Is Business Cycle Gender Neutral? An Analysis of Aggregate and Sectoral Working Hours in Canadian Economy

The paper conducts an empirical investigation into the cyclical dynamics of hours worked at the aggregate and sectoral level in Canada during the 01/1997–09/2022 period, using the non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model. The focus of the paper is on three issues—the specific responses of hours worked to positive and negative shocks on the part of GDP, the presence of asymmetries, and the systemic differences in hours worked response between the genders (males, females, and the aggregate category). The results confirm cyclicality of hours worked in all sectors and both genders. The short- or long-term cyclical asymmetry was not common (with certain exceptions) in most sectors and for both genders. The shedding of female labour during recession was not a characteristic of most sectors and the aggregate economy. Between the genders, there were few systemic differences in the signs of responses in hours worked, except for the two sectors traditionally dominated by male labour (manufacturing, and transportation and communication) and for the aggregate economy that is characterised by growing importance of the services sectors (many of which are intensive in female labour).