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156 result(s)

Trends in U.S. Hours and the Labor Wedge

Staff Working Paper 2010-28 Simona Cociuba, Alexander Ueberfeldt
From 1980 until 2007, U.S. average hours worked increased by thirteen percent, due to a large increase in female hours. At the same time, the U.S. labor wedge, measured as the discrepancy between a representative household's marginal rate of substitution between consumption and leisure and the marginal product of labor, declined substantially.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Economic models, Labour markets, Potential output JEL Code(s): E, E2, E24, H, H2, H20, H3, H31, J, J2, J22

Stability versus Flexibility: The Role of Temporary Employment in Labour Adjustment

Staff Working Paper 2010-27 Shutao Cao, Danny Leung
In Canada, temporary workers account for 14 per cent of jobs in the non-farm business sector, are present in a range of industries, and account for 40 per cent of the total job reallocation. Yet most models of job reallocation abstract from temporary workers.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Labour markets, Productivity JEL Code(s): D, D2, D24, J, J3, J32

Relative Price Movements and Labour Productivity in Canada: A VAR Analysis

Staff Discussion Paper 2010-5 Michael Dolega, David Dupuis, Lise Pichette
In recent years, the Canadian economy has been affected by strong movements in relative prices brought about by the surging costs of energy and non-energy commodities, with significant implications for the terms of trade, the exchange rate, and the allocation of resources across Canadian sectors and regions.

Time Variation in Okun's Law: A Canada and U.S. Comparison

Staff Working Paper 2010-7 Kimberly Beaton
This article investigates the stability of Okun's law for Canada and the United States using a time varying parameter approach. Time variation is modeled as driftless random walks and is estimated using the median unbiased estimator approach developed by Stock and Watson (1998).

Labour Reallocation, Relative Prices and Productivity

Staff Working Paper 2010-2 Shutao Cao, Danny Leung
This paper documents the rate at which labour flows between industries and between firms within industries using the most recent data available. It examines the determinants of these flows and their relationship with the productivity growth.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Inflation and prices, Labour markets, Productivity JEL Code(s): D, D2, D23, E, E3, E32, J, J6

Structural Inflation Models with Real Wage Rigidities: The Case of Canada

Staff Working Paper 2009-21 Jean-Marie Dufour, Lynda Khalaf, Maral Kichian
Real wage rigidities have recently been proposed as a way of building intrinsic persistence in inflation within the context of New Keynesian Phillips Curves. Using two recent illustrative structural models, we evaluate empirically the importance of real wage rigidities in the data and the extent to which such models provide useful information regarding price stickiness.
June 11, 2009

The Changing Pace of Labour Reallocation in Canada: Causes and Consequences

The number of job gains and losses across firms in Canada each year is roughly one-fifth the total number of jobs and generally occurs within sectors (industries) rather than across sectors. Since labour reallocation within sectors has been strongly related to productivity growth in Canada, defining the key drivers of this type of reallocation is important, given the higher rates of reallocation and productivity growth in the Untied States than in Canada. This article finds that the appreciation of the Canadian dollar and rising commodity prices led to above-average reallocation of labour across sectors over the 2005-08 period, but that the impact on productivity has been minor. Labour reallocation across firms, however, generates substantial labour productivity gains in manufacturing and the business sector as a whole.

Labour Shares and the Role of Capital and Labour Market Imperfections

Staff Discussion Paper 2009-2 Lena Suchanek
In continental Europe, labour shares in national income have exhibited considerable variation since 1970. Empirical and theoretical research suggests that the evolution of labour markets and labour market imperfections can, in part, explain this phenomenon.

What Accounts for the U.S.-Canada Education-Premium Difference?

Staff Working Paper 2009-4 Oleksiy Kryvtsov, Alexander Ueberfeldt
This paper analyzes the differences in wage ratios of university graduates to less than university graduates, the education premium, in Canada and the United States from 1980 to 2000. Both countries experienced a similar increase in the fraction of university graduates and a similar increase in skill biased technological change based on capital-embodied technological progress, but only the United States had a large increase in the education premium.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Labour markets, Productivity JEL Code(s): E, E2, E24, E25, J, J2, J24, J3, J31

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
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