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Pay and Productivity in Canada: Growing Together, Only Slower than Ever

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  • David M. Williams

Abstract

Pay and labour productivity growth in Canada are broadly aligned over the long run since 1961 and during the 2008-19 business cycle. The slowdown in Canada’s productivity growth rate since 2000, the general stability of the labour share, and the lack of further gains in labour’s terms of trade after 2008 largely explain the slowdown in workers’ real pay growth over the 2008-19 business cycle. Canadians should be concerned about the country’s persistently low productivity growth because it leads to low real pay growth. Canada’s policymaking institutions should prioritize understanding and accelerating productivity

Suggested Citation

  • David M. Williams, 2021. "Pay and Productivity in Canada: Growing Together, Only Slower than Ever," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 40, pages 3-26, Spring.
    • Handle: RePEc:sls:ipmsls:v:40:y:2021:1
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    File URL: http://www.csls.ca/ipm/40/IPM_40_Williams.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. James Ashwell, 2021. "A Strengthening Position at the Bargaining Table? Understanding the Productivity-Median Wage Gap in Canada, 1976-2019," CSLS Research Reports 2021-09, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    2. Benoit Dostie & Genevieve Dufour, 2024. "Évolution de la distribution de la productivité des entreprises québécoises entre 2005 et 2019," CIRANO Project Reports 2024rp-19, CIRANO.
    3. Andreas Teichgraber & John Van Reenen, 2021. "Have Productivity and Pay Decoupled in the UK?," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 41, pages 31-60, Fall.
    4. Jacob Greenspon & Anna Stansbury & Lawrence H. Summers, 2021. "Productivity and Pay in the United States and Canada," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 41, pages 3-30, Fall.
    5. Andrew Sharpe & James Ashwell, 2021. "The Evolution of the Productivity-Median Wage Gap in Canada, 1976-2019," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 41, pages 98-117, Fall.

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