Each week, the Dutch Postcode Lottery (PCL) randomly selects a postal code, and distributes cash and a new BMWto lottery participants in that code. We study the effects of these shocks on lottery winners and their neighbors.Consistent with the life-cycle hypothesis, the effects on winners’...

This paper considers the possible role of shifts in labour demand away from unskilled workers, combined with an institutionally- generated greater labour supply elasticity in Canada, in explaining the apparent secular increase in Canadian male unemployment, and in explaining the emergence of the...

This paper seeks to explain why young women are much more likely to report being harmed by gender discrimination than older women. Using a recent sample of job seekers, we conclude that the answer does not lie in higher "objective" discrimination, as usually measured by economists, since...

Like immigrants, aboriginal populations are endowed with skills and cultural traits which are not necessarily optimal for economic success in the “majority” culture where they reside. As for immigrants, Aboriginal economic success may thus be enhanced by the acquistion of such skills and...

Self-employment has risen dramatically in Canada, accounting for a disproportionate share of job growth since the 1980's. Using hitherto-unexploited information on labour force transitions from 13 waves of the Survey of Consumer Finances between 1982 and 1995, we show that the changes in...

A well known finding in the literature on displaced workers is the apparent “portability” of tenure across firms: controlling for experience and other observable characteristics, workers with high levels of predisplacement tenure earn higher postdisplacement wages (e.g. Kletzer 1989). Using...

This paper reviews the evidence on recent wage polarization in Canada compared to other developed countries. After establishing the existence and degree of Canadian wage polarization, it reviews the available research on the causes of polarization in a number of countries. Consequences of wage...

One of the most remarkable features of international economic performance in the last decade has been the employment performance of the United States. While unemployment rates in almost all other developed countries remain high by postwar standards, the U.S. unemployment rate has fallen to...