The Determinants of Policy Introduction and Bill Adoption: Examining Minimum Wage Increases in the American States, 1997–2006

Abstract

Faced with long intervals between federal minimum wage increases in recent years, state legislatures are increasingly likely to take action. Motivated by the relative dearth of empirical work on minimum wages in the American states, this article considered various explanations to determine which factors are associated with legislative efforts to pass wage increases. Taking seriously the view that disagreements over the effects of minimum wage increases enhances the influence of political factors, we drew on the policy adoption and diffusion literature to examine how internal determinants (political and economic variables) and regional diffusion pressures relate to both the introduction and adoption of minimum wage legislation in the American states in the years between the last two federal minimum wage increases (1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006). Employing negative binomial regression to analyze annual bill introductions, we found that a number of political variables are related to the consideration of minimum wage increases. However, using event history analysis to examine annual adoptions of minimum wage increases, we found few of the same variables matter. We concluded with a discussion of the empirical results within the context of the broader policy literature and cautioned future scholars to consider seriously whether political factors exert distinct influences at different stages of the policy process.

Agricultural Exceptionalism at the State Level: Characterization of Wage and Hour Laws for U.S. Farmworkers

“…AgDevJournal.com policies that go beyond standards set by the federal government. States' policy priorities are determined by myriad internal characteristics, including citizen demands, interest group demands, the political ideology of elected and appointed officials, and a state's resources and obstacles that can support or hinder the policy (Whitaker, Herian, Larimer, & Lang, 2012). Legislators in states with dominant economic interests such as agriculture or organized labor tend to protect those interests (Hamm & Moncrief, 2012).…”

The Political Structure of Policy Diffusion

“…However, in some states each of these policies are governed by constitutional prohibitions/regulations preventing legislatures from directly altering policy . Other state policy areas with widespread state constitutional prohibitions or regulations include firearm regulations (Godwin & Schroedel, ), same‐sex marriage prohibitions (Haider‐Markel, ; Lupia, Krupnikov, Levine, Piston, & Von Hagen‐Jamar, ), and minimum wage standards (Whitaker, Herian, Larimer, & Lang, ). In all of these cases, incorporating the state constitutional amendment process when analyzing policy diffusion would seem, prima facie , to be an important first step in the diffusion process .…”

Social capital, ideology, and health in the United States

“…Scholars of American state politics have developed indices that measure the extent to which state citizenries elect officials who favor the use of public resources to contribute to health and well-being (e.g., Berry, Ringquist, Fording, & Hanson, 1998). Using these indicators, research has shown that states that elect greater proportions of Democrats are more likely to adopt socially directed policies such as health insurance programs (Volden, 2006), minimum wage laws (Whitaker, Herian, Larimer, & Lang, 2012), and anti-smoking policies (Shipan & Volden, 2006). To date, however, little research has examined the relationship between state-level ideology and health outcomes in the United States.…”

“…The validity of this measure was established by Berry et al (1998;see also Berry, Ringquist, Fording, Hanson, & Klarner, 2010). Research has shown that the measure can be used to predict the adoption of a wide array of social democratic programs at the state level including anti-smoking policies (Shipan & Volden, 2006), health insurance programs (Volden, 2006), and minimum wages (Whitaker et al, 2012). Given that more liberal governments in the United States are likely to adopt socially directed policies (Erickson, Wright, & McIver, 1993;Wright, Erikson, & McIver, 1994), we expected that citizens in states with more liberal governments to report better overall health, have fewer reported days with health problems, to smoke with less frequency, and to have lower BMI.…”