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The wage gap between Francophones and Anglophones: a Canadian perspective, 1970-2000

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  • David Albouy

Abstract

The wage gap between Francophone and Anglophone men from 1970 and 2000 fell by 25 percentage points within Quebec, but only by 10 points Canada-wide, largely because the wages of Quebec Anglophones fell by 15 points relative to other Canadian Anglophones. Accordingly, the Canadian measure of the Francophone gap better reflects the changing welfare of Francophones than the Quebec measure. Over half of the reduction in the Canadian Francophone wage gap is explained by rising Francophone education levels. In Quebec, the declining number and relative wages of Anglophone workers is best explained by a falling demand for English-speaking labour.

Suggested Citation

  • David Albouy, 2008. "The wage gap between Francophones and Anglophones: a Canadian perspective, 1970-2000," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 41(4), pages 1211-1238, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:cje:issued:v:41:y:2008:i:4:p:1211-1238
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5982.2008.00501.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Antonio Di Paolo & Aysit Tansel, 2015. "Returns to Foreign Language Skills in a Developing Country: The Case of Turkey," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(4), pages 407-421, April.
    2. Ott Toomet, 2011. "Learn English, Not the Local Language! Ethnic Russians in the Baltic States," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 526-531, May.
    3. Jacek Liwiński, 2019. "The wage premium from foreign language skills," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 46(4), pages 691-711, November.
    4. Alcalde-Unzu, Jorge & Moreno-Ternero, Juan D. & Weber, Shlomo, 2022. "The measurement of the value of a language," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    5. Sperlich, Stefan & Uriarte Ayo, José Ramón, 2014. "The Economics of "Why is it so hard to save a threatened Language?"," IKERLANAK info:eu-repo/grantAgreeme, Universidad del País Vasco - Departamento de Fundamentos del Análisis Económico I.
    6. Christofides, Louis N. & Swidinsky, Robert, 2008. "The Economic Returns to a Second Official Language: English in Quebec and French in the Rest-of-Canada," IZA Discussion Papers 3551, IZA Network @ LISER.
    7. Vincent Geloso & Chandler S. Reilly, 2025. "Revisiting Quebec's Quiet Revolution: A synthetic control analysis," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 58(2), pages 548-579, May.
    8. Gagnon, Julien & Geloso, Vincent & Isabelle, Maripier, 2023. "The incubated revolution: Education, cohort effects, and the linguistic wage gap in Quebec during the 20th century," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 207(C), pages 327-349.
    9. Geloso, Vincent J. & Grier, Kevin B., 2022. "Love on the rocks: The causal effects of separatist governments in Quebec," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    10. Armstrong, Alex, 2015. "Equilibria and efficiency in bilingual labour markets," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 204-220.
    11. Jain, Tarun, 2011. "Common tongue: The impact of language on economic performance," MPRA Paper 34423, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Antonio Di Paolo & Aysit Tansel, 2015. "Returns to Foreign Language Skills in a Developing Country: The Case of Turkey," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(4), pages 407-421, April.
    13. Ibrahim Bousmah & Gilles Grenier & David M. Gray, 2021. "Linguistic Distance, Languages of Work and Wages of Immigrants in Montreal," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 1-28, March.
    14. Jason Dean & Vincent Geloso, 2022. "The linguistic wage gap in Quebec, 1901 to 1951," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 16(3), pages 615-637, September.
    15. Kanat Abdulla, 2024. "Language diversity, gender inequality, and aggregate productivity in Canada," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 71(3), pages 323-345, July.
    16. Louis N. Christofides & Robert Swidinsky, 2010. "The Economic Returns to the Knowledge and Use of a Second Official Language: English in Quebec and French in the Rest-of-Canada," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 36(2), pages 137-158, June.
    17. Gilles Grenier & Serge Nadeau, 2010. "Why is Immigrants’ Access to Employment lower in Montreal than in Toronto?," Working Papers 1005E, University of Ottawa, Department of Economics.
    18. Matthew Curtis, 2022. "The her in inheritance: how marriage matching has always mattered, Quebec 1800-1970," Working Papers ECARES 2022-38, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J70 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - General
    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General

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