IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cpp/issued/v24y1998is1p72-89.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Labour Market Dynamics of Unemployment Rates in Canada and the United States

Author

Listed:
  • Michael Baker
  • Miles Corak
  • Andrew Heisz

Abstract

We develop a framework for the dynamic analysis of unemployment and use it to examine the difference in unemployment rates between Canada and the United States over the period 1980-1993. An examination of both the incidence and the duration of unemployment uncovers a series of stylized facts that explanations of persistently higher Canadian unemployment rates should recognize. Cyclical variations in the unemployment rate differential are due about equally to relative changes in spell duration and incidence. A decrease in the incidence of unemployment in the US relative to Canada is the major factor determining the trend in the unemployment rate gap. Finally, while the composition of unemployment is very different between the two countries - permanent job loss being more important in Canada and labour market entry and re-entry more important in the US - these differences are not the cause of longer spell lengths in Canada. Unemployment spells last longer in Canada for all groups of unemployed regardless of reason for unemployment.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Baker & Miles Corak & Andrew Heisz, 1998. "The Labour Market Dynamics of Unemployment Rates in Canada and the United States," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 24(s1), pages 72-89, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpp:issued:v:24:y:1998:i:s1:p:72-89
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0317-0861%28199802%2924%3CS72%3ATLMDOU%3E2.0.CO%3B2-H
    Download Restriction: only available to JSTOR subscribers
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David Card & Richard B. Freeman, 1993. "Small Differences That Matter: Labor Markets and Income Maintenance in Canada and the United States," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number card93-1.
    2. Ross D. Milbourne & Douglas D. Purvis & W. David Scoones, 1991. "Unemployment Insurance and Unemployment Dynamics," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 24(4), pages 804-826, November.
    3. Card, David & Freeman, Richard B. (ed.), 1993. "Small Differences That Matter," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226092836, Febrero.
    4. David Card & W. Craig Riddell, 1993. "A Comparative Analysis of Unemployment in Canada and the United States," NBER Chapters, in: Small Differences That Matter: Labor Markets and Income Maintenance in Canada and the United States, pages 149-190, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Baker, G M & Trivedi, P K, 1985. "Estimation of Unemployment Duration from Grouped Data: A Comparative Study," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(2), pages 153-174, April.
    6. Miles Corak & Stephen R. G. Jones, 1995. "The Persistence of Unemployment: How Important Were Regional Extended Unemployment Insurance Benefits?," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 28(3), pages 555-567, August.
    7. Baker, Michael, 1992. "Unemployment Duration: Compositional Effects and Cyclical Variability," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(1), pages 313-321, March.
    8. John McCallum, 1987. "Unemployment in Canada and the United States," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 20(4), pages 802-822, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Uguccioni, James, 2022. "The long-run effects of parental unemployment in childhood," CLEF Working Paper Series 45, Canadian Labour Economics Forum (CLEF), University of Waterloo.
    2. Robert G. Valletta, 1998. "Changes in the structure and duration of U.S. unemployment, 1967-1998," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, pages 29-40.
    3. David Gray & Gilles Grenier, 1998. "Jobless Durations of Displaced Workers: A Comparison of Canada and the United States," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 24(s1), pages 152-169, February.
    4. Michele Campolieti, 2011. "The ins and outs of unemployment in Canada, 1976–2008," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(4), pages 1331-1349, November.
    5. Lalé, Etienne, 2024. "Assessing Labor Market Conditions in Canada with Public-Use Microdata," IZA Discussion Papers 16722, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Tiff Macklem & Francisco Barillas, 2005. "Recent Developments in the Canada-US Unemployment Rate Gap: Changing Patterns in Unemployment Incidence and Duration," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 31(1), pages 101-108, March.
