The topic of statutory minimum wage has gained new relevance in the recent years, also at European level. Most European countries already have schemes for statutory minimum wage, while this has been an alien concept in the Nordic context. The report provides an overview of the designs and effects of such schemes, and of how minimum wages are determined in the Nordic countries and in the few other EU countries that still have no statutory minimum wage. The report also looks into factors that can explain the diverse views on statutory minimum wage regulation and why Nordic trade unions have offered resistance towards European initiatives in this area.
