CHANGES IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF WAGES IN CANADA, 1981-1992

This article uses microdata to study the changes in the distribution o f weekly wages in Canada from 1981 to 1992. Changes in the distributio n are analysed using Lorenz curves and eight different univariate meas ures of inequality. Evidence is presented that indicates that inequali ty is anticyclical, increasing during recessions and falling during bu siness cycle expansions. Moreover, after changes in the cycle are acco unted for, there has been a clear upward trend in wage inequality, Com parisons between the Canadian and the U.S. distributions show that wag e inequality was less pronounced in Canada than it was in the United S tates in the 1980s and was increasing in Canada relative to the United States from 1989 to 1992.