Cohort patterns in Canadian earnings: assessing the role of skill premia in inequality trends

Paul Beaudry and David Green

Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, 2000, vol. 33, issue 4, 907-936

Abstract: In this paper we document the pattern of change in age‐earnings profiles across cohorts and evaluate its implications. Using synthetic cohorts from the survey of Consumer Finances over the period 1971 to 1993, wwe show that the age‐earnings profiles of Canadian men have been deteriorating for more recentcohorts in comparison with older cohorts. We find this pattern for both high school and university educated workers. In no case do we find evidence that the return to gaining experience has been increasing over time, nor do we find increased within‐cohort dispersion of earnings. We view these findings as conflicting with the hypothesis that increased skill premia largely explain the observed increase in dispersion of male weekly earnings. JEL Classification: J31, O33 Ce mémoire documente le pattern de changements dans les relations âges‐gains d'une cohorte à l'autre, et en analyse les implications. Utilisant des cohortes synthétiques pour la période 1971–93, on montre que les profils âges‐gains des hommes au Canada se sont détériorés dans les cohortes les plus récentes. On ne trouve pas de résultats qui montreraient que le rendement sur l'expérience accumulée s'est accru dans le temps ou qu'il y a dispersion accrue des gains à l'intérieur des cohortes. Les auteurs suggèrent que ces résultats contredisent l'hypothèse que des primes accrues pour les habiletés expliqueraient l'accroissement qu'on a observé dans la dispersion des gains des hommes au Canada.

Date: 2000
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https://doi.org/10.1111/0008-4085.00047

Related works:
Journal Article: Cohort patterns in Canadian earnings: assessing the role of skill premia in inequality trends (2000)
Working Paper: Cohort Patterns in Canadian Earnings: Assessing the Role of Skill Premia in Inequality Trends (1997)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wly:canjec:v:33:y:2000:i:4:p:907-936

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