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This paper studies the effects of occupational licensing in Canada on the earnings of immigrants and nonimmigrants. The econometric model is estimated for immigrants and non-immigrants as well as between joiners and leavers from occupationally licensed jobs using a large panel data set. The results suggest that occupational licensing raises wages more for immigrant workers than for non-immigrants with similar observed characteristics. However, the probability of being in an occupationally licensed job is lower for immigrants as compared to non-immigrants. The implications of these findings for whether immigrants gain or lose from occupational licensing are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data from the 2002 and 1994 General Social Survey are used to analyze the determinants of retiring due to mandatory retirement and the expected age of retirement in Canada. Changes between 1994 and 2002 are decomposed into two components, one attributable to shifts in the composition of respondents and the other to changes in the preferences and/or constraints of respondents. Changing preferences and constraints play a very important role for both outcomes. Specifically, we first indentify a 1.3 percentage point drop in the probability of retiring due to mandatory retirement between 1994 and 2002, with that drop due entirely to preference or constraint changes. These changes offset changes in the composition of the workforce, which were working to increase the probability of retiring due to mandatory retirement. Second, we find an increase of 3.7 years in the expected age of retirement between 1994 and 2002, with that increase being almost exclusively attributable to preference/constraint shifts. The implications of these findings for employers, employees, and policy-makers are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent body of empirical cross-country research has confirmed that income inequality is negatively related to economic growth. This paper provides an explanatory channel for this observed relationship. The novelty of our approach consists in the use of demographic channels to account for cross-country differentials in economic growth and income distribution. We present four models that have emerged as the most plausible transmission mechanisms linking inequality to slower growth. In each instance we demonstrate how a consideration of demographic age structure can complement the four mainstream accounts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]