Vol. 27 No. 1 March/mars 2001
Technological Change, the
Demand for Skills, and the Adequacy of their Supply
Michael R. Smith
There is a wide consensus
that economic performance rests on a suitably trained labour force.
There is dispute over whether or not recent technological change
has increased the demand for skills.There is also dispute over
whether or not the Canadian education and training systems deliver
adequate supplies of needed skills.
This
paper examines the evidence bearing on these competing positions,
then goes on to draw some implications from the debate for the use
of academic research in policy debate.
The
Market Worth of Immigrants' Educational Credentials
Peter S. Li
Despite
academic and policy interests on immigrants' credentials, their precise
market worth is unclear. This study uses the 1996 Canadian Census
microdata to compare the earnings for four groups: native-born Canadian
degree-holders; immigrant Canadian degree-holders; immigrant mixed
education degree-holders; and immigrant foreign degree-holders. The
findings indicate that immigrants' credentials carry a penalty compared
to those of native-born Canadians, and that a foreign degree affects
visible-minority immigrants, women and men, more adversely than white
Canadians; as well, credential holders' gender and race are also being
evaluated. Policies to recognize foreign credentials will bridge some
income disparities, but inequality premised upon gender and race will
likely remain.
Measuring
Government Growth in the Canadian Provinces: Decomposing Real Growth
and Deflator Effects
Louis M. Imbeau, François Pétry, Jean Crête, Geneviève
Tellier and Michel Clavet
In
this paper, we argue that, when measuring government growth, we should
distinguish among three growth phenomena: growth resulting from the
broader scope of government activity, referred to as real growth;
growth that results from higher costs of providing government goods
and services, referred to as deflator effect; and growth in the simple
ratio of government expenditure to gross domestic product (GDP), nominal
growth, which is due to the combined impact of real growth and deflator
effect. Using data on provincial government spending, we show that,
over the 1971-95 period, there has been no real growth in three provinces
and that there has been a substantial deflator effect on provincial
government growth in all ten provinces.
Redesigning
Employment Equity in Canada: The Need to Include Men Cristina
Echevarria and Mobinul Huq
This
paper recommends that the goal of employment equity be stated in terms
of "achieving an integrated workplace" instead of in terms
of "hiring and promotion of the members of the target groups."
It argues that some type of employment equity is needed to increase
male employment in female-dominated occupations. The paper shows that
a significant number of occupations in Canada are female-dominated.
Through a case study of the University of Saskatchewan, it shows that
the policy in its current state is not achieving an integrated workplace.
Finally, it discusses a number of additional benefits of the recommended
policy change.
A
Proposal to Reduce the Age Discrimination in Canadian Minor Hockey
William Hurley, Dan Lior and Steven Tracze
There
is strong relationship between birthmonth and the chance that a Canadian
minor hockey player will play at an elite level. Players born in the
early months of the year have an advantage. This is generally attributed
to the slotting system: the way in which minor hockey groups players
into age divisions. In this paper we first review the evidence. We
then argue that there is more to the explanation of this relative
age effect than just the slotting system; it also depends on early
streaming (i.e., the partitioning of players into representative and
house league teams). We suggest a more equitable slotting system,
and finally, we discuss public policy implications.
Critical
Essays on Canadian Public Policy
Policies
to Stem the Brain Drain - Without Americanizing Canada
Jonathan R. Kesselman
Call
for Canadian policies to respond to the threat of brain drain to the
United States often ignore the factors that have retarded such outflows
to date. This study offers a holistic view of individual decisions
to migrate. Most people care about the public services they receive
as well as the taxes they pay, and many also care about the civic
nature of the society they inhabit as well as the goods they can purchase
privately. This perspective influences the assessment of policies
as diverse as taxation, income security, public health and education,
regional incentives, and social investments. A key finding is that
Canadian policies should be driven by domestic objectives of equity,
efficiency, and growth rather than stemming emigration or mimicking
American policies. Canadian policies to spur sustained economic growth
for the benefit of all Canadians should take care not to compromise
the social, civic, and cultural attributes that distinguish Canada.
How
to Organize Science Funding: The New Canadian Institutes for Health
Research, an Opportunity to Increase Innovation
Bryan J. Poulin and Richard Gordon
Why
are Bell, 3M and the intramural program at the US National Institutes
of Health (NIH) so successful at inspiring innovation? How does the
Medical Research Council of Canada (MRC) compare and conflict with
innovation in these examples? Will the existing and proposed structure
and culture of the new Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR),
which are replacing MRC, produce relatively little innovation from
the outset? Our examination leads to recomendations for an alternative
funding system and organizational structure for CIHR: minimal structure
with baseline funding at the initial, idea stage (40 percent of budget);
more formal structure and competitive funding at the feasibility stage
(50 percent); and matching industrial grants for the commercialization
stage (10 percent). Our alternative CIHR budget would permit baseline
grants of approximately $20,000/year for each of 10,000 qualified
medical investigators, 8,000 more than presently funded.
