Highlights
This page includes recent highlights of LCERPA's research activities.
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Tracy Snoddon - Carbon Copies: The Prospects for an Economy-Wide Carbon Price in CanadaIn this C.D. Howe Institute report, Laurier's Tracy Snoddon argues that a single economy-wide carbon price is required to achieve emissions reductions at the lowest possible cost. Read the report Carbon Copies. Read the memo at the C.D. Howe Institute |
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Justin Smith - Diversity and DonationsSmith's research (with coauthors Andreoni, Payne and Karp) has found that an increase in ethnic diversity decreases private donations to charity in Canada. They explore this relationship and find it driven by non-minorities and blacks - who tend to donate more when their group share in a community increases. Read the paper in the Journal of Economic Behaviour & Organization. |
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Brian McCaig - Informal employment in a growing and globalizing low-income countryVietnam is a fast growing, industrializing country where the workforce is shifting from the informal to the formal sector, according to research by Dr. Brian McCaig and his coauthor. Younger, better educated, urban workers are more likely to transition to the formal sector, particularly migrants. However, poorly educated, older rural women face little prospect of entering the formal sector. Read the paper in the American Economic Review. View the pre-publication version. Tweet |
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Randall Wigle - Sharing the burden for climate change mitigation in the Canadian FederationHow might Canada’s provinces share the burden for greenhouse gas reductions? Dr. Randall Wigle and his coauthors examine various sharing rules that have been proposed. They demonstrate the sharing rules imply very different abatement efforts across provinces, and none come close to meeting existing provincial emission reduction commitments. Their results will be published in the Read the working paper. Tweet |
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Justin Smith - How important are school principals in the production of student achievement?Though parents tend to focus on kids' teachers, research by Justin Smith (Assistant Professor, Laurier Economics) and Elizabeth Dhuey (University of Toronto) focuses on the principals. Based on student performance in BC elementary schools, they find top-tier principals significantly boost math and reading scores. Read the article in the Globe and Mail. Read the full article in the Canadian Journal of Economics. Tweet |
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Christine Neill - Is Canada’s Labour Force Participation Rate at its Lowest Level in Over a Decade, and Should We Worry About it?Tracking labour market statistics and understanding the trends is rarely straightforward, complicated by population aging and social trends. In this LCERPA Commentary, Christine Neill (Associate Professor, Laurier Economics) explains how to judge changes in the participation rate, explores trends in the data, and indicates concern that the demand for labour continues to be anemic. Read the Commentary. Tweet |
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Ke Pang - Exchange rates and employment in CanadaWe are often concerned that Canadian employment suffers when exchange rates appreciate. Dr. Ke Pang (Assistant Professor, Laurier Economics) and her colleagues investigated this problem and found that the overall employment effect of exchange rates is small. An appreciation of the Canadian dollar - by making our exports more expensive - has a significant effect on employment in the manufacturing industry, but little impact on nonmanufacturing employment. The study has been accepted for publication with Canadian Public Policy. Read the working paper. Tweet Posted June 2014 |