Template-Type: ReDIF-Chapter 1.0
Author-Name: Patrick Grady
Author-Name: Andrew Sharpe
Title: Overview of the Festschrift
Abstract: Festschrift literally means “celebration-writing” in German. And that is what this volume is. It celebrates the remarkable career of David Slater, which in
the best Queen’s University tradition of John Deutsch and Clifford Clark
spanned academia and public service, on the occasion of his 80th birthday. It
follows an old academic tradition that at an appropriate stage in the career of
an eminent scholar a volume be put together in their honour containing the
writings of colleagues. Usually, the writings must have something to do with
the scholar’s life work. In David Slater’s case, this was an easy task as his
research and interests have been omnivorous. Finding contributors was also
easy as over David’s long career he had many colleagues, friends and
students who jumped at the chance to honour him and to participate in this
endeavour. The topics covered by the papers in this volume include: fiscal
federalism, taxation, pensions, international economics, globalization, regional
issues, environmental economics, and labour economics. This overview provides a brief summary of each paper.
Book-Title: The State of Economics in Canada: Festschrift in Honour of David Slater
ISBN: 0-88911-942-2
Provider-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Provider-Email: info@csls.ca
Provider-Homepage: http://www.csls.ca/
Provider-Postal: 111 Sparks Street, Ste. 500, Ottawa, ON K1P 5B5
Editor-Name: Patrick Grady
Editor-Name: Andrew Sharpe
Editor-Email: andrew.sharpe@csls.ca
Editor-Workplace-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Pages: 3-18
File-URL: http://www.csls.ca/events/slt01/overview.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Year: 2001
Classification-JEL: A32, H77, O51, E62, H55, F02, R11, J24
Keywords: fiscal
federalism, taxation, pensions, international economics, globalization, regional
issues, environmental economics, labour economics, David Slater
Handle: RePEc:sls:secfds:01

Template-Type: ReDIF-Chapter 1.0
Author-Name: Patrick Grady
Title: David W. Slater: An Economist for All Seasons
Abstract: Festschrift literally means “celebration-writing” in German. And that is what this volume is. It celebrates the remarkable career of David Slater, which in
the best Queen’s University tradition of John Deutsch and Clifford Clark
spanned academia and public service, on the occasion of his 80th birthday. It
follows an old academic tradition that at an appropriate stage in the career of
an eminent scholar a volume be put together in their honour containing the
writings of colleagues. Usually, the writings must have something to do with
the scholar’s life work. In David Slater’s case, this was an easy task as his
research and interests have been omnivorous. Finding contributors was also
easy as over David’s long career he had many colleagues, friends and
students who jumped at the chance to honour him and to participate in this
endeavour. The purpose of this introductory chapter is to give an overview of David Slater’s life and career.
Book-Title: The State of Economics in Canada: Festschrift in Honour of David Slater
ISBN: 0-88911-942-2
Provider-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Provider-Email: info@csls.ca
Provider-Homepage: http://www.csls.ca/
Provider-Postal: 111 Sparks Street, Ste. 500, Ottawa, ON K1P 5B5
Editor-Name: Patrick Grady
Editor-Name: Andrew Sharpe
Editor-Email: andrew.sharpe@csls.ca
Editor-Workplace-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Pages: 19-33
File-URL: http://www.csls.ca/events/slt01/grady.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Year: 2001
Classification-JEL: A32, H77, O51, E62, H55, F02, R11, J24
Keywords: fiscal federalism, taxation, pensions, international economics, globalization, regional issues, environmental economics, labour economics, David Slater
Handle: RePEc:sls:secfds:02

Template-Type: ReDIF-Chapter 1.0
Author-Name: Robin Boadway
Title: Financing Confederation Revisited: The Economic State of the Federation
Abstract: Robin Boadway examines the development of fiscal arrangements and considers the substantial fiscal decentralization that has occurred in Canada over the past 20 years. Boadway makes the case that the fiscal arrangements have played an important role in improving the performance of the Canadian economy with
respect to both equity and efficiency. But he also observes that over this
period our federation has become the most decentralized federation in the
world. Looking forward, he sees major challenges facing the fiscal arrangements.
