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The Evolution of the Returns to Human Capital in Canada, 1980-2005

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  • Boudarbat, Brahim

    () (University of Montreal)

  • Lemieux, Thomas

    () (University of British Columbia, Vancouver)

  • Riddell, W. Craig

    () (University of British Columbia, Vancouver)

Abstract

We examine the evolution of the returns to human capital in Canada over the period 1980-2005. Our main finding is that returns to education increased substantially for Canadian men, contrary to conclusions reached previously. Most of this rise took place in the early 1980s and since 1995. Returns to education also rose, albeit more modestly, for Canadian women. Another important development is that after years of expansion, the wage gap between younger and older workers stabilized after 1995. Controlling for work experience and using Canadian Census data appear to account for the main differences between our results and earlier findings.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 4809.

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Length: 46 pages
Date of creation: Mar 2010
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4809

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Keywords: human capital; wage differentials; Canada;

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References

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  1. Ana M. Ferrer & W. Craig Riddell, 2002. "The role of credentials in the Canadian labour market," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 35(4), pages 879-905, November.
  2. Kapsalis, Costa Morissette, Rene Picot, Garnett, 1999. "The Returns to Education and the Increasing Wage Gap Between Younger and Older Workers," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 1999131e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
  3. J. B. Burbidge & L. Magee & A. Leslie Robb, 2002. "The Education Premium in Canada and the United States," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 28(2), pages 203-217, June.
  4. Paul Beaudry & David A. Green, 2000. "Cohort patterns in Canadian earnings: assessing the role of skill premia in inequality trends," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 33(4), pages 907-936, November.
  5. Peter Kuhn & A. Leslie Robb, 1998. "Shifting Skill Demand and the Canada-US Unemployment Gap: Evidence from Prime-Age Men," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 24(s1), pages 170-191, February.
  6. Hartog,Joop & Maassen van den Brink,Henri‰tte (ed.), 2007. "Human Capital," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521873161.
  7. Richard B. Freeman & Karen Needels, 1993. "Skill Differentials in Canada in an Era of Rising Labor Market Inequality," NBER Chapters, in: Small Differences That Matter: Labor Markets and Income Maintenance in Canada and the United States, pages 45-68 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  8. Joshua Angrist & Victor Chernozhukov & Ivan Fernandez-Val, 2004. "Quantile Regression under Misspecification, with an Application to the U.S. Wage Structure," NBER Working Papers 10428, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  9. Frenette, Marc Green, David A. Picot, Garnett, 2004. "Rising Income Inequality in the 1990s: An Exploration of Three Data Sources," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2004219e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
  10. David Card, 2000. "Estimating the Return to Schooling: Progress on Some Persistent Econometric Problems," NBER Working Papers 7769, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  11. Jacob Mincer & Solomon Polacheck, 1974. "Family Investments in Human Capital: Earnings of Women," NBER Chapters, in: Economics of the Family: Marriage, Children, and Human Capital, pages 397-431 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  12. Paul Beaudry & David Green, 1998. "What is Driving US and Canadian Wages: Exogenous Technical Change or Endogenous Choice of Technique?," NBER Working Papers 6853, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  13. Jacob Mincer & Solomon Polachek, 1974. "Family Investments in Human Capital: Earnings of Women," NBER Chapters, in: Marriage, Family, Human Capital, and Fertility, pages 76-110 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  14. Bar-Or, Yuval, et al, 1995. "The Wage Premium to a University Education in Canada, 1971-1991," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 13(4), pages 762-94, October.
  15. Emmanuel Saez & Michael R. Veall, 2005. "The Evolution of High Incomes in Northern America: Lessons from Canadian Evidence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(3), pages 831-849, June.
  16. Card, David, 1999. "The causal effect of education on earnings," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 30, pages 1801-1863 Elsevier.
  17. Picot, Garnett, 1998. "What is Happening to Earnings, Inequality and Youth Wages in the 1990s?," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 1998116e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
  18. Kevin M. Murphy & W. Craig Riddell & Paul M. Romer, 1998. "Wages, Skills, and Technology in the United States and Canada," NBER Working Papers 6638, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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Cited by:
  1. John B. Burbidge & Kirk A. Collins & James B. Davies & Lonnie Magee, 2011. "Effective Tax and Subsidy Rates on Human Capital in Canada," University of Western Ontario, CIBC Centre for Human Capital and Productivity Working Papers 20114, University of Western Ontario, CIBC Centre for Human Capital and Productivity.
  2. Emanuelle Bourbeau & Pierre Lefebvre & Philip Merrigan, 2011. "Provincial Returns to Education for 21 to 35 year-olds: Results from the 1991-2006 Canadian Analytic Censuses Files," Cahiers de recherche 1106, CIRPEE.
  3. Daniel Boothby & Torben Drewes, 2010. "The Payoff: Returns to University, College and Trades Education in Canada, 1980 to 2005," e-briefs 104, C.D. Howe Institute.
  4. Hou, Feng, 2010. "Entry Earnings of Canada’s Immigrants over the Past Quarter Century: the Roles of Changing Characteristics and Returns to Skills," CLSRN Working Papers clsrn_admin-2010-23, UBC Department of Economics, revised 22 Jun 2010.

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