This dissertation is manuscript-based. It contains an introduction, a literature review, a conclusion along with the four research papers that constitute its core. The four substantive papers reexamine the sources of earnings differences by race and immigration status in Canada. I address two major methodological issues in the relevant literature: the measurement of experience and the modeling of the relations between the factors known to influence earnings. Data from Statistics Canada's Workplace and Employee Survey (WES) was analyzed. The first two papers examine biases in the estimates of wage disparities due to error in the measurement of experience. They do so using two conventional estimation techniques: ordinary least squares (OLS) with dummy variables, and the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition. The third and fourth papers explore deficiencies in OLS-based modeling techniques. The third paper does so by separately analyzing the relationships between racial and immigrant group statuses and access to job-related training, and then the relationship between statuses and training, on one hand, and earnings on the other. The final paper uses structural equation modeling to further examine the relationship between group status and earnings, this time explicitly incorporating the mediating effects of job types, and job-related training. The papers reveal that inadequate measurement of work experience results in overestimates of the wage disadvantage of visible minority immigrants. Furthermore, some of the wage disadvantage of this group stems from limited access to job-related training.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed Feb. 14, 2008). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

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