The equalization system and the political will to maintain it are in peril
at the same time as disparities are likely to increase. The federal government
has effectively lost control of the spending power, which has historically been
one of the most powerful instruments at the hands of the federal government
for managing the federation. This has left the federal government with no
effective mechanism for managing the economic union. The income tax
system is becoming disharmonized as provinces are engaged in competitive
reductions in income tax progressivity. Attempts to arrive at cooperative
solutions by federal-provincial negotiation have not been successful. Boadway believes that the decentralized Canadian federation could
evolve into one in which the provinces behave “cooperatively” with respect to
the national objectives of equity and efficiency. However, he sees little
evidence that this is happening, and argues that an overall vision is needed. Unfortunately, Canada does not have an institution like the
former Economic Council that is currently capable of developing such a vision.
Book-Title: The State of Economics in Canada: Festschrift in Honour of David Slater
ISBN: 0-88911-942-2
Provider-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Provider-Email: info@csls.ca
Provider-Homepage: http://www.csls.ca/
Provider-Postal: 111 Sparks Street, Ste. 500, Ottawa, ON K1P 5B5
Editor-Name: Patrick Grady
Editor-Name: Andrew Sharpe
Editor-Email: andrew.sharpe@csls.ca
Editor-Workplace-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Pages: 37-56
File-URL: http://www.csls.ca/events/slt01/boadway.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Year: 2001
Classification-JEL: O51, H77, H73, R53, D60
Keywords: Fiscal Federalism, Canada, Equity, Efficiency, Fiscal Equity, Financing Confederation, Equalization, Redistributive Equity, Horizontal Equity, Vertical Fiscal Imbalance, Fiscal Externalities
Handle: RePEc:sls:secfds:03

Template-Type: ReDIF-Chapter 1.0
Author-Name: Richard Bird
Author-Name: Michael Smart
Title: Tax Policy and Tax Research in Canada
Abstract: In a survey of tax reform in recent years, Richard Bird and Michael
Smart explore the relationship between tax policy and tax research. They
conclude that there have been important examples of apparent influences of
research on policy. For instance, they are encouraged that the downward
pressure on personal and corporate taxes has certainly been supported, if not
initiated, by the increasing evidence of distortions caused by high marginal tax
rates. In their view, the adoption of the GST can be explained by the
acceptance of the federal government of the economic argument that Canada
had to switch to a value-added tax to reduce economic distortions. On the
other hand, they are disappointed that the equally convincing economic
studies of the damage done by poorly-designed excise, property and payroll
taxes do not seem to have had any effect. Consequently, they believe that
political economy factors were probably the more dominant explanation of
the tax reforms than the simple acceptance of advice from economists. Their
conclusion is that if economists want to have a greater influence on policy,
they need to pay more attention to the issues that motivate policymakers,
including, most notably, distributional issues, and they need to write in a way,
and in a forum, that will most likely come to the notice of the policy-makers.
Book-Title: The State of Economics in Canada: Festschrift in Honour of David Slater
ISBN: 0-88911-942-2
Provider-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Provider-Email: info@csls.ca
Provider-Homepage: http://www.csls.ca/
Provider-Postal: 111 Sparks Street, Ste. 500, Ottawa, ON K1P 5B5
Editor-Name: Patrick Grady
Editor-Name: Andrew Sharpe
Editor-Email: andrew.sharpe@csls.ca
Editor-Workplace-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Pages: 59-78
File-URL: http://www.csls.ca/events/slt01/bird.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Year: 2001
Classification-JEL: E62, H20, O51
Keywords: Canada, Taxation, Income Tax, Value-Added Tax, Value Added Tax, VAT
Handle: RePEc:sls:secfds:04

Template-Type: ReDIF-Chapter 1.0
Author-Name: Jack M. Mintz
Title: Taxing Future Consumption
Abstract: The Economic Council’s Road Map for Tax Reform laid the groundwork
for a greater discussion of the consumption tax principle as a basis for
taxation in Canada. In his paper, Jack M. Mintz continues this discussion by
setting out the case for and against a consumption tax. He argues that the tax
treatment of savings is likely to become a more central policy focus for the
medium term. More practically, he cites three possible evolutionary changes
that could lead to a greater reliance on consumption taxes: a sharp increase in
sales tax revenues (sales and excise) to reduce reliance on income taxes; a
major expansion of RRSP and pension limits to allow for greater
accumulation of wealth to meet future contingencies of various sorts; and the
introduction of an exempt-yield tax savings plan (with restrictions on
contributed amounts) that would encourage saving by individuals expecting
increases in future tax rates. More fundamentally, Mintz observes that the income tax could even be
replaced with an expenditure tax system with continuing reliance on the other
indirect forms of consumption taxation (sales taxes). Even though Mintz
believes that the adoption of a consumption tax would certainly set Canada
apart from other countries, including the United States, he holds that the
technical issues, including implementation and transition issues, are not insurmountable if promoting future consumption is the key to Canada’s overall
development.
