Appendix Table A1
The variables used in this study

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Indicator Description and specification
Dependent: population change, 1981
to 2006		 This is the rate of change of the total non-institutional population between 1981 and 2006, calculated as the ratio of 2006 population divided by the 1981 population. For the regression model, the dependent variable is the logarithm of the 2006 population divided by the 1981 population level.
Sector restructuring factors
Presence of agriculture (dummy) Dummy variable; takes value of 1 if the community has a percent of experienced1 labour force in agriculture greater than zero, and value of 0 otherwise.
Community agriculture (%) Percent of experienced1 labour force in agriculture in 1981 at the CCS level.
Regional agriculture (%) Spatial lag of percent of experienced1 labour force in agriculture (see Box 4 for details on the computation of spatially lagged variables).
Presence of primary sector (dummy) Dummy variable; takes value of 1 if the community has a percent of experienced1 labour force in primary sectors other than agriculture greater than zero, and value of 0 otherwise.
Community other primary sector (%) Percent of experienced1 labour force in primary sectors other than agriculture in 1981 at the CCS level.
Regional other primary sector (%) Spatial lag of percent of experienced1 labour force in primary sectors other than agriculture.
Presence of distributive services
(dummy)		 Dummy variable; takes value of 1 if the community has a percent of experienced1 labour force in distributive services greater than zero, and value of 0 otherwise.
Community distributive services (%) Percent of experienced1 labour force in distributive services in 1981 at the CCS level.
Regional distributive services (%) Spatial lag of percent of experienced1 labour force in distributive services.
Presence of producer services (dummy) Dummy variable; takes value of 1 if the community has a percent of experienced1 labour force in producer services greater than zero, and value of 0 otherwise.
Community producer services (%) Percent of experienced1 labour force in producer services in 1981 at the CCS level.
Regional producer services (%) Spatial lag of percent of experienced1 labour force in producer services.
Agglomeration factors
Local population density (people/km2) Total non-institutional population of a CCS divided by the total area of the CCS.
Regional population density
(people/km2)		 Spatial lag of population density.
Size of nearest agglomeration (10,000
people)		 1981 population of the nearest CMA or CA, expressed in 10,000 units. CMAs and CAs are defined according to the 1996 census geography.
Distance to larger agglomeration (km) Distance between CCS centroid and centroid of the closest CMA of 500,000 people or more.
Distance to smaller agglomeration (km) Distance between CCS centroid and centroid of the closest CMA or CA of less than 500,000 people.
Socio-economic factors
Community economic specialization (index) Herfindahl Index (HI) applied to experienced1 labour force data; the index is the sum of the squares of the industry employment shares in 1981 (experienced labour force). Nine major industry groups are used in the computation, which include: agriculture, other primary sectors, traditional manufacturing, complex manufacturing, construction, distributive, business, consumer, and public services. If all 9 sectors had an equal share of employment, the HI would be 0.11 and if one sector employed all the workers, the HI would be 1.
Regional economic specialization (index) Spatial lag of Herfindahl Index.
Community educational attainment (%) Percent of population 25 to 54 years of age in 1981 with some post secondary education.
Regional educational attainment (%) Spatial lag of percent of population 25 to 54 years of age with some post secondary education.
Community labour force participation
rate (%)		 Experienced1 labour force 15 years and over divided by total population 15 years and over in 1981
Regional labour force participation rate
(%)		 Spatial lag of participation rate.
Other demographics
Population less than 15 years of age (%) Percent of total population that was below 15 years of age in 1981.
Population 55 to 74 years of age (%) Percent of total population that was between 55 and 74 years of age in 1981.
Presence of young in-comers (dummy) Dummy variable; takes value of 1 if the community has a percent of population 20 to 24 who lived in a different CSD 5 years before the census year greater than zero, and value of 0 otherwise.
Young who recently moved in (%) Percent of population 20 to 24 who lived in a different CSD 5 years before 1981
Presence of senior in-comers (dummy) Dummy variable; takes value of 1 if the community has a percent of population 55 to 74 who lived in a different CSD 5 years before the census year greater than zero, and value of 0 otherwise.
Seniors who recently moved in (%) Percent of population 55 to 74 who lived in a different CSD 5 years before 1981
Presence of Aboriginal population
(dummy)		 Dummy variable; takes value of 1 if the community has some population that is reporting Aboriginal ethnicity in 1981, and value of 0 otherwise.
Aboriginal population (%) Percent of total population that reported Aboriginal ethnicity in 1981.
Macro-regions Five macro-regional dummy variables are used Atlantic includes Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island; Quebec and Ontario include the homonymous provinces respectively; Manitoba / Saskatchewan and Alberta / British Columbia (which is the base category in the regression).
Provinces The following provincial dummies takes value of 1 if the CCS is located in the given province: Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia (base category in the regression).
1. The experienced labour force includes all individuals employed during the week before the census plus, for those unemployed, those who had been employed at any time since January 1st of the previous year.
Note: For details on the computation of spatially lagged variables, see Box 4.
CCS: Census Consolidated Subdivision
CMA: Census metropolitan area
CA: Census Agglomerations
CSD: Census subdivisions