A recent study on Seattle’s $15-an-hour minimum wage law reignited the debate over whether higher minimums help workers by lifting pay or harm them by leading employers to cut hours. The study, by University of Washington researchers, found more harm than good, a result that was at odds with a large body of previous research and was challenged by other economists who saw flaws in the study.

The dispute has been healthy. The critics have been specific and data driven, not ideological. The study’s authors have said they welcome criticism and have acknowledged that other conclusions are plausible. The dispute could actually advance the cause for higher minimums and give them a better chance of delivering the desired benefits.

For starters, the debate has underscored the validity of decades of rigorous research and real-life experience showing that moderate increases in the minimum raise the pay of low-wage workers without reducing job growth or work hours. The only question is whether big increases would also work. The federal minimum is a mere $7.25 an hour and most of the 30 states with higher minimums require less than $10 an hour. Large minimum-wage increases are generally defined as those calling for $12 to $15 an hour.

In Seattle, the minimum rose in 2015 from $9.47 an hour to either $10 or $11, depending mainly on the size of a business. In 2016 it rose to a range of $10.50 to $13. (The period studied covers 2015 and 2016.) In 2017, it hit $11 to $15. By 2021, all Seattle businesses will pay at least $15.