Book-Title: The State of Economics in Canada: Festschrift in Honour of David Slater
ISBN: 0-88911-942-2
Provider-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Provider-Email: info@csls.ca
Provider-Homepage: http://www.csls.ca/
Provider-Postal: 111 Sparks Street, Ste. 500, Ottawa, ON K1P 5B5
Editor-Name: Patrick Grady
Editor-Name: Andrew Sharpe
Editor-Email: andrew.sharpe@csls.ca
Editor-Workplace-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Pages: 79-94
File-URL: http://www.csls.ca/events/slt01/mintz.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Year: 2001
Classification-JEL: O51, E21, E62, D91
Keywords: Consumption Tax, Expenditure Tax, Efficiency, Taxation, Consumption, Savings, Equity
Handle: RePEc:sls:secfds:05

Template-Type: ReDIF-Chapter 1.0
Author-Name: Jack M. Mintz
Author-Name: Thomas A. Wilson
Title: Taxes, Efficiency and Economic Growth
Abstract: In the third paper on taxation, Jack M. Mintz and Thomas A. Wilson
consider the best way to allocate the “fiscal dividend”. This is the amount
available to the government that can be used for tax cuts or expenditure
increases within the framework of a balanced budget. In their view, although
the current growth recession will reduce the potential surplus somewhat, the
medium-term outlook is still for increasing surpluses. Concerned about lagging
economic growth and emphasizing the importance of efficiency and
productivity growth, they argue that priority should be given to debt reduction
and tax cuts designed to stimulate investment and potential growth. Mintz and Wilson make the case that a large part of the remaining fiscal
dividend should be allocated towards reducing the relatively large personal
income tax burden faced by many Canadian families and individuals. But they
also stress that it is important to steadily reduce payroll and business taxes as
well. This case is supported by extensive international comparisons of taxes in
Canada with other countries that show that the burden of taxation is higher in
Canada than in many other industrialized countries. It is also bolstered by the
results of simulations, using the FOCUS macroeconometric model, of a fiscal
package containing significant debt reduction, modest spending increases and
cuts in personal, business and payroll taxes. These simulations show such a
fiscal package should have favourable supply-side effects on output,
employment and productivity over the medium term. In addition, since their
analysis reveals that there are still important issues of tax structure that need
to be addressed, they recommend that the government establish a task force
to review personal income taxes and to consider the need for additional tax
cuts. Finally, Mintz and Wilson also remind us that while planned debt
reduction is an important component of a growth-oriented fiscal policy, in the
short run the size of the surplus should be allowed to vary with the level of
economic activity. Otherwise fiscal policy will exacerbate the slowdown that
is currently underway.
