Three Essays in Labor Economics

This dissertation consists of three essays in empirical labor economics. The first chapter examines the effects of easing access to permanent residency (PR) on the labor market outcomes of highly skilled immigrants in Canada. Using a Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity (FRD) design around the introduction of the Ph.D. stream policy, which allowed international Ph.D. graduates to apply for PR without Canadian work experience, I find that expedited PR access reduces time to first employment but has limited impact on income or overall employment status. These results suggest that for highly skilled immigrants, legal status alone does not play a pivotal role in labor market success. The second chapter investigates the contribution of skill-specific human capital to the gen-der wage gap in Canada. Utilizing nationally representative Labour Force Survey microdata linked with occupational skill measures from O*NET, I apply a Blinder-Oaxaca decomposi-tion to quantify the role of task-based skills. I find that differences in skills explain only a modest share of the gap, while differences in returns to skills between men and women ac-count for a larger portion. A substantial unexplained residual remains, indicating persistent structural inequality or unobserved factors beyond measurable human capital characteristics. In the third chapter together with Dr. Atsuko Tanaka, Dr. Mark Anderson, Dr. Ra-jiv D. Banker, and Dr. Soonchul Hyun, we analyze how individual-based and group-based incentive schemes are adopted and how they interact to affect firm performance. Using lon-gitudinal employer-employee matched data from Canada, we show that the two incentive types are complements rather than substitutes. Firms typically adopt them sequentially, and performance gains from introducing group-based incentives are magnified when individual-based incentives are already in place. Complementarity is strongest in establishments facing greater monitoring challenges or operating in highly competitive environments. These find-ings suggest that incentive strategies are tailored to organizational needs and that combining individual and group rewards can be an effective performance-enhancing strategy. Together, the three essays contribute to a deeper understanding of immigrant integration, gender inequality, and workplace incentive design in Canada’s diverse labor market, offering new empirical insights and policy implications in each area.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Economics

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Graduate Studies

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Espanani, Zahra

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Tanaka, Atsuko

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Goff, Leonard
• Hashmi, Aamir Rafique
• Chen, Yu (Sonja)
• Raychaudhuri, Amrita

Statement dc:rights

• University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.

Language dc:language.iso

en

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/49973

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ucalgary.scholaris.ca:1880/122380