La part des salaires dans le revenu national au Canada, 1910 à 1980 The Wage Share in Canada, 1910-1980

Résumé

De 1910 à 1980, la part salariale dans le revenu national a augmenté de trente (30) points en pourcentage. Cette hausse s'accompagne d'une augmentation de la proportion de salariés dans la population ainsi que de changements de structure de l'économie. C'est le but de cet article de dégager les grandes tendances de la part salariale ainsi que de quantifier l'importance des facteurs qui les sous-tendent.

Abstract

Since 1910 there has been in Canada an increase of thirty percentage-points in the wage share in National Income. The importance of structural changes in explaining the wage share increase over time is studied. It appears that shifts in the relative importance of industrial, farm and government sectors would explain about 60% of the increase in the wage share between 1910 and 1960. However, when only the period following world war II is considered, the results are different. It is the increase of wage share in various sectors that explains the rise in the total wage share. Finally, in the last part of the article, the author discusses the relationship between the wage share and the labour share. The labour share concept differs from the wage share in that labor income of unincorporated businesses is added to the wage bill. In view of the fact that unincorporated business sector has been decreasing since the beginning of the century, the labour share in national income will rise less than the wage share. Indeed, this aggregate tends to be more stable over the years.