Book-Title: The State of Economics in Canada: Festschrift in Honour of David Slater
ISBN: 0-88911-942-2
Provider-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Provider-Email: info@csls.ca
Provider-Homepage: http://www.csls.ca/
Provider-Postal: 111 Sparks Street, Ste. 500, Ottawa, ON K1P 5B5
Editor-Name: Patrick Grady
Editor-Name: Andrew Sharpe
Editor-Email: andrew.sharpe@csls.ca
Editor-Workplace-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Pages: 95-133
File-URL: http://www.csls.ca/events/slt01/mwilson.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Year: 2001
Classification-JEL: O51, E21, E62, C53
Keywords: FOCUS, Taxation, Simulation, Forecast, Efficiency, Growth, Debt Reduction
Handle: RePEc:sls:secfds:06

Template-Type: ReDIF-Chapter 1.0
Author-Name: James E. Pesando
Title: The Canada Pension Plan: Looking Back at the Recent Reforms
Abstract: James E. Pesando looks at the 1998 package of reforms to the Canada
Pension Plan (CPP) that the federal government and the provinces implemented
after extensive consultation. Most significantly, these reforms included: a sharp increase in the combined employer-employee contribution rate, from 5.85 per cent in 1997 to the steady-state rate of 9.9 per cent in the year 2003 and beyond, which will result in a much larger reserve fund — estimated to rise to about five years’ worth of benefits; and the establishment of an independent, trusteed CPP Investment Board with a mandate to invest in marketable securities, including equities, in order to obtain a higher rate of return on the enlarged CPP reserve fund. The benefit reductions in the 1998 package were relatively modest. Pesando argues that the case for the 1998 CPP reform was made entirely in terms of intergenerational equity. Surprisingly, efficiency arguments played virtually no role in the debate. Pesando questions whether the actuarial assumptions with respect to inflation and rates of return that underlie the reforms are overly optimistic and whether additional increases in premiums or reductions in benefits will be required. In his view, the next round of debate on the reform of public pension programs is already under-way in other countries like the United States. He expects that the issue will soon resurface in Canada and that policy options like benefit reductions, raising the retirement age, and partial privatization of benefits, which were dismissed in the last round, will once again be on the table.
Book-Title: The State of Economics in Canada: Festschrift in Honour of David Slater
ISBN: 0-88911-942-2
Provider-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Provider-Email: info@csls.ca
Provider-Homepage: http://www.csls.ca/
Provider-Postal: 111 Sparks Street, Ste. 500, Ottawa, ON K1P 5B5
Editor-Name: Patrick Grady
Editor-Name: Andrew Sharpe
Editor-Email: andrew.sharpe@csls.ca
Editor-Workplace-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Pages: 137-150
File-URL: http://www.csls.ca/events/slt01/pesando.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Year: 2001
Classification-JEL: O51, H55, J26
Keywords: Retirement, Pensions, Public Pensions, Canada Pension Plan, CPP, Intergenerational Equity, Retirement Age
Handle: RePEc:sls:secfds:07

Template-Type: ReDIF-Chapter 1.0
Author-Name: Lars Osberg
Title: Poverty Among Senior Citizens: A Canadian Success Story
Abstract: Lars Osberg makes the case in his paper
that the major success story of Canadian social policy in the twentieth century
has in fact been the reduction of poverty among senior citizens. According to Osberg, the poverty rate, defined with the poverty line
measured as one-half median equivalent income after taxes and transfers, for
households headed by a person 65 or over fell from 28.4 per cent in 1973 to
5.4 per cent in 1997, while the poverty gap or income shortfall below the
poverty line fell from 26.2 per cent to 15.8 per cent over the same period. In
contrast, the elderly poverty rate and gap before tax and transfer income are
much higher and show no downward trend. Osberg attributes the difference
between the before and after transfers and taxes poverty rate and gap to the
introduction of the Old Age Security in 1952 and Guaranteed Income
Supplement in 1968 and the reduction in poverty after 1973 to the maturing
of the Canada/Quebec Pension Plan regimes established in 1966. Osberg notes that income trends capture only part of the improvement in
well-being enjoyed by seniors over the past several decades. Many of the
current elderly population received significant capital gains from a large run
up in housing prices in the 1970s and 1980s. In addition, the elderly have not
been hit by the labour market insecurity that has affected the non-elderly,
particularly youth, in the 1980s and 1990s. They have also greatly benefited
from the introduction of universal medicare. Osberg also finds that relative to the United States, Sweden and the
United Kingdom, Canada has done the best job in boosting the income levels
of seniors above the poverty line. In his view, Canada has done a remarkable
job in ensuring that senior citizens receive an income sufficient to prevent
poverty.
