Štěpán Jurajda

First name
Štěpán
Last name
Jurajda
Abstract
Thanks to standardized work protocol and technology of McDonald’s restaurants, the hourly wage of McDonald’s Basic Crew enables wage comparisons under near-identical skill inputs and hedonic job conditions. McWages capture labor costs in entry-level jobs, while the Big Macs (earned) Per Hour (BMPH) index measures corresponding purchasing power of wages. We document large and growing geographical wage differences in standardized jobs using data covering most U.S. counties during 2016-2023. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, there was no BMPH growth where minimum wages stayed constant, but the pandemic wage increase, which diminished the importance of minimum wages, was stronger in these areas.
Year of Publication
2024
Number
658
Date Published
07/2024
Ashenfelter, O., & Jurajda, Štěpán. (2024). The U.S. Low-Wage Structure: A McWage Comparison. Retrieved from http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01nv935620t (Original work published July 2024)
Working Papers
Keywords
Abstract

Based on hourly wage rates from nearly all McDonald’s restaurants, and prices of the Big Mac sandwich, we find an elasticity of the wage with respect to the minimum wage of 0.7. This elasticity does not differ between affected and unaffected restaurants because many restaurants maintain a constant wage ‘premium’ above the minimum wage. Higher minimum wages are not associated with faster adoption of touch-screen ordering, and there is near-full price pass-through of minimum wages. Minimum wages lead to higher real wages (expressed in Big Macs per hour) that are one fifth lower than the corresponding increases in nominal wages.

Year of Publication
2021
Number
646
Date Published
01/2021
Ashenfelter, O., & Jurajda, Štěpán. (2021). Wages, Minimum Wages, and Price Pass-Through: The Case of McDonald’s Restaurants. Retrieved from http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01sb397c318 (Original work published January 2021)
Working Papers