Welcome to the Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Contact Information 111 Sparks Street, Suite 500
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5B5
CANADA
Tel: +1.613.233.8891
Fax: +1.613.233.8250
E-mail: info@csls.ca
The Centre for the Study of Living Standards is a non-profit, national, independent organization that seeks to contribute to a better understanding of trends in and determinants of productivity, living standards and economic and social well-being through research.
Announcements & Recent Releases
On December 3, the CSLS released updated estimates of the Index of Economic Well-being and its four domains (consumption flows, stocks of wealth, economic equality and economic security) for Canada and the provinces and for selected OECD countries. Both in Canada and across the OECD, economic well-being has increased over the past quarter century as a result of growing per-capita consumption and wealth. However, rising economic inequality and insecurity have dampened the growth of overall economic well-being. The Index of Economic Well-being is consistent with most of the recommendations of the recently released Commission for the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress (the Stiglitz report) on what aspects of economic reality an index of economic well-being should capture.
The CSLS also released a third report addressing the measurement of economic security in the Index of Economic Well-being. All three reports are now available in the CSLS Research Reports section of the website.
On October 22, the CSLS released a new research report examining recent productivity trends in the forest products sector. Since 2000, the productivity performance of the sector has been poor relative to the economy-wide average. This sub-par performance is entirely attributable to a productivity collapse in the paper manufacturing subsector after 2000. The report is now available in the CSLS Research Reports section of the website. A press release is available for this report.
On September 3, the CSLS released two research reports examining productivity trends in the mining and in the oil and gas sectors. In both sectors, despite a poor productivity performance since 2000, increased activity and increased prices, coupled with a high productivity level, have translated into a positive contribution to aggregate labour productivity growth. These reports are now available in the CSLS Research Reports section of the website. A press release is available for this report.
As part of its collaboration with the Institute of Wellbeing, the CSLS released a report on August 12, 2009 “ The Economic Crisis through the Lens of Economic Wellbeing”. The report concludes that the current recession will erase many of the economic and standard of living gains made since the mid-1990s. Unemployment and poverty will likely continue to rise and stay at high levels for years. The report is now available in the CSLS Research Reports section of the website.
On July 27, the CSLS released a new research note “Median Wages and Productivity Growth in Canada and the United States”.Two key findings were that (1) the rise in inequality was a much more important factor for the divergence between the growth rates of labour productivity and real wages in the United States and that (2) ambiguity in the interpretation of labour share suggests the attention should be more appropriately focused on rising inequality as a key driver of the divergence between the growth of real wages and labour productivity. The note is now available in the CSLS Research Notes section of the website.
The Advisory Panel on Labour Market Information recently tabled its Final Report. The CSLS has been an active participant to the Panel through its report “Best Practices in Labour Market Information: Recommendations for Canada's LMI System,” released in July 2009. The report presented 20 recommendations to improve the operation of LMI in Canada in the areas of LMI data, LMI analysis and forecasting, and LMI dissemination. A French version is also available. The report is now available in the CSLS Research Reports section of the website.
