Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-129).

We examine the dynamics of Canadian labour markets using data from the Survey of Employment, Payroll, and Hours and the Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada from 1961-2014. Using univariate, and multivariate Vector Autoregressive methodology, we estimate Impulse Response Functions and perform Granger non-causal tests to explore the relationships between wages, employment, and unemployment. We demonstrate the difference in analysis gained from regional definitions and assumptions regarding the heterogeneity of provinces within the Canadian regional context. Transitory labour supply shocks propagate different directions and magnitudes in wage growth in Quebec and unemployment growth in Manitoba, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia when estimating Impulse Response Functions in the provincial trivariate VAR framework. We also find that there are statistically significant differences in the estimated parameters of regional multivariate VAR model specifications and corresponding restricted models, though these tests are not exhaustive. / Graduate

This dissertation looks at three aspects of inequality within labor markets: wage inequality, intergenerational economic mobility, and inequality in higher education between sexes. The first chapter examines the contribution of offshoring to the relative decline in the wages paid to middle skilled workers. Within a task based model of production, I develop a theoretical framework that demonstrates how increased offshoring is consistent with a decline in domestic employment and a reduction in the wages paid to workers in middle skilled occupations. I test these predictions empirically using a proxy measure of offshoring. I find that industries which engage in offshoring see their domestic employment decline over time and have a wider gap between the wages of their middle and high skilled workers. Current levels of industry offshoring are significantly correlated with an industry's lagged occupational composition. Both material and service offshoring decrease with the share of manual occupations and service offshoring increases with the share of routine occupations. Chapter two estimates the magnitude of the intergenerational elasticity of income found in the NLSY79, and provides a decomposition of this elasticity into paternal and maternal effects. Roughly one fourth of intergenerational income transmission can be attributed to maternal earnings, and omitting maternal income biases the estimate of the effect of paternal income by over 20 percent. The third chapter analyzes the growing inequality in college graduation rates between men and women. Evidence from two cohorts in the National Longitudinal Surveys suggests that although women have performed better in high school than men for several decades, the impact of high school performance on college success has increased dramatically since the 1980s. The increasing weight attributed to academic excellence in high school explains a substantial portion of the female advantage in college graduation over their male peers.

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The intention of this booklet is to assist unionists, shop stewards and organisers with preparation for wage negotiations. It raises ideas on how to deal with the common arguments that are used by management. This booklet is not a complete guide to wage negotiations. It concentrates mainly on economic factors which form only one part of wage negotiations. The handbook is divided into two sections. Section One deals with: Information about ownership, control and structure of South African companies; How to read and understand the information in a company’s annual report. Section Two deals with wage-related issues and it includes: Inflation; Subsistence levels and other surveys; Wages and wage policy. The booklet concludes with a checklist of information needed by wage negotiators and ends with a glossary of terms and a reference list.

This thesis is an attempt to combine two opposing arguments which have appeared in the literature of labour economics for nearly 25 years. The analysis deals with the formulation of a collective bargaining model which yields some insight into the wage-determining process. The economic criteria for a wage settlement proposed by J. T. Dunlop in his book, Wage Determination Under Trade Unions, are combined with the 'political' or 'power' variables which A. M. Ross had advocated as the most important determinants of wages in his book, Trade Union Wage Policy. The result is an analysis very similar to that of recent bargaining theory studies. Six industries from the British Columbia economy are examined within the concept of the model developed. These industries produce a major part of the output of this region. The examination of these industries, therefore, provides a key to the comprehension of the general trends and forces at work in the British Columbia labour market. The model attempts to discover the variables most significant in explaining the movement of wages in each industry from 1948 to 1968. The variables examined represent a combination of the economic and political forces which are hypothesized to act upon the wage determination process. In addition, the thesis examines those industries in the-context of a general wage structure. It is hypothesized that the existence of such a structure plays a large role in the wage determining process and has a significant influence upon trends in the economic activity of the province. The end result will be an explanation of the single and collective wage movements of these six industries. The findings generally support the theoretical hypothesis that the wage determining process is subject to both political and economic forces. Economic variables are able to confine wage settlements within a range. The size of this range also depends upon economic forces. Within the range, however, bargaining may involve a multiplicity of criteria. Both the union and the firm will often choose some easily observable criteria upon which to base wage settlements. This study attempts to determine the main criteria chosen within each industry. The conclusions reached show that wage comparisons made among industries by both workers and employers are able to explain the largest part of wage movements. A bargaining theory model is supported and ample evidence of a wage structure which plays an important role in the wage determining process is found. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

