/beag022 thought style copyrightHolder:Cambridge Political Economy Society copyrightYear:2026 employment inLanguage:en labour market minimum wage publisher:Oxford University Press sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cje/beag022 thought style ab: Before the introduction of a statutory, nationwide minimum wage in Germany in 2015, labour market economics largely agreed that this 'social experiment' would come at the cost of significant job losses. However, accompanying research on the implementation of the minimum wage failed to confirm the predicted employment losses. As seen in all countries where minimum wages exist and are studied, researchers had to acknowledge the 'elusiveness of employment effects' in Germany as well. This paper traces the debate surrounding the introduction of the minimum wage and analyses the scientific community's response to the discrepancy between actual employment trends and model-based forecasts—an issue that, from the perspective of the philosophy of science, can be understood as an 'anomaly' or 'crisis'. The object of inquiry is not the minimum wage itself, but the scientific conduct of economists confronted with evidence at odds with their paradigm. Drawing on Ludwik Fleck's theory of thought styles, the analysis distinguishes between two phases: the initial introduction of the minimum wage and the drastic increase in 2022. This distinction allows for an examination of both learning processes and the resilience of a prevailing paradigm. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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