French/English Differences in Labour Market Compensation in 19th Century Montreal

The authors found that apprenticeships in early 19th century Montreal were clearly divided on ethnic grounds. Consistently, throughout the period 1798-1842, nearly three-quarters of French apprentices and close to ninety percent of English apprentices contracted with a master of their own ethnic group. Their data spans a period in which sees a movement away from traditional small shops to larger multi-master and worker establishments. Hand in hand the compensation of apprentices changed from being primarily in-kind to containing a large cash component. However, they found that some ethnic based differences in both the form and level of compensation. French apprentices were less likely to receive clothing than their English counterparts. They also served slightly shorter apprenticeships. This appears to be associated with the fact that they tended to work for French, less literate masters and in smaller shops. They also received less cash on an annual basis, comparing contracts in which cash was paid. French masters paid lower cash payments, as did sole proprietorships. Over most of the period studied by the authors, the penalty associated with French masters diminishes in some respects, such as the value of cash payments, the incidence of end pay, and the use of clothing (which appears to have been an inferior good). Both of the first two differentials, however, turned direction and widened in the late-1830s. The authors also provide new evidence of the literacy gap between the English and French of this time. Both English masters and apprentices were more literate than their French counterparts. This may be associated with the fact that many English immigrants at this time came from countries with higher literacy rates than Lower Canada. Literacy, in turn, had a positive effect on apprentices’ compensation.

[Working paper]

University of Toronto, Department of Economics

October 1999

41p.

en