Economists warned California not to raise the minimum wage to $20. They were wrong in almost every way so far, according to a new study from CWED researchers Michael Reich and @dsosinskiy.bsky.social.
Read more: fortune.com/2026/04/15/u...
They analyze mobile device location data that tracks the # of workers at every restaurant location in the US to measure employment at the establishment level over time and compare restaurants covered by the policy to those that were not.
The results? No evidence of negative employment effects.
Building on earlier research, the authors find the policy significantly increased worker pay, led to modest price increases, and did not reduce employment in the fast food sector.
Exactly two years after the minimum wage policy took effect, the study offers the most comprehensive analysis to date of its impacts on wages, employment, and prices.
Effects of a $20 Minimum Wage: Evidence from Granular Data on Wages, Employment and Prices DENIS SOSINSKIY, University of California, Berkeley MICHAEL REICH, University of California, Berkeley April 1, 2026 Abstract On April 1, 2024, California implemented a $20 hourly wage floor for workers in large chains in fast food restaurants and snack and non-alcoholic beverage bars. The new standard, which corresponds to 69 percent of the state’s median full-time wage, surpasses all prior benchmarks in minimum wage policies and research. We use difference-in-differences (DiD) and triple difference (DDD) event study methods and granular data that permit distinguishing trends affecting the entire industry from those caused by the new minimum wage policy. Our granular pay data come from Glassdoor job postings and Square payroll data, granular mobility-based employment data from Advan, and granular prices scraped from over 2,000 restaurants in California and control states. We find that the policy increased average weekly wages for covered fast food workers by about 11 percent and did not reduce employment. Compared to controls, prices increased by 1.5 percent, equivalent to 6 cents for a $4 item. Employers passed about 50 percent of the higher wage costs to consumers as higher prices, consistent with a monopsony model.
Effects of a $20 Minimum Wage: The latest from Michael Reich and @dsosinskiy.bsky.social on California’s landmark $20 fast food minimum wage provides some of the strongest evidence yet that substantial wage increases can improve worker earnings without reducing employment.
#EconSky
Special Seminar. Can Economic Policy Make Life More Affordable? Jared Bernstein, former chair, Biden administration’s Council of Economic Advisers Discussants: Jesse Rothstein (Public Policy, Economics) and Laura Tyson (Haas) Moderated by Michael Reich (CWED). Wednesday, March 11 4:00–5:30 PM IRLE Conference Room 2521 Channing Way irle.berkeley.edu/events. Numerous polls show widespread dissatisfaction with the U.S. economy and, by extension, with both major political parties. In response, Democrats and Republicans are advancing competing approaches to make the economy more affordable. Can either approach succeed?
Can economic policy make life more affordable?
Join us next Wednesday for a special seminar with @jaredb-econ.bsky.social, @lauradtyson.bsky.social, @jrothst.bsky.social and Michael Reich.
Event details: irle.berkeley.edu/event/can-ec...
Those out-of-pocket costs do impact people's decisions to get care, so that's worrisome as well. Miranda Dietz, Health Care Program Director, UC Berkeley Labor Center.
Miranda Dietz @ucblaborcenter.bsky.social explains why it's a problem that 1 in 3 new Covered California enrollees chose the cheapest, highest deductible health plans in the the latest from @ab-ibarra.bsky.social @calmatters.org
Read the article: calmatters.org/health/2026/...
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Lisa Kresge: “There is a concerted effort among many tech leaders to create mystification around AI as a tactic...to disempower workers, policymakers & anyone who might be critical of the growing concentration of funding & resources.” @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/technology/n...
Students, if you...
🔹 believe all workers in deserve to work and live in dignity
🔹 want to learn how to build worker and community power
...then @ucblaborcenter.bsky.social's paid Labor Summer internship is for you!
Learn more and apply by Feb 21: laborcenter.berkeley.edu/labor-summer...
The @ucblaborcenter.bsky.social is hiring a health care policy researcher.
Join a high-impact team at the forefront of research on the most pressing economic challenges affecting working families in California and across the country.
