Abstract:The impact of the minimum wages on the employment and wages of the informal sector has been controversial in economic community. Based on the China Migrants Dynamic Survey data during 2012－2015， this paper establishes the employment choice equation to investigate the impact of minimum wages on the employment choice of rural migrant workers， and establishes the employment selection bias correction wage equations to investigate the impact of minimum wages on wages of formal and informal employment workers. The results show that the minimum wages has a significant negative impact on the informal employment of low－skilled migrant workers， but has a significant positive impact on the informal employment of high－skilled migrant workers， which reveals a substitution effect of high-skilled migrant workers on low-skilled migrant workers in the labor market. Compared with informal em-ployment， the minimum wages will increase the probability that individuals choose formal employment. An increase in minimum wages has a significant positive impact on the wages of informal employment workers， which is called“lighthouse effect”in China's labor market. Therefore， the government can improve the employment situation and wages of migrant workers by increasing the minimum wages progressively and modestly.

Keywords:Minimum wages;Informal employment;Ｒural migrant workers