Dimensions of Occupational Changes in Canada's Knowledge Economy, 1971-1996

Abstract

This paper examines the emergence of the knowledge economy by examining the increasing importance of high-knowledge occupations over the period 1971-1996. It reports that the importance of knowledge occupations has continuously increased over the last three decades. It also examines differences in the changes that have occurred for different knowledge professions — managers, professionals and technical occupations, for industries and for geographic areas. It finds that the increase in the proportion of the labour force that is classified to knowledge occupations was widespread. It occurred for professionals, managers, and technical occupations. It occurred across most industries. It occurred across different regions. It occurred in both the female and male labour force. While there are differences in the rates of growth in some areas, the most important conclusion to emerge from the study is that the growth of skills, as proxied by the importance of knowledge occupations, was widespread and not restricted to narrow areas of interest, such as popularly defined high-tech sectors.

Keywords: earnings, knowledge-based economy

JEL Classification: O3