A Strengthening Position at the Bargaining Table? Understanding the Productivity-Median Wage Gap in Canada, 1976-2019

James Ashwell

No 2021-09, CSLS Research Reports from Centre for the Study of Living Standards

Abstract: This report examines the productivity-median wage gap in Canada from 1976 to 2019, prepared for Employment and Social Development Canada. It develops a theoretical framework and mathematical decomposition to analyze the gap between labour productivity growth and median wage growth. The gap is decomposed into components related to the labour share of income, the gap between average and median wages (reflecting inequality), and price deflator differences. The report finds that the gap has strengthened workers' nominal bargaining position in some respects while the distribution of productivity gains has become increasingly unequal, with median wages consistently lagging productivity.

Keywords: Productivity; Wage; Canada (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eff
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