Starting in the 1990s, San Francisco launched a series of bold but relatively unknown public policy experiments to improve wages and benefits for thousands of local workers. Since then, scholars have documented the effects of those policies on compensation, productivity, job creation, and health coverage. Opponents predicted a range of negative impacts, but the evidence tells a decidedly different tale. This book brings together that evidence for the first time, reviews it as a whole, and considers its lessons for local, state, and federal policymakers.

Contributions by: Carrie Colla, William H. Dow, Arindrajit Dube, Robert Drago, Candace Howes, Peter Hall, T. William Lester, Vicky Lovell, Christy Mallory, Suresh Naidu, Brad Sears, Miriam J. Wells