Wayne Simpson

Wage Opportunities for Visible Minorities in Canada

The wage opportunities afforded different racial groups vary considerably. We present a new analysis of wage differentials for different visible minority groups in Canada which also accounts for immigration background, using the first wave of the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics. With the exception of Black men, we find no statistically significant wage disadvantage for visible minorities who are native born. It is primarily among immigrants that wage differentials for visible minority membership exist. Our results suggest that policies to achieve a colour-blind Canadian labour market may have to focus more on immigrant assistance and less on traditional employment equity legislation.

Workplace Location, Residential Location, and Urban Commuting

Analysis of urban structure normally involves models of residential location in which workplace location is predetermined, despite the disappointing explanatory power of these models. This paper re-examines a model in which workplace location, based on economic principles of spatial job search, and residential location are simultaneously determined. Empirical results for Toronto support the model and closely resemble earlier results for Greater London. New tests of the model for household heads and homeowners also confirm predictions. The model is then extended to explain urban commuting distances. It is found that the model of workplace and residential location explains urban commuting distances better than models of residential or workplace location alone.

How important are individual, household and commune characteristics in explaining utilization of maternal health services in Vietnam?

Using Vietnams latest National Household Survey data for 2001-2002 this paper assesses the influence of individual, household and commune-level characteristics on a womans decision to seek prenatal care, on the number of prenatal visits, and on the choice between giving birth at a health facility or at home. The decision to use any care and the number of prenatal visits is modeled using a two-part model. A random intercept logistic model is used to capture the influence of unobserved commune-specific factors found in the data regarding a womans decision to give birth at a health facility rather than at home. The results show that access to prenatal care and delivery assistance is limited by observed barriers such as low income, low education, ethnicity, geographical isolation and a high poverty rate in the community. More specifically, more prenatal visits increase the likelihood of giving birth at a health facility. Having compulsory health insurance increases the odds of giving birth at a health facility for middle and high income women. In contrast, health insurance for the poor increases the likelihood of having more prenatal visits but has little effect on the place of delivery. These results suggest that the existing safe motherhood programs should be linked with the objectives of social development programs such as poverty reduction, and that policy makers need to view both the individual and the commune as appropriate units for policy targeting.

A simultaneous model of workplace and residential location incorporating job search

Abstract The paper develops a model of spatial job search to provide a theory of workplace location with respect to a predetermined place of residence which, the paper argues, is needed to complement the theory of residential location from a predetermined workplace. By concentrating on the role of the skill level of the job seeker, the model distinguishes predictions of the workplace location based on search from those based on commuting considerations. Household survey data from Greater London is analyzed to support the propositions of the search model in the determination of the relationship between the workplace and the household location.

Stylized Facts and Stylized Illusions: Inflation and Productivity Revisited

Recent estimates of a negative empirical relationship between inflation and the rate of growth of productivity provide a strong case for vigorous anti-inflationary policy. This paper tests the robustness of this evidence using long quarterly and annual datasets for four countries (Canada, United States, United Kingdom, West Germany). Our results from cointegration and other time series tests show no evidence for any connection between inflation and the level of productivity. We do find a strong connection between inflation and productivity growth, but it is so internally inconsistent as to be incredible. The best explanation is that it is accounted for entirely by statistical bias from attempting to cointegrate stationary and non-stationary variables.

Taking Account of Context: How Important Are Household Characteristics in Explaining Adult Health-Seeking Behaviour? The Case of Vietnam

Understanding the factors affecting the utilization of health services is essential for health planners, especially in low income countries where increasing access to and use of health services is one of the main policy goals of government. While much has been written on adult health-seeking behaviour, there is comparatively little known about the influence of the broader context such as the effects of family and community on individual use of health care services in low income countries. Using Vietnams latest National Household Survey data, this paper empirically assesses the influence of individual- and household-level factors on the use of health care services, while controlling for the unobserved household-level effects. The estimates obtained from a multilevel logistic regression model suggest that the individuals likelihood of seeking treatment is jointly determined by the observed individual- and household-level characteristics as well as unobserved household-level effects. The chance of seeking medical treatment when ill varies strongly with the observed individual- and household-level covariates, including health insurance status, income, the type and severity of illness, the number of other household members with an ailment and the presence of young children in the household. However, the variability implied by the unobservable household-level effects outweighs the variability implied by the observed covariates, indicating a high degree of homogeneity in health-seeking behaviour among the household members. Failure to take account of homogeneity in health-seeking behaviour among the household members leads not only to biased results but also to inefficient policy targeting. Policies aimed at increasing access to and the use of medical services need to be sympathetic to both individuals and households.

Canadians with Disabilities and the Labour Market

The master file of the Labour Market Activity Survey is used to investigate the effect of disability on labour market activity. Our results indicate the importance of acknowledging the severity of disability, of distinguishing between men and women, and of distinguishing between earnings and hours of work when considering the labour market performance of Canadians with functional limitations. Employment policies directed toward Canadians with disabilities should therefore recognize the heterogeneity of this group and consider alternative initiatives to aid those with differing severity of functional limitations. The paper finds no evidence of earnings discrimination against employed men and women with disabilities, although these results must be interpreted cautiously.

Job-Related Training Activity by Immigrants to Canada

The 1998 Adult Education and Training Survey (AETS) identifies immigrants for the first time and is used to compare the training experiences of immigrants and native-born Canadians. Previous Canadian research indicates that immigrants generally acquire less human capital after arrival than the native-born. Further, if foreign human capital has reduced value in the host labour market, training will be limited for older migrants. We find that training is reduced by about one year for each year that migration is delayed for both men and women in both pooled and separate samples of immigrants and the native-born. Immigrants who arrive in Canada as adults train less than those who arrive as children, while immigrants who arrive as children do about as well as the native-born. Financial constraints may explain some of the training disadvantage, but other common explanations, such as language, are rejected.

An Econometric Analysis of Industrial Training in Canada

An exploratory econometric model to explain the duration of industrial training programs and assess training policy is developed in this paper. Based on the theoretical framework of Becker and Hashimoto, models for general and specific training are formulated and estimated by Tobit regression using data from the Human Resources Survey of the Economic Council of Canada. The major results are that most training is conducted in large firms, that turnover discourages specific training but encourages general training, that government assistance encourages specific (but not general) training, and that neither minimum wages nor unions have significant negative impacts on training.

The legacy of immigration: labour market performance and education in the second generation

Previous research finds that the children of immigrants, or the second generation, earn at least as much as other native born but that there are persistent ethnic differences in the intergenerational transmission of education and wages. We explain why these results are not incompatible and extend the empirical evidence in several directions using the Canadian Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics. First, we estimate a model of wages, earnings and hours worked using modern econometric techniques to corroborate earlier US results of complete integration by the second generation in the labour market. We find that ethnic differences in labour market performance are significant, but that these difference do not alter conclusions about the relative performance of the second generation. Second, we find a source of superior labour market performance for the second generation in higher educational attainment, which constitutes an important legacy of immigration that should not be ignored. Third, we find that the definition of the second generation matters. Men and women with two immigrant parents achieve about one additional year of education, while those with one immigrant parent achieve about one-half that educational advantage. We conclude that the education effect of an immigrant mother or father are comparable.