Wage

A wage is an amount of money to be paid for a job. There is usually a correlation between the wage paid and the experience of the person to do the job and the level of skill necessary for the job.

Like all market forces, wages are paid based on interactions between the supply curve (how much workers are willing to supply a particular type of labor at a certain wage) and a demand curve (how many workers of a particular type a firm is willing to hire at a particular wage). Wages are typically set at equilibrium. If a minimum wage is imposed that is above this equilibrium, it leads to structural unemployment. If a minimum wage is set below the equilibrium point, it is unlikely to affect that jobs wage unless a complement or substitute job's equilibrium wage is less than the minimum wage (causing ripple effects throughout the related markets).

See also[edit]

• Minimum wage
• Maximum wage