Book-Title: The State of Economics in Canada: Festschrift in Honour of David Slater
ISBN: 0-88911-942-2
Provider-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Provider-Email: info@csls.ca
Provider-Homepage: http://www.csls.ca/
Provider-Postal: 111 Sparks Street, Ste. 500, Ottawa, ON K1P 5B5
Editor-Name: Patrick Grady
Editor-Name: Andrew Sharpe
Editor-Email: andrew.sharpe@csls.ca
Editor-Workplace-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Pages: 151-181
File-URL: http://www.csls.ca/events/slt01/osberg.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Year: 2001
Classification-JEL: O51, J14, J26, I32, I38
Keywords: Poverty, Elderly Poverty, Canada, Retirement, Income, Low Income, Low-income, Wealth, Capital Gains
Handle: RePEc:sls:secfds:08

Template-Type: ReDIF-Chapter 1.0
Author-Name: William B. P. Robson
Title: Six Pillars of Social Policy: The State of Pensions and Health Care in Canada
Abstract: William B.P. Robson, a co-author with David Slater of a series of
papers on pension issues, has written an ambitious survey of the state of
Canadian economic policy in the areas of pensions and health care. He argues
that it is appropriate to tackle both issues in the same paper because they are
both major spending programs strongly related to the life cycle of Canadians,
and face challenges arising from the aging of the population. Robson notes that the pension debate uses the metaphor of three pillars
to describe a comprehensive pension system: a safety net to guard against
destitution in old age; a mandatory employment-related system to provide
basic replacement income; and a voluntary system supported by provisions
that reduce the double-taxation of saving. The main elements of public policy
related to pensions in Canada cover these pillars. He recognizes that all three
of the pillars cannot be directly applied to health care, but he argues that the
three-pillar metaphor is still a fruitful perspective because it facilitates
constructive responses to the pressures confronting Canada’s health system
and illuminates interactions between the pension and health systems. Hence
his title “six pillars of social policy”. Based on his examination of Canada’s pension and health-care systems,
Robson makes a number of recommendations. First, he advocates more prefunding
in both the pension and health areas to cover the future cost of the
aging baby-boom cohort. Second, he recommends a gradual increase in the
normal age of eligibility for pension benefits. Third, he recommends the
creation of a second pillar, a mandatory contribution scheme in the health
area as a way to avoid the development of a means-tested system that would
exacerbate the disincentives to work and save. Fourth, he puts forward the
idea of a new type of saving vehicle that provides tax-relief on distributions
rather than on contributions so that Canadians can avoid the high marginal
effective tax rates associated with means-tested programs.
Book-Title: The State of Economics in Canada: Festschrift in Honour of David Slater
ISBN: 0-88911-942-2
Provider-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Provider-Email: info@csls.ca
Provider-Homepage: http://www.csls.ca/
Provider-Postal: 111 Sparks Street, Ste. 500, Ottawa, ON K1P 5B5
Editor-Name: Patrick Grady
Editor-Name: Andrew Sharpe
Editor-Email: andrew.sharpe@csls.ca
Editor-Workplace-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Pages: 183-224
File-URL: http://www.csls.ca/events/slt01/robson.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Year: 2001
Classification-JEL: O51, H51, H55, J26, I18, E62
Keywords: Health, Health Care, Health-care, Healthcare, Canada, Pensions, CPP, Retirement, Mandatory Contribution, Aging, Ageing
Handle: RePEc:sls:secfds:09

Template-Type: ReDIF-Chapter 1.0
Author-Name: Malcolm Hamilton
Title: The Financial Circumstances of Elderly Canadians and the Implications for the Design of Canada’s Retirement Income System
Abstract: It is well recognized that the incomes of the elderly are on average much
lower than those of the non-elderly reflecting their limited participation in the
labour market. But do the elderly have lower levels of economic well-being?
Indeed, the financial circumstances of the elderly differ significantly from
those of the non-elderly and these differences may compensate for lower
income, increasing consumption potential relative to the non-elderly. In his
paper, Malcolm Hamilton uses hitherto unexploited data from Statistics
Canada’s Survey of Consumer Spending to examine the financial circumstances
of the elderly and discusses the implications for the design of
Canada’s retirement income system. Hamilton notes that there are five reasons why the unadjusted incomes of
senior households should not be compared to those of younger households.
