Economics of Labor
(220:304) 		 Prof. Leo Troy
Research
resources
compiled by
Ka-Neng Au
(au@rutgers.edu)

Concepts

The topic "Can the Minimum Wage Eliminate Poverty?" will require that you consider two separate topics. Use the following phrases or keywords to help sort out your thoughts:
  • living wage
  • minimum wage
  • pay equity
  • equal pay for equal work
  • poverty
  • income distribution
  • labor market
  • trade unions

Of course, you should think of other related concepts to provide more focus to your research.

Articles

  • To locate articles in general business and economics journals and magazines, use Business Source Premier. Start with "Advanced Search;" enter keywords (e.g. "minimum wage") and then select appropriate fields (e.g. Subject Terms). If the full-text is not included with the abstract, click on Article Linker to check IRIS, our online catalog, for other print or online sources of the journal.


  • For references to articles in scholarly Economics journals, use EconLit from the American Economic Association. Search with the phrase "j380.cc" for items on Wages and Compensation. Note that you will only see abstracts of the articles; for the full-text, click on Article Linker which will lead to locations of the journals.


  • You can also find general articles with Academic Search Premier. Use the phrase "living wage movement" (with the quotation marks), or try the suggestions above.

Books

Use IRIS, our online catalog, to locate books which may help you. Books that are not at Dana may be requested from other libraries with the Book Delivery / Recall button. Start with the subject heading "minimum wage" select "SUBJECT begins with" from the pull-down menu.

Web Resources

Start with the compilation of reports from the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress on The Case Against a Higher Minimum Wage. There is also a lengthy bibliography of economic studies related to the topic.

Detailed statistics on Wages, Earnings, and Benefits are compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Detailed statistics on Poverty are compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Here is a sample of resources from selected organizations, some of which are conservative and others are liberal in their viewpoints:

Citing Your Sources

Follow the guidelines for footnotes (not endnotes) APA Formatting and Style Guide for print materials and for APA Style: Electronic References.
For other resources, consult the Economics research guide. [http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/ rr_gateway/research_guides/econ/econ.shtml]
http://newarkwww.rutgers.edu/econ/econ304-2007.htm
This page was last updated 30 August 2007.
Questions? Comments?