Introduction Guy Standing and Daniel Vaughan-Whitehead 1. What role for the Minimum Wage in the Flexible Labour Markets of the 21st Century? Guy Standing 1. Introduction 2. Arguments for a Minimum Wage 3. A Drift for a Minimum Wage 4. Conclusion 2. Minimum Wages in Central and Eastern Europe: Sl'ppage of the Anchor Daniel Vaughan-Whitehead 1. Introduction 2. Downward Pressure on Minimum Wages 3. Social Implications 4. Problems of Efficiency and Productivity 5. Minimum Wage and Employment 6. Labour Force Fragmentation 7. Disconnection from the Wage Scale 8. Disruption of the Income Structure 9. Adverse Effects on Consumption and Savings 10. Reforming Minimum Wage Policy 11. Conclusion 3. Minimum Wages in Russia: Fantasy Chasing Fact Tatyana Chetvernina 1. Concept 2. The Minimum Wage and Incomes 3. The Minimum Wage and Living Wage 4. Problems and Prospects for the Minimum Wage in Russia 4. What Role for the Minimum Wage in the New Polish Labour Market? Krzysztof Hagemejer 1. Role and Functions of the Minimum Wage 2. Size and Growth of the Minimum Wage 3. The Minimum Wage and Purchasing Power 4. Wages, Social Benefits and Total Income 5. Wage Differentials 6. Minimum Wages and Unemployment 7. Conclusion 5. The Impact of the Minimum Wage on Hungarian Wages and Industrial Relations Jeno Koltay 1. Introduction 2. Wage Control and Minimum Wage Fixing 3. Protection of the Low-Paid, Subsistence Minimum Calculation and Minimum Wage Fixing 4. Wage Bargaining and Minimum Wage Bargaining 5. Enforcement and Fragmentation of the Minimum Wage 6. Conclusion 6. Have Minimum Wages Hit Employment in the Czech Transformation? Alena Buchtikova 1. Minimum Wage Protection in the Czech Rupublic 2. Minimum Wage and Low-Paid Workers 3. The Impact of Minimum Wage Growth on Leves of Employment 4. Conclusion 7. Minimum Wages and Collective Bargaining in Bulgaria Todor Radev 1. Introduction 2. The Minimum Wage within the Wage Bargaining System 3. The Erosion of the Minimum Wage in Real Terms 4. Scope and Sectoral Distribution of the Minimum Wage 5. The Influence of the Minimum Wage in Pay Differentials 6. The Minimum Wage and Unemployment 7. The Minimum Wage and Growing Poverty 8. Conclusion 8. The Role of the Minimum Wage in the Romanian Wage Structure Steliana Pert and Nicolae Popescu 1. General Economic Background 2. Role and Functions of the Minimum Wage 3. Size and Development of the Minimum Wage 4. Conclusion 9. The Minimum Wage and Impoverishment in the Republic of Moldova Valentina Postolochi, Vasilira Rotaru and Vassile Stoianov 1. Introduction 2. The Establishment of the Minimum Wage in the Republic of Moldova 3. Economic Functions of the Minimum Wage 4. The Minimum Wage: An Instrument of Social Protection? 5. Conclusion 10. Minimum Wage Protection in Western Industrialized Economies Stephen Bazen and Gilbert Benhayoun 1. Introduction 2. Forms of Minimum Wage Protection 3. The Economic Impact of Minimum Wages 4. Conclusion