TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Nagler, Paula
AU  - Schuller, Emanuel
        TI  - Minimum Wage Politics in the Knowledge Economy: Evidence from Europe
        PY  - 2026/Oct/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 18993
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp18993
        AB  - The emergence of the knowledge economy has transformed European labour markets and the political economy of social policy. Yet, despite the growing use of statutory minimum wages (SMWs) in Europe, their relationship to the knowledge economy has not been comprehensively analysed. This paper examines how knowledge-economy development is associated with the presence and levels of SMWs in 21 European countries from 1995 to 2021. Using probit models and fixed-effects panel regressions, we find that SMW outcomes depend more on the specific knowledge-economy trajectory than on its overall degree. While the knowledge economy index is weakly associated with SMW outcomes, its service- and manufacturing-oriented dimensions show opposing relationships with SMW presence and levels. Random forest analyses indicate that knowledge-economy proxies are among the strongest predictors of SMW outcomes.
        KW  - comparative political economy
KW  - knowledge economy
KW  - labour market politics
KW  - minimum wages
        ER  -