Learn more and apply: aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05275
They are organizing together across districts with parents and students to demand the schools that every California student deserves. Danielle Mahones, UC Berkeley Labor center, on the wage of CA teacher strikes
Danielle Mahones @ucblaborcenter.bsky.social breaks down why educators across California are striking for fully funded classrooms, appropriate staffing, access to quality healthcare, and more in the latest from @kqednews.kqed.org
Listen and read: www.kqed.org/news/1207316...
Tomorrow at 4pm!
irle.berkeley.edu/events/econo...
California Policy Lab: We're hiring
Great job alert! @capolicylab.bsky.social is hiring a labor economics researcher for a remote or hybrid (LA) role.
Design and conduct policy-relevant research in partnership with state and local agencies in California.
Learn more and please share widely: capolicylab.org/careers/rese...
#Econsky
Economic Policy Agendas to Rebuild America, with Dani Rodrik (Harvard), Michael Reich (Berkeley), Jennifer Harris (Hewlett), and Paul Pierson (berkeley. Sponsored by IRLE and BESI
Join us on Feb 11:
@drodrik.bsky.social, Michael Reich, Jennifer Harris, & Paul Pierson @besiberkeley.bsky.social discuss the unraveling of neoliberal economic policy, emerging agendas to address Americans’ unmet needs, and the politics that could make them real.
irle.berkeley.edu/events/econo...
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IRLE’s 2025 Impact Report
Amid rapid social, political, and economic change, IRLE's mission remains constant: connecting world-class research with policy to improve workers’ lives and communities.
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Welcome to IRLE!
Industrial Relations Call for Papers. Special Issue on the gender wage gap. Extended abstracts are due April 3, 2026.
Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society invites submissions to a special issue examining reasons for gender wage gaps around the world and policy responses to them.
Extended abstracts due April 3.
Learn more: irle.berkeley.edu/wp-content/u...
Here's a preview of our final IR Berkeley of the year out soon. Eight papers covering issues from the impact of occupational licensing on retirement through to workforce composition and its effect on trust at the workplace.
Here's a preview of our last edition of the year. Eight papers ranging from the impact of occupational licensing on retirement through to trust in the workplace. Check it out. @ucberkeleyirle.bsky.social @sriucl.bsky.social
Are you a union negotiator, researcher, policymaker, or journalist tracking how digital tech is used at work--and how unions are responding?
Explore @ucblaborcenter.bsky.social's inventory of collective bargaining provisions related to workplace tech: laborcenter.berkeley.edu/negotiating-...
#EconSky: @capolicylab.bsky.social is hiring a labor-focused data analyst.
Apply today: capolicylab.org/careers/data...
📬 Our July newsletter is out now!
Meet our research awardees and learn about upcoming student opportunities, fall events, and the latest research highlights from our centers.
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Graduate student research awardees: Marco Badilla Maroto, Samuel Ayers, Dustin Swonder, Brenda Sciepura, AnneMarie Bryson, @javierfreire.bsky.social, Steve Ramos, and Maribel Estrada Calderon
Learn more the 2025 cohort: irle.berkeley.edu/student-oppo...
Dissertation fellows: Sofia Guo, @alanyan.bsky.social, Teresita Cruz Vital, Max Snyder, Jasmine Sanders, Afras Sial, and Alessandro Marchetti-Bowick (not pictured)
Learn more the 2025 cohort: irle.berkeley.edu/student-oppo...
Faculty research awardees: Enrico Moretti (Economics), Carlos Schmidt-Padilla (GSPP), Jennifer Skeem (GSPP), Laura (Layla) Kwong (Public Health), Trond Petersen (Sociology, and Alexandra Hill (ARE)
Learn more the 2025 cohort: irle.berkeley.edu/faculty-reso...
🏆 We’re thrilled to announce the recipients of our annual research awards.
This year, we received an unprecedented number of applications. The 21 selected projects stood out for their potential for meaningful research insights.
Join us in congratulating these exceptional Berkeley scholars.
Good to see that in the new Clarivate Journal Citation Report the IR Berkeley Impact Factor (JIF) rose from 2.4 in 2023 to 2.6 in 2024, with a move up the rankings in Industrial Relations and Labor from 19/51 to 14/52 @ucberkeleyirle.bsky.social