Changes in the Relative Structure of Wages and Employment: A Comparison of the United States, Canada, and France

Standard economic models suggest that adverse demand shocks will lead to bigger employment losses if institutional factors prevent real wages from declining. Some analysts have argued that this insight explains the dichotomy between the United States, where real wages of less-skilled workers fell over the 1980s and aggregate employment expanded vigorously, and Europe, where real wages of less-skilled workers were constant and employment was stagnant. We find little support for this hypothesis when we compare recent changes in wages and employment rates for different age and education groups in the United States, Canada, and France.