In Windsor, Ont., thousands of Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd. workers assemble V-8 and V-10 engines for the auto maker's best-selling pickup truck. Meanwhile, across the Ambassador Bridge in Dearborn, Mich., not only do workers assemble cars, but they also design most of the auto maker's vehicles, plan marketing strategies and manage the company.

That, researchers with the Conference Board of Canada say, explains why the hefty income gap exists between Canada's and the United States' automobile manufacturing sectors.

Although experts agree that there are scores of factors weighing down Canadian productivity, when it comes to the auto sector, the "occupational mix" is a key driver behind the gap, the Conference Board says.

In 2001, Canadian auto sector gross domestic productivity per person employed was $61,500 (U.S.) compared with $89,000 in the United States -- a staggering gap of $27,500. In other words, the average Canadian auto sector employee generated 69.1 per cent of the GDP of their U.S. counterparts that year.

"The proportion of employment in higher-paid jobs is lower in Canada than in the United States," the report says.

"For example, the auto industry's engineers, architects, computer scientists and other scientists -- the occupations that develop and support innovation in the industry -- for the most part work south of the border."

The report says those creative and support jobs make up almost 11 per cent of the U.S. auto sector, but only 6.1 per cent in Canada.

On the flip side, 59.1 per cent of U.S. auto workers are in lower-paying positions, such as machine operator and assembler, whereas in Canada that group makes up 64.3 per cent of the sector.

Still, although the Conference Board identifies the main factor hampering auto productivity, there doesn't appear to be a simple solution to the quandary.

"Some of the underlying factors may be beyond our control (as in the case of low world commodity prices), or the policies may be deemed impractical for economic and political reasons," the report says, noting that rules enforcing auto makers to design and support all their vehicles in Canada wouldn't be practical.

What's more, using the auto sector as a case study also illustrates that although there are many things policy makers can do to improve productivity -- such as promote innovation, openness to trade and capital investment -- they are not necessarily enough.

The study concludes, "There are also unique factors in each industry that must first be identified, and then addressed."