Technological progress, human capital, and tax policies play an important role in growth. Recent models of endogenous growth based on technological progress predict that high technological progress and growth are associated with a high relative supply of skilled workers who earn constant or relatively low wages. Chapter 1 of this dissertation reviews recent models of endogenous growth. The 1980s, however, are associated with high technological progress, high relative supply and increasing relative wages of skilled workers. Chapter 2 of this dissertation shows that, unlike most recent endogenous growth models, high rates of technological change can be accompanied by a high relative supply and a high relative wage for skilled workers. This chapter looks at the relative wage of educated to uneducated individuals within the same generation in an overlapping generations model. Individuals live for two periods and decide whether to invest in education in the first period of their lives. As more individuals invest in education, the wage of unskilled workers increases, increasing the opportunity cost of education. At the equilibrium, to make the individuals who invest in education indifferent between education and work, the intra generational relative wage of educated individuals must increase Chapter 3 studies the local stability of the relative wage model. It shows that the unique equilibrium can be a sink, source, or saddle point. The numerical examples study the effects of an increase in the productivity of education on the entire trajectory of investment in education. Chapter 4 looks at the effects of different types of taxes in an economy in which the allocation of resources is inefficient. It shows that different types of taxes affect the long run growth rate differently. In our setting, taxing income from human capital employed in final good production allocates more human capital to R&D, and increases the growth rate of the economy. However, this is a very selective tax, and the conclusion depends on the production function. / Ph. D.

Student Number : 0413841X - MA research report - School of Social Sciences - Faculty of Humanities / People living and working on commercial farms in South Africa are the poorest and most vulnerable group in the labour market. They rely on multiple livelihood strategies to alleviate risk and to survive. Wages from their employment in agriculture usually constitute their primary source of income and therefore play an important part in their livelihood strategy, as does their dependence on the farmer for housing, food, credit and access to services. The livelihood strategies of these poor people have been disturbed by the introduction of the Sectoral Determination for the Agricultural Sector, which prescribes a minimum wage for farm workers. It is especially the most vulnerable workers who are hit by the farmers’ reluctance to grant them the same benefits as they received before. The law thus only succeeds in supporting those workers who are better educated, healthy and able to manage the higher amount of cash wage in a responsible way. It is necessary to protect those who are made worse off through the legislation by a comprehensive rural development strategy. Such a development strategy must target those factors keeping the poorest farm workers vulnerable and struggling for survival.

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Veterans’ preference policies in government employment, at all levels, have existed for the intention of providing advantages for veterans who consider employment in public service after military service. While the purpose of these policies is well intended for veterans who have served, there exists the potential that this practice can be perceived as an endorsement to hire from a pool of candidates that consists of mostly white males. From a representation standpoint, for women and minority groups, this creates the potential to undo much of the progress that has been made in terms of better representation within the public workforce. However, overall, veterans have experienced a wage premium in the public sector compared to the private, which creates the challenge that veteran employment can have a negative effect on one area of employment equity while maintaining a positive effect in another. Furthermore, external factors, both market-based and employment-based, may influence these effects as well. This research examines how veteran employment has impacted public-private representation among veteran women and minority groups, overall veteran public-private wage gaps, and the explanatory factors that affect veteran hiring and pay variances. Using public use data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) files this research looks to fill in the gap in the literature related to public-private veteran employment representation and wage variances. The findings of this research first indicate that even though veterans are overrepresented in government service, veteran women and minorities have an even higher likelihood of representation in government service compared to the private sector. The explanatory factors that influence this finding are GSP, per capita income, and the unemployment rate, while union membership illustrates mixed results. Second, this research indicates that veterans are paid a wage premium working in the public sector compared to the private sector. The explanatory factors that influence this finding are per capita income, the unemployment rate, and union membership, while GSP does not. The overall contribution of this research builds upon the literature related both the composition and compensation of veterans and the external factors that influence public-private employment equity.