Productivity

• Human Capital Risk and the Firmsize Wage Premium

  Staff Working Paper 2008-33 Danny Leung, Alexander Ueberfeldt

  Why do employed persons in large firms earn more than employed persons in small firms, even after controlling for observable characteristics? Complementary to previous results, this paper proposes a mechanism that gives an answer to this question.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Economic models, Labour markets, Productivity JEL Code(s): J, J2, J24, J3, J31
• September 15, 2008

  Productivity in Canada: Does Firm Size Matter?

  Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2008 Danny Leung, Césaire Meh, Yaz Terajima

  The research findings highlighted in this article suggest that firm-size differences play a significant role in explaining the productivity gap between Canada and the United States. The authors review factors that lead to a positive relationship between productivity and size and then look at Canadian evidence of this relationship at the firm level. They quantify the extent to which the change in Canadian productivity as well as the Canada-U.S. productivity differences can be accounted for by the change in the importance of large firms and identify several factors that play a role in determining average firm size and aggregate productivity.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Productivity
• September 15, 2008

  Offshoring and Its Effects on the Labour Market and Productivity: A Survey of Recent Literature

  Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2008 James Rossiter, Yi Zheng, Calista Cheung

  Offshoring has become an increasingly prominent aspect of the globalization process. Evidence over the past two decades suggests that offshoring has not exerted a noticeable impact on overall employment and earnings growth in advanced economies, but it has likely contributed to shifting the demand for labour towards higher-skilled jobs. There appear to be some positive effects of offshoring on productivity, but such effects differ by country.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): International topics, Labour markets, Productivity
• September 15, 2008

  The Effects of Recent Relative Price Movements on the Canadian Economy

  Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2008 David Dupuis, Philippe Marcil

  Although the standard of living of Canadians has improved as a result of terms-of-trade gains created by the sharp rise in real commodity prices over the past five years or so, the commodity-price increase, combined with an exchange rate appreciation and real income gain, triggered structural adjustments by altering underlying economic incentives. The frictions generated in adjusting to the relative price shock have likely contributed to hold back aggregate productivity growth. Dupuis and Marcil examine the structural adjustments that have been required-in particular, the resource reallocation among the different sectors of the economy-and its effects on employment, output, and productivity, as well as the responses of final domestic demand and external trade flows.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Productivity, Recent economic and financial developments