This staff report investigates the effects of a Fortune 500 firm’s voluntary $15‑hour minimum wage (implemented firm‑wide in 2019) on worker behavior, firm productivity, and safety outcomes. Using detailed personnel records from 2018‑2021 and a continuous difference‑in‑differences (DiD) design, the authors estimate causal impacts of a $1‑hour (≈5.5%) wage increase. Key findings include: (i) a 50% reduction in monthly worker departures (elasticity ≈ ‑8.2), (ii) an 18.6% drop in unexcused absenteeism (elasticity ≈ ‑8.2), (iii) a 5.7% rise in warehouse productivity that roughly offsets higher labor costs, (iv) modest reductions in reported injuries, and (v) significant improvements in temporary‑worker attendance and performance evaluations. Robustness checks (placebo tests, alternative bandwidths, relative outcome specifications) confirm the main results. The paper also develops a partial‑equilibrium model that blends monopsony search‑friction and efficiency‑wage mechanisms to rationalize the observed labor‑supply and productivity responses. The authors discuss implications for firm‑level wage‑setting and broader policy debates on minimum wages.
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Voluntary Firm‑Wide Minimum Wage Adoption
The Fortune 500 firm implemented a voluntary $15‑hour minimum wage across all warehouses in 2019, raising the wage floor by $1 per hour (≈5.5%). This policy change serves as the treatment event for the analysis.