A General Equilibrium Model Of Person Specific Information In The Labour Market

In recent years a greater emphasis has been given to the matching/sorting models of human capital investment. In these models, education generates better person-specific information which leads to a return from improved firm-worker matching. The first purpose of this thesis is to explain the factors that determine the real return for education through better firm-worker matching. The second purpose is to examine how this return is affected by two changes in the economy: firstly changes in the age composition of the labour force as a baby boom generation passes through the labour force, and secondly the introduction of a social pension plan.;The thesis shows that the real return from better firm-worker matching is determined by the structure of final output demand. The greater the demand for output produced by the \u27older worker intensive\u27 industry, the larger will be the gain from specialization through investment in person-specific information. It is also shown that the individually chosen investment in information will be in general smaller than the \u27golden rule\u27 steady state level. For the economy as a whole a higher level of productivity gains from schooling will lead to a lower allocative gain.;Any change in the age structure of the labour force leads to a change in the real gains from better firm-worker matching and the level of investment in information. When the number of younger workers increases, through changes in the demand conditions the allocative gains from education increase, and the level of investment in information is also increased. An increase in the number of older workers has the opposite effects.;In the presence of a social pension plan if the growth rate of the pension contribution and the rate of interest are not equal, the return from, as well as level of, investment in information will be affected. In the case of proportional or regressive tax rates, if the pension fund grows at a faster (slower) rate, the existence of such a plan will increase (decrease) the return from information but decrease (increase) the actual level of investment in information

Redesigning Employment Equity in Canada: The Need to Include Men

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.