4 ms·

Everything is on the margin. A high cost of labor won't mean that you'll have no McD's. Some locations are very profitable and those will continue to operate. O

by bko 8y ago

Everything is on the margin. A high cost of labor won't mean that you'll have no McD's. Some locations are very profitable and those will continue to operate. Others are less so, so on the margin many won't make the cut. If you look at number of McD's by country, Denmark has 1 location per 64k people while US has 1 per 23k [0]. Also some of that is preference. I'm not also not sure where you got the $20/hour wage for Denmark: Denmark Minimum Wage: None; instead, negotiated between unions and employer associations; the average minimum wage for all private and public sector collective bargaining agreements was approximately DKK 110 (nominally $16) per hour, exclusive of pension benefits [1] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_McDonald%27s_restaurants https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_McDonal... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minimum_wages_by_country https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minimum_wages_by_count...

eesmith 8y ago
The $20/hr at McD's in Denmark comes from my memory of previous discussion on this topic. For examples, https://www.businessinsider.com/denmark-mcdonalds-pays-20-hourly-wages-2014-10?r=US&IR=T&IR=T https://www.businessinsider.com/denmark-mcdonalds-pays-20-ho... , "Fast food workers make a minimum of $20 hourly in Denmark, while in the US, their average hourly wage is $8.90, according to the Times report." and from https://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/sep/03/other-98/can-you-make-45000year-mcdonalds-denmark/ https://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/sep/03... : > Statistics Denmark is the government agency that tracks labor information. For the category of food service counter attendants, the annual pay in 2012 was over $41,000. That is for all companies, not just McDonald’s. On an hourly basis, that translates to about $20 an hour.
- jgowdy 8y ago
  If you're going to compare wage numbers between nations, why are we comparing gross pay? If you're taxed drastically more, the pay difference isn't very relevant. Obviously you get social benefits, which become much harder to compare. But comparing someone taxed at 39% to someone taxed far far less by comparing gross wages is nonsensical to me. When you look at the tax rate, the difference in pay is far less severe.
  - eesmith 8y ago
    My original question is: "How is it that countries with both high restaurant wages and no tipping (eg, $20/hour for McD's in Denmark) still have restaurants?" This compares not 'gross pay' but 'gross pay plus tips'. Of course a more complete analysis would also include benefits and payroll taxes. Note however that my question does not depend the raw numbers. It holds even with a "less severe" difference. It would only be a problem if the tax level in Denmark was high enough that the difference is inverted, which I do not believe to be the case.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]

by bko 8y ago

eesmith 8y ago

The $20/hr at McD's in Denmark comes from my memory of previous discussion on this topic. For examples, https://www.businessinsider.com/denmark-mcdonalds-pays-20-hourly-wages-2014-10?r=US&IR=T&IR=T https://www.businessinsider.com/denmark-mcdonalds-pays-20-ho... , "Fast food workers make a minimum of $20 hourly in Denmark, while in the US, their average hourly wage is $8.90, according to the Times report." and from https://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/sep/03/other-98/can-you-make-45000year-mcdonalds-denmark/ https://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/sep/03... : > Statistics Denmark is the government agency that tracks labor information. For the category of food service counter attendants, the annual pay in 2012 was over $41,000. That is for all companies, not just McDonald’s. On an hourly basis, that translates to about $20 an hour.

jgowdy 8y ago
If you're going to compare wage numbers between nations, why are we comparing gross pay? If you're taxed drastically more, the pay difference isn't very relevant. Obviously you get social benefits, which become much harder to compare. But comparing someone taxed at 39% to someone taxed far far less by comparing gross wages is nonsensical to me. When you look at the tax rate, the difference in pay is far less severe.
- eesmith 8y ago
  My original question is: "How is it that countries with both high restaurant wages and no tipping (eg, $20/hour for McD's in Denmark) still have restaurants?" This compares not 'gross pay' but 'gross pay plus tips'. Of course a more complete analysis would also include benefits and payroll taxes. Note however that my question does not depend the raw numbers. It holds even with a "less severe" difference. It would only be a problem if the tax level in Denmark was high enough that the difference is inverted, which I do not believe to be the case.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]