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One major difference between these two labor markets that could explain this discrepancy is in their differing levels of labor organization. In Denmark, about 70% of workers belong to labor unions, which are so large that they can bargain not just with individual firms but *sectorally,* setting wages and working conditions for entire sectors of the economy at a time.

In contrast, only about 11% of US workers are unionized—and only about 6% of private sector workers, down from about 35% during the 1930s. As I discussed last time, divided and atomized workers, forced to bargain one-by-one, lack the power to negotiate for wages that their unionized peers do.

We could imagine US workers unionized at the same rate as their Danish counterparts and collectively bargaining for an *effective* minimum wage that is dramatically higher than their *statutory* minimum wage. Maybe the lowest collectively bargained wage would be $16 or $18 or even higher.

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