Younger households often support children; devote a significant portion of
their income to acquiring and financing consumer durables (cars, appliances,
furniture) that seniors already possess; incur employment-related expenses
(union dues, day-care, commuting costs, insurance); save part of their income
for retirement; and pay higher taxes, including CPP and Employment
Insurance (EI) premiums. Hamilton presents fascinating data for different types of households on
uses of income by age group. He shows that the amount of income available
for consumption, that is income after taxes, mortgage payments, savings,
union dues, day-care and provision for children, is actually greater for fully
retired senior couples than for prime age couples ($30,400 versus $28,600)
even though average before-tax income of prime age couples is double that of
senior couples. According to Hamilton, the data suggest that seniors need only around 50
per cent of their employment income to maintain their standard of living, not
the 70 per cent that is commonly assumed in pension discussions. The
implications of this finding for the design of the retirement system are many.
Since government transfers replace 40 per cent of the income of the typical
retiring Canadian, average Canadians will need little in the way of occupational
pensions or retirement saving to live comfortably after 65. Most
Canadians can retire in comfort if they eliminate debt and save a modest
amount to supplement government pensions.
Book-Title: The State of Economics in Canada: Festschrift in Honour of David Slater
ISBN: 0-88911-942-2
Provider-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Provider-Email: info@csls.ca
Provider-Homepage: http://www.csls.ca/
Provider-Postal: 111 Sparks Street, Ste. 500, Ottawa, ON K1P 5B5
Editor-Name: Patrick Grady
Editor-Name: Andrew Sharpe
Editor-Email: andrew.sharpe@csls.ca
Editor-Workplace-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Pages: 225-253
File-URL: http://www.csls.ca/events/slt01/hamilton.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Year: 2001
Classification-JEL: O51, H55, J14, J26, E62
Keywords: Elderly, Canada, Pensions, Survey of Consumer Spending, Seniors, Spending, Savings
Handle: RePEc:sls:secfds:10

Template-Type: ReDIF-Chapter 1.0
Author-Name: Sylvia Ostry
Title: WTO Membership for China: To Be and Not to Be: Is that the Answer?
Abstract: In her paper, Sylvia Ostry argues that if China had joined the GATT, the
negotiations would have been far easier since market access under GATT
was mainly about border barriers. But since the Uruguay Round the concept
of market access has been extended to include not only domestic regulatory
policies but also both substantive and procedural legal issues. The issue is no
longer what governments must not do, but what governments must do. And it
extends the Western or American administrative procedures to cover many
more areas such as telecommunications, and intellectual property. Over it all
is a supranational juridical system housed in the WTO, which is becoming
increasingly litigious. It will be extremely difficult to integrate the nontransparent
way the Chinese economy functions without “rule of law” into
the WTO’s highly legalized system. The Chinese will also make it more
difficult to achieve the “consensus” required for the WTO to function. In
addition, Chinese accession will not help to break the North-South gridlock
that has tied up the WTO. Ostry proposes that China’s entry into the WTO
would be smoother if there were a new transition mechanism that allowed
varying time deadlines for different parts of liberalization commitments and
was subject to review by the WTO’s Trade Policy Review Committee. In her
view, the same mechanism could also be applied to Russia.
