A commonly suggested explanation for the finding that laid-off workers have greater mean post-displacement earnings losses than workers who lose their jobs through plant closings is that the former are of lower quality than the latter. But there is also an alternative explanation for this...

This paper uses a unique policy change in Canada’s most populous province, Ontario, to provide direct evidence on the effect of reducing the length of high school on labour market outcomes for high school graduates. In 1999, the Ontario government eliminated the fifth year of education...

Less-educated workers exhibited negative real wage growth from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. Frequently cited to explain this pattern are such labor market trends as union decline and the falling real value of the minimum wage, but also of concern is the possible contribution of decreased...