ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes recent developments in the Southern European minimum wage regime. The debate about the regulation, levels and effects of minimum wages in Southern Europe has gained momentum in the context of the financial and sovereign debt crises. The high price sensitivity of predominant economic sectors in Southern Europe makes minimum wages particularly sensitive instruments due to the tendency to adopt a cost-competition strategy in these countries. The provides minimum wage levels, evolution and inequalities in Southern Europe and also analyses the contested dimensions of minimum wage setting in Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain. One of the key debates in relation to minimum wages in Southern Europe involves the role of the state vs the autonomy of social partners. Collective bargaining and wage setting in Southern Europe have experienced profound transformations during and since the global financial crisis, which have, in many cases, entailed an erosion of collective bargaining institutions.