    7. Campolieti, Michele, 2009. "An Analysis of Unemployment Incidence and Duration: Some New Evidence from Canada," CLSSRN working papers clsrn_admin-2009-14, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 02 Feb 2009.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Heisz, Andrew & Baker, Michael & Corak, Miles, 1996. "Unemployment in the Stock and Flow," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 1997097e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    2. Manfred Keil & Louis Pantuosco, 1998. "Canadian and US Unemployment Rates: A Comparison Based on Regional Data," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 24(s1), pages 38-55, February.
    3. Peter Kuhn & A. Leslie Robb, 1998. "Shifting Skill Demand and the Canada-US Unemployment Gap: Evidence from Prime-Age Men," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 24(s1), pages 170-191, February.
    4. Stephen S. Poloz, "undated". "The Causes of Unemployment in Canada: A Review of the Evidence," Staff Working Papers 94-11, Bank of Canada.
    5. Denise Côté & Doug Hostland, 1996. "An Econometric Examination of the Trend Unemployment Rate in Canada," Staff Working Papers 96-7, Bank of Canada.
    6. Eswar Prasad & Alun Thomas, 1998. "Labour Market Adjustment in Canada and the United States," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 24(s1), pages 121-137, February.
    7. Stephen S. Poloz, 1995. "The Causes of Unemployment in Canada: A Review of the Evidence," Macroeconomics 9502002, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Robert Amano & Tony S. Wirjanto, "undated". "An Empirical Investigation into Government Spending and Private Sector Behaviour," Staff Working Papers 94-8, Bank of Canada.
    9. David Gray & Gilles Grenier, 1998. "Jobless Durations of Displaced Workers: A Comparison of Canada and the United States," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 24(s1), pages 152-169, February.
    10. James Ted McDonald & Christopher Worswick, 1999. "Wages, Implicit Contracts, and the Business Cycle: Evidence from Canadian Micro Data," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(4), pages 884-913, August.
    11. Pavel Gertler, 2010. "The wage curve: A panel data view of labour market segments," Working and Discussion Papers WP 3/2010, Research Department, National Bank of Slovakia.
    12. David Card & Francis Kramarz & Thomas Lemieux, 1999. "Changes in the Relative Structure of Wages and Employment: A Comparison of the United States, Canada, and France," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 32(4), pages 843-877, August.
    13. Krueger, Alan B. & Meyer, Bruce D., 2002. "Labor supply effects of social insurance," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 33, pages 2327-2392, Elsevier.
    14. John F. Helliwell, 1998. "The Unemployment Gap: Results, New Questions, and Policy Implications," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 24(s1), pages 264-270, February.
    15. David Albouy & Alex Chernoff & Chandler Lutz & Casey Warman, 2019. "Local Labor Markets in Canada and the United States," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 37(S2), pages 533-594.
    16. Crossley, T.F. & McDonald, J.T. & Worswick, C., 1999. "Immigrant Benefit Receipt: Sensitivity to the Choice of Survey years and Model Specification," ANU Working Papers in Economics and Econometrics 1999-370, Australian National University, College of Business and Economics, School of Economics.
    17. Michele Campolieti, 2001. "Disability Insurance and the Labour Force Participation of Older Men and Women in Canada," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 27(2), pages 179-194, June.
    18. Kory Kroft & Fabian Lange & Matthew J. Notowidigdo & Lawrence F. Katz, 2016. "Long-Term Unemployment and the Great Recession: The Role of Composition, Duration Dependence, and Nonparticipation," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(S1), pages 7-54.
    19. Stephen R. G. Jones & W. Craig Riddell, 1998. "Unemployment and Labor Force Attachment: A Multistate Analysis of Nonemployment," NBER Chapters, in: Labor Statistics Measurement Issues, pages 123-155, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. John F. Helliwell, 2001. "Canada: Life beyond the Looking Glass," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 107-124, Winter.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cpp:issued:v:24:y:1998:i:s1:p:72-89. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Iver Chong The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask Iver Chong to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.utpjournals.press/loi/cpp .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.