This thesis uses a comprehensive data set to examine the relationship between Canadian labour market outcomes and several changes in the policy environment. The data set, spanning the period 1981-98, is compiled from a number of comparable surveys and contains information on the demographics and job characteristics of individual workers. The first chapter examines the impact that the tariff reductions of the Canada- U.S. Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA) had on the inter-industry wage structure in the goods producing sector. Previous studies use industry-level data and consequently are unable to control for either differences in worker composition or divergent wage trends for different worker types. These studies find that tariff cuts either had no effect or increased the relative wages of workers in impacted sectors. In contrast, I use data with information on worker characteristics and find that the relative wages of non-union workers in impacted industries decreased. The second chapter investigates the link between the CUSFTA tariff reductions and several labour market outcomes that are potentially linked to industrial productivity. In particular, I examine whether tariff reductions are related to changes in the (i) the size of firm a worker is likely to be employed with, (ii) the probability that a worker will be represented by a union, and (iii) the mean skill level of workers. Although I find evidence that these outcomes have changed over time, none of them seem to be linked directly to CUSFTA. The final chapter, co-authored with David Green, examines the extent to which the declining market outcomes of successive cohorts of job entrants in Canada can be accounted for by changes in the minimum wage, unionization rate, and industrial composition of employment. A flexible density estimator is used, which allows for a comparison between cohorts across the entire wage distribution. The main findings are that for males, changes in unionization and industrial composition can account for about a quarter of the decline in wage outcomes for new job entrants between 1998 and 1981. Similar results are found for females; in addition, the minimum wage provides a "wall" against further erosion for more recent cohorts of entrants.

Thesis (M.A.)--Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. 1991. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [142]-149).

This thesis uses a comprehensive data set to examine the relationship between Canadian labour market outcomes and several changes in the policy environment. The data set, spanning the period 1981-98, is compiled from a number of comparable surveys and contains information on the demographics and job characteristics of individual workers. The first chapter examines the impact that the tariff reductions of the Canada- U.S. Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA) had on the inter-industry wage structure in the goods producing sector. Previous studies use industry-level data and consequently are unable to control for either differences in worker composition or divergent wage trends for different worker types. These studies find that tariff cuts either had no effect or increased the relative wages of workers in impacted sectors. In contrast, I use data with information on worker characteristics and find that the relative wages of non-union workers in impacted industries decreased. The second chapter investigates the link between the CUSFTA tariff reductions and several labour market outcomes that are potentially linked to industrial productivity. In particular, I examine whether tariff reductions are related to changes in the (i) the size of firm a worker is likely to be employed with, (ii) the probability that a worker will be represented by a union, and (iii) the mean skill level of workers. Although I find evidence that these outcomes have changed over time, none of them seem to be linked directly to CUSFTA. The final chapter, co-authored with David Green, examines the extent to which the declining market outcomes of successive cohorts of job entrants in Canada can be accounted for by changes in the minimum wage, unionization rate, and industrial composition of employment. A flexible density estimator is used, which allows for a comparison between cohorts across the entire wage distribution. The main findings are that for males, changes in unionization and industrial composition can account for about a quarter of the decline in wage outcomes for new job entrants between 1998 and 1981. Similar results are found for females; in addition, the minimum wage provides a "wall" against further erosion for more recent cohorts of entrants. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

Thesis (M.A.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1990. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-107). Also available via the Internet.

Many analyses from the New Political Economy (NPE) perceive the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), either from the narrow angle of Canada-United States relationship, or as the result of pressures from dominant monolithic social forces. The present thesis offers a different angle of analysis by demonstrating the importance of the international context in shaping changes in domestic politics such as those relating to the FTA. The thesis also puts emphasis on the complexity of social support and political bargaining that resulted in the adoption of the FTA. / Building of Peter Gourevitch's framework, which evaluates the impact of international crises on domestic politics, the thesis focuses on five possible factors that could explain the free trade outcome. Firstly, constraints and opportunities arising from the international system are assessed to evaluate if the government might have adopted the FTA to protect the "raison d'Etat": it rather appears that it is through the mediation of social actors that the post 1970 international crisis was felt. Secondly, a sectorial analysis finds that two coalitions, each one with two sets of preferences, were opposed on the FTA issue. Thirdly, the role of intermediate associations (business groups, unions and farmers associations) is assessed to see if their impact went beyond the sectorial interest they defended. Fourthly, the influence of economic ideologies is analyzed. Fifthly, the state structure is taken into account to show essentially that the Mulroney government had a double and complementary agenda with the FTA and the Meech Lake negotiations, both of which had a degree of independence from domestic economic and social pressures. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Entertainer or agent provocateur? The modern Canadian political cartoonist, historically speaking, possesses a split identity. The Gazette cartoonist Terry Mosher---a.k.a. Aislin---in his experience, career and involvement in the fall 1988 fight against free trade, illustrates the tension inherent in the identity of the modern Canadian political cartoonist. Mosher's experience offers a theory as to what circumstances might compel a cartoonist to break the cartoonist's compromise---an informal promise not to use their powerful platform to advance a coherent, systematic and specific political agenda or aim in exchange for editorial independence, journalistic "status," and proper financial remuneration---a state of affairs modern cartoonists are, under normal circumstances, happy to accept.

Thesis (M. A.), Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1999. / Bibliography: p.112-126.

Thesis (M.J.)--Carleton University, 1992. / Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

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