Book-Title: The State of Economics in Canada: Festschrift in Honour of David Slater
ISBN: 0-88911-942-2
Provider-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Provider-Email: info@csls.ca
Provider-Homepage: http://www.csls.ca/
Provider-Postal: 111 Sparks Street, Ste. 500, Ottawa, ON K1P 5B5
Editor-Name: Patrick Grady
Editor-Name: Andrew Sharpe
Editor-Email: andrew.sharpe@csls.ca
Editor-Workplace-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Pages: 257-266
File-URL: http://www.csls.ca/events/slt01/ostry.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Year: 2001
Classification-JEL: F02, F13, F14
Keywords: China, WTO, World Trade Organization, Trade, GATT, General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, Liberalization, Trade Liberalization, Trade Agreements
Handle: RePEc:sls:secfds:11

Template-Type: ReDIF-Chapter 1.0
Author-Name: Kathleen Macmillan
Title: Doing the Right Thing: The WTO and the Developing World
Abstract: The North-South gridlock is explored in more
depth in the paper by Kathleen Macmillan. She notes that statements
from Western political leaders, under pressure from increasingly vocal
protestors, emphasizing the potential of trade liberalization to alleviate poverty
in the developing world, have been greeted with much scepticism by the
leaders of developing countries. In spite of its pious preaching in favour of
trade liberalization, the North has left in place high protectionist barriers in the
textiles, clothing and agricultural sectors that discriminate against imports from
the South. And at the same time, the South is still being held to WTO
commitments to introduce Western-style regimes such as intellectual property
measures. Nevertheless, she notes that the over 100 developing country
members of the WTO and the dozens of other developing countries seeking
to accede to the WTO shows that poorer countries are not yet ready to give
up on the WTO. In her paper, Macmillan takes a hard look at how effectively the
multilateral trading system has really addressed developing country concerns.
She also presents some concrete proposals for achieving a fairer balance in
the world trading system. These include: the removal of tariff and non-tariff
barriers to exports from the developing world; the reform of domestic agricultural
programs; the provision of generous financial assistance and
assistance in kind to developing nations to help them with implementation and
trade adjustment; a substantial weakening of anti-dumping regimes; and the
refusal to include environmental and labour standards in WTO Agreements.
Book-Title: The State of Economics in Canada: Festschrift in Honour of David Slater
ISBN: 0-88911-942-2
Provider-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Provider-Email: info@csls.ca
Provider-Homepage: http://www.csls.ca/
Provider-Postal: 111 Sparks Street, Ste. 500, Ottawa, ON K1P 5B5
Editor-Name: Patrick Grady
Editor-Name: Andrew Sharpe
Editor-Email: andrew.sharpe@csls.ca
Editor-Workplace-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Pages: 267-289
File-URL: http://www.csls.ca/events/slt01/macmillan.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Year: 2001
Classification-JEL: F02, F13, O24
Keywords: Trade, Growth, Development, Trade-related Assistance, Trade Related Assistance, Trade Adjustment, Textiles, Agriculture
Handle: RePEc:sls:secfds:12

Template-Type: ReDIF-Chapter 1.0
Author-Name: John F. Helliwell
Author-Name: David F. Helliwell
Title: Where Are They Now? Migration Patterns for Graduates of the University of British Columbia
Abstract: In an empirical analysis of the migration patterns of University of British
Columbia (UBC) graduates, John F. and David F. Helliwell show in their
paper how much the situation has changed between the 1960s and the 1990s.
Canadian research and graduate education have expanded dramatically,
leading many more undergraduates to stay in Canada for their graduate work. According to the Helliwells, this is perhaps the single most important reason
why the south-bound flows of bachelor’s graduates has fallen so much from
the early 1960s to the 1990s. Consequently, they argue that the resurgence of
discussion of a brain drain in the 1990s has much less basis in the data, and
probably represents factors specific to certain sectors, such as health
spending, research and university financing, where funding support has risen
much less rapidly than in the United States. It has also been fuelled to some
extent by sharp increases in the numbers in temporary NAFTA visas to
Canadians working in the United States, and in part to increasing gaps in
salaries and tax rates in the 1990s that favoured high-income earners in the
United States, relative to their Canadian counterparts. The UBC graduate data show that over the past five decades there have
been continuing reductions in the shares of UBC graduates living in the
United States. For all of the large-scale bachelor’s programs the proportion of
graduates living in the United States has continued to fall during the 1990s.
