Showing papers by "Government of Canada published in 1999"

The persistent gap: New Evidence on the Canadian Gender Wage Gap

Abstract: This article uses data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) to investigate the extent to which factors not previously explored in the Canadian context account for wage differences between men and women. Like other studies using standard decomposition techniques and controlling for a variety of productivity-related characteristics, the results demonstrate that men still enjoy a wage advantage over women: women's average hourly wage rate is about 84% - 89% of the men's average. Unlike other studies, controls for work experience and job-related responsibilities are used. Gender differences in full-year, full-time work experience explain at most, 12% of the gender wage gap. Gender differences in the opportunity to supervise and to perform certain tasks account for about 5% of the gender wage gap. Yet despite the long list of productivity related factors, a substantial portion of the gender wage gap cannot be explained. Many studies rely on measures such as age or potential experience (age minus number of years of schooling minus six) as a proxy for actual labour market. Neither of these measures account for complete withdrawals from the labour market nor for restrictions on the number of hours worked per week or on the number of weeks worked per year due to family-related responsibilities. The results show that proxies for experience yield larger adjusted gender wage gaps than when actual experience is used.

Kudoa thyrsites (Myxozoa: Myxosporea) Infections in Pen-Reared Atlantic Salmon in the Northeast Pacific Ocean with a Survey of Potential Nonsalmonid Reservoir Hosts

Abstract: The seasonality of the infective stage of Kudoa thyrsites was investigated via natural exposure of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar held in seawater net-pens in Departure Bay near Nanaimo, British Columbia, an area for which this parasite is enzootic. Atlantic salmon were exposed for various 8-week periods throughout the year, and it was determined that the infections were readily contracted in the summer and fall but not through the winter and early spring months. The progression of K. thyrsites infections was followed in populations of Atlantic salmon held in either seawater net-pens or seawater tanks for periods of up to 20 months. The majority of postsmolts contracted infections within a few months after their transfer to the seawater net-pens, and sporulation of the parasite occurred 4–6 months posttransfer. Mature myxospores could be detected as early as 1,000 degree-days postexposure (p.e.); however, the majority of infections did not progress to sporulation until 2,000 degree-days p.e. The pre...

The importance of floating peat to methane fluxes from flooded peatlands

Abstract: The effect of flooding on methane (CH4) fluxes was studied through the construction of an experimental reservoir in a boreal forest wetland at the Experimental Lakes Area in northwestern Ontario. Prior to flooding, the peatland surface was a small source of CH4 to the atmosphere (1.0 ± SD of 2.3 mg CH4 m−2 d−1). After flooding, CH4 fluxes from the submerged peat surface increased to 64±68 mg CH4 m−2 d−1. CH4 bubbles within the submerged peat caused about 1/3 of the peat to float. Fluxes from these floating peat islands were much higher (440±350 mg CH4 m−2 d−1) than from both the pre-flood (undisturbed) and the post-flood (submerged) peat surfaces.

Canadian Muslims on the eve of the twenty‐first century

Abstract: (1999). Canadian Muslims on the eve of the twenty‐first century. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs: Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 197-209.

Why Do Children Move Into and Out of Low Income: Changing Labor Market Conditions or Marriage and Divorce?

Abstract: Child poverty is high on the government's agenda. In order to reduce the rate of low-income among children, one has to either reduce the number of children flowing into low-income, or increase the number flowing out. But what is behind such movement? Most analysts would immediately think of job loss among the parents, but obviously divorce and remarriage can also play a role. In order to favorably alter the flows, one has to have some understanding of what is driving them. This paper asks to what extent this movement of children is determined by (1) changes in family status of the parents of children, or (2) changes in the parent's labor market conditions (i.e., job loss and gain, changes in hours of work or wages). We find that for an individual child, a divorce or marriage can have a tremendous influence on the likelihood of entering or exiting low-income. At the level of the individual, changes in family composition (when they occur) are more important than changes in jobs held by parents. However, changes in family status are relatively infrequent compared to labor market changes. Parents are much more likely to lose or find jobs, and experience changes in hours worked or wages, than they are to marry or divorce. When this is accounted for we find that, in the aggregate, flows of children into and out of low income are associated roughly equally with family compositional changes and changes in wages and hours worked.

