Trends and dynamics of inequality in Alberta

ABSTRACT

The gender wage gap has been a subject of conversation for decades. Over the past 30 years, many authors have examined the gender wage gap and income inequality in Canada, but few have investigated the unique circumstances which impact the various regions of the nation. Using the Canadian Labour Force Survey data for the period 1976–2004, this study examines the trends in earnings of males and females in Alberta, Canada by investigating the impact of differences in productivity, education, age, and industry on the gender wage gap. Previous literature suggests that differences in labour force participation rate, education level, skill achievement, age, and type of industry are the key variables for explaining gender income differences in employment. These variables are investigated using a linear regression to determine impact on the gender wage gap. Results suggest that the gender wage gap increases due to differing productivity levels and increases in relation to changes in employment participation of females aged 25–44 years. Two interesting results were identified from the data of this study. Specifically, an increase of women in the goods producing industry reduced the gender wage gap for that population; while, an increase of women in the service industry resulted in an increase of the gender wage gap. These findings are significant for understanding how legislation regarding wage, work week, and social benefits impact the gender wage gap.

KEYWORDS:

• Alberta
• gender wage gap
• industry
• productivity

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the helpful comments and suggestions from anonymous reviewers and the journal editor, which have substantially improved the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hussein Al-Zyoud

Hussein Al-Zyoud (Ph.D), an assistant professor of Economics at Faculty of Business, Athabasca University. His teaching repertoire includes Microeconomics, public finance and international economics. His current research focuses on gender income gap and international Economics. He has published in Journal of Humanities-Civic, Community, and Political studies, Journal of African Business, Asian social science and International Journal of Economics and Finance.

Shahidul Islam

Shahidul Islam (Ph.D), an Associate Professor of Economics at the Department of Anthropology, Economics and Political Science. He regularly teaches courses on introductory and intermediate microeconomics, resource economics, energy economics, environmental economics, economics of project evaluation, and quantitative methods in economics. His research focuses on food demand analysis, government policies, energy economics, urban economics, and teaching economics at undergraduate level. He has published in Public Finance Review, Canadian Journal of Transportation, Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness, Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice and Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture.

Carolyn Leblanc

Carolyn LeBlanc is Metis of LeBateaux, Ontario and currently a License Candidate with the Law Society of Ontario. She has published research articles in Cambridge Scholars Press, Journal of Humanities-Civic, Community, and Political studies.  She has also been publisher and editor for Appeal Law Review Journal and Graduate Studies Review in Criminology. Her research focuses on the intersection of Law, Social Development, and Economics.