Canadian Forest Service Publications

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Abstract

There is a renewed interest in interventionist options to reduce the magnitude and persistence of the structural unemployment in developed economies. Forestry has a broad history of such policy intervention. This study examines the relative levels of forest sector employment across a selection of jurisdictions in an effort to identify successful interventions. An index of direct jobs per thousand cubic metres of timber harvested is estimated for each jurisdiction, employment and harvest numbers are standardized, and employment levels are adjusted for both exchange and wage rate differences. The results indicate a rough uniformity in employment levels across jurisdictions, a trend to capital substitution in place of labour, and direct employment gains from forward integration into paper and paperboard products.