The minimum wage and labour market flexibility

The labour market is of fundamental importance in an economy, allocating human capital to its most productive uses. With the aim of protecting workers, however, governments have instituted various institutional constraints over the years, making this market less flexible. These rigidities have the effect of slowing job creation and pushing up unemployment. This is especially true of Quebec, with a labour market that is more highly regulated than elsewhere in North America – and with an unemployment rate that has consistently stood above the Canadian and American averages for the last 30 years.

Links of interest

Media Release: Rigid labour laws hurt the unemployed, says the Montreal Economic Institute