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Wages, Productivity and Aging

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  • Benoit Dostie

Abstract

In this article, we estimate age based wage and productivity differentials using linked employer-employee Canadian data from the Workplace and Employee Survey 1999-2003. Data on the firm side is used to estimate production functions taking into account the age profile of the firm's workforce. Data on the workers' side is used to estimate wage equations that also depend on age. Results show concave age-wage and age-productivity profiles. Wage-productivity comparisons show that the productivity of workers aged 55 and more with at least an undergraduate degree is lower than their wages. For other groups, we find that wages do not deviate significantly from productivity estimates. Dans le présent article, nous évaluons les écarts de salaires et de productivité en fonction de l'âge à l'aide de données canadiennes liées employeur-employé de l'Enquête sur le milieu de travail et les employés pour la période 1999-2003. Les données obtenues au sujet de l'entreprise ont servi à estimer des fonctions de production en tenant compte du profil d'âge de son effectif. Les données concernant les employés ont été utilisées pour estimer des équations de salaires qui dépendent aussi de l'âge. Les résultats révèlent des profils concaves dans les relations âge-salaire et âge-productivité. Les comparaisons des déterminants des salaires et de la productivité démontrent que la productivité des travailleurs de 55 ans et plus ayant au moins terminé des études de premier cycle est plus faible que leurs salaires. Pour ce qui est des autres groupes, nous constatons que les salaires ne dévient pas de façon statistiquement significative de la productivité.
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Suggested Citation

  • Benoit Dostie, 2011. "Wages, Productivity and Aging," De Economist, Springer, vol. 159(2), pages 139-158, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:decono:v:159:y:2011:i:2:p:139-158
    DOI: 10.1007/s10645-011-9166-5
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Aging; Productivity; Wages; J23; J31;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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