Mechanism of Resistance to the Colorado Potato Beetle in Wild Solanum Species

Abstract: Field and laboratory experiments were used to measure several fitness parameters of the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say), when maintained on foliage of 7 resistant Solanum species. The relatively low mortality of adults and larvae, the reduced oviposition, and the low proportion of adults recovered 2 d after release on S. berthaultii, but with a larval development time similar to that of potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.), support the semiochemical-based nature of S. berthaultii resistance as described in the literature. Results very similar to those obtained with S. berthaultii were obtained on S. tarijense, suggesting that both species have a similar mode of resistance. The results obtained with S. capsicibaccatum were also similar to S. berthaultii. The absence of trichomes on S. capsicibaccatum indicated that the mechanism of resistance is probably based on different chemicals. S. jamesii, S. polyadenium, and S. trifidum produced high mortality of adults and larvae, and low egg production, indicating the presence of a toxic substance or of a strong feeding deterrent. S. pinnatisectum produced high larval mortality but adult mortality was relatively low indicating that the factor of resistance might be less effective or have a different effect on adults.

The Returns to Education, and the Increasing Age Gap Between Younger and Older Workers

Abstract: Using a regression decomposition approach, we find that, during the 1980s, the growth in the relative educational attainment of older workers has contributed to about one-quarter of the increase in the age-wage gap of men and women. During the 1990s, the age-wage gap increased to a much lesser extent. Changing relative educational attainment accounted for a much greater proportion of the much smaller increase in the gap: almost one-half for males and over three-quarters for women. We also find that, during the 1980s, the expected weekly wages associated with all levels of education fell for younger workers, both for men and women (from 2% to 16%, depending upon education level). Older employees, on the other hand, experienced mixed results. Expected weekly wages rose for some older workers and fell for some others.

Were 1990s Labour Markets Really Different

Abstract: In the early 1990s, observers of the labour market often pointed to emerging new phenomena. How many of these trends have survived the strong economic expansion of 1997 to 1999? The rise of self-employment, which was thought to result from a decline in full-time paid employment, has continued through the buoyant labour market of recent years. Job tenure has risen, not fallen, and the number of firms people can reasonably expect to work for over their career is, as a result, lower, not higher. The participation and employment rates of younger workers have remained below their former peaks, but this seems mainly due to more young people staying in school. Finally, quit rates remain lower than might be expected at this point in the economic cycle, a fact which may reflect increased employment anxiety, despite the low unemployment rate.

Empirical Bayes estimation for combinations of multivariate bioassays.

Abstract: Summary. This article presents a new empirical Bayes estimator (EBE) and a shrinkage estimator for determining the relative potency from several multivariate bioassays by incorporating prior information on the model parameters based on Jeffreys' rules. The EBE can account for any extra variability among the bioassays, and if this extra variability is 0, then the EBE reduces to the maximum likelihood estimator for combinations of multivariate bioassays. The shrinkage estimator turns out to be a compromise of the prior information and the estimator from each multivariate bioassay, with the weights depending on the prior variance.

The impact of post‐cold war politics on the trading system: Implications for Canadian foreign and trade policies

Abstract: The end of bipolar competition between the US and the USSR has implications for the international trade regime and for Canada's place within it. Strategic considerations of world politics after the cold war, Martin Roy notes, carry new threats to the international trading system tat few analysts have assessed. These threats, he adds, do not stem from the decline of American ‘hegemony” but rather from the emergence of multiple centres of power in the international system. Unsuccessful integration of these rising countries in the future may foster insecurity and uncertainty in international politics and lead to greater protectionism. Roy details why the insecure future of the international trade liberalization process dictates a reassessment on the part of Canadian analysts and policy makers of how to strengthen the open international trade system.

The Evolution of Pension Coverage of Young and Older Workers in Canada

Abstract: In this paper, we assemble data from several household surveys to document how pension coverage of young and older workers has evolved in Canada between the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s. Our main findings are the following. First, both administrative data from the Pension Plans in Canada (PPIC) database and data from household surveys show an increase in RPP coverage for women. In contrast, while PPIC data show a decrease in coverage for men, household surveys indicate no downward trend for males. Second, sample aggregates hide interesting differences within the population. We find that the pension coverage of young workers (aged 25-34) has declined relative to older workers (aged 35-54). Young males have experienced a decline in coverage while RPP coverage has remained fairly stable for older men. In contrast, pension coverage has remained fairly constant for young women but has risen substantially for older women. Third, the decline in unionism and shifts towards industries with low-coverage explain most of the decrease in coverage observed among young men. Fourth, the growth in older women's coverage appears to be the result of their greater propensity to be employed in highly paid/highly covered occupations.