William L. Marr

The link between immigration and unemployment in Canada

Abstract In this paper we consider the joint relationship between immigration and unemployment rates in Canada, conditional on aggregate demand and supply factors, using quarterly data for the period 1962–1990. The novelty of the study, apart from adding to the few attempts at assessing the empirical link between immigration and unemployment for Canada, consists first in applying time series methods that permit current immigration to be jointly determined by past, as well as current and future unemployment rates. Second, we present evidence about transitory versus permanent effects of unemployment on immigration in addition to performing tests based on relationships estimated for every possible subsample as opposed to some ad hoc subsample selection. Among the salient results of this study is that current increases in the unemployment rate reduced future immigration rates before 1978. After 1978, however, there is a positive association between past immigration and current unemployment.

Nuptiality total fertility and marital fertility in Upper Canada 1851: a study of land availability urbanization and birthplace.

This paper relates fertility ratios and nuptiality of the counties in Upper Canada in 1851-1852 to the amount of land available for farming and birthplace respectively. These factors have been suggested as important causal influences in a rural society which Upper Canada was in the mid-nineteenth century. As well the explanatory powers of urbanization and schooling are investigated. Land availability and birthplace turn out to be able to explain a significant amount of the variation in fertility ratios and to a lesser extent nuptiality. (SUMMARY IN FRE) (EXCERPT)