Technological Change in Canada (1961-80): An Application of the Surrogate Wage Function.

Abstract

This paper applies C. Ozol's surrogate wage function to Canadian input-output data to analyz e the general properties of technological change during the 1961-80 p eriod. Technological change manifests itself in the shifts of the est imated surrogate wage curves which indicate the changing capital and labor intensities of the production system. The empirical results of this study imply that technological progress in Canada is generally l abor saving over the entire 1961-80 period and capital saving over th e 1961-66 period. The actual tendencies of the technological evolutio n investigated appear to be explained by the continuous mechanization of the production process.