Accreditation Requirements and the Speed of Labour Market Adjustment in Canadian Building Trades.

We investigate the influence of accreditation requirements on the speed of adjustment in the markets for eight building trades in 20 Canadian cities from 1971 to 2010. We aim to improve our understanding of how labour market institutions and regulations may impede adjustment in the markets for skilled labour, and therefore lead to persistent skills imbalances. Our estimates for the speed of labour market adjustment in construction trades cast doubt on characterizations of markets for skilled labour in Canada as 'inflexible' and we find little evidence that longer apprenticeship programs are associated with slower labour market adjustment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]