For the graduate programs, the proportion living outside Canada is and has
always been high, reflecting a very international mix of both the student
intake and the available career positions. For all degrees, the proportion of
1990s UBC graduates living in the rest of the world is higher than that in the
United States. For graduate degrees, the proportion of the graduates
subsequently living and working in Canada, and especially in British
Columbia, is much higher than the share of Canadian citizens among the
incoming students. With respect to the international distribution of those with
the highest level of educational aptitude and attainments, as represented by
the master’s and PhD graduates of UBC, Canada and British Columbia stand
in the middle ground between the United States and the rest of the world. Comparing the citizenship of UBC’s graduate intake with the country of
residence of the graduates, the United States is the largest proportionate net
recipient (7 per cent U.S. citizen intake, 14 per cent U.S.-resident 1990s
PhDs), Canada is the largest recipient in terms of numbers of PhDs (46 per
cent Canadian citizen intake, 70 per cent Canadian-resident 1990s PhDs),
with students from 100 other countries providing a net flow into Canada and
the United States.
Book-Title: The State of Economics in Canada: Festschrift in Honour of David Slater
ISBN: 0-88911-942-2
Provider-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Provider-Email: info@csls.ca
Provider-Homepage: http://www.csls.ca/
Provider-Postal: 111 Sparks Street, Ste. 500, Ottawa, ON K1P 5B5
Editor-Name: Patrick Grady
Editor-Name: Andrew Sharpe
Editor-Email: andrew.sharpe@csls.ca
Editor-Workplace-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Pages: 291-322
File-URL: http://www.csls.ca/events/slt01/helliwell.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Year: 2001
Classification-JEL: J61, F22, F16
Keywords: Canada, United States, Migration, Brain Drain, Brain-drain, Braindrain, Graduates, Temporary Visa, Visas
Handle: RePEc:sls:secfds:13

Template-Type: ReDIF-Chapter 1.0
Author-Name: Edward P. Neufeld
Title: Adjusting to Globalization: Challenges for the Canadian Banking System
Abstract: The mid-1960s were the good old days for Canadian bankers before the
Canadian banking system was opened up to foreign competition. Now it is a
whole new competitive ball game as Edward P. Neufeld points out in his
paper on the challenges that globalization poses for the Canadian banking
system. He argues that the ability of Canadian institutions to withstand
increasing foreign competition will depend on their economic efficiency
relative to that of the encroaching competitors. In his view, the forces that
have facilitated globalization of financial services have also made obsolete
past measures of economies of scale and of the “optimum” size of financial
institutions, and past guidelines concerning excessive domestic market
concentration are no longer reliable. For Canadian financial institutions to
experience solid growth in the future will require them to be internationally
competitive at home and abroad. But unfortunately they have been slipping
down the list of important international financial institutions as measured by
the size of their assets and of their capital bases, and as a result their
non-interest costs are 10 to 20 per cent higher than they would be if mergers
were permitted. Otherwise, the forces of globalization will generate a persistent
tendency towards increased foreign ownership of Canadian financial
institutions, as has already begun to happen, and towards an increase in
non-Canadian executives running them. Neufeld is very concerned that Bill C-8, which is the new legislation
reforming the financial service sector passed this year, contains discrimina-
tory measures that will undermine the international competitiveness of the
Canadian banking system. These include: a restrictive and politicized bank
merger policy, which risks preventing Canadian banks from achieving the
economies of scale that their much larger international competitors are
achieving; the continued prohibition against the distribution of life insurance
through bank branches, which directly restricts competition in the Canadian
market; the continued exclusion of the banks from the car leasing business, a
business almost completely dominated by foreign institutions; and the threat
in the bill directed at the large Canadian banks, and not at smaller competing
institutions or foreign institutions located in Canada or entering the Canadian
market through the Internet, that if they do not provide certain low-cost
services they will be forced to do so. In Neufeld’s view, the most glaring weakness of the new policy as
concerns competition is its failure to recognize clearly that by far the most
important source of future competition will be large international institutions
operating directly in Canada and through the Internet from outside Canada. He regards the merger process as flawed in that it is tortuous, and therefore
inevitably subject to long delays, and risks being hostage to short-term
political considerations. Neufeld believes that the key question that needs to
be addressed is not whether Canadians will get the world-class financial
services they require, because international competition will ensure that, but
whether the services will be provided by Canadian banks or foreign financial
institutions.
Book-Title: The State of Economics in Canada: Festschrift in Honour of David Slater
ISBN: 0-88911-942-2
Provider-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Provider-Email: info@csls.ca
Provider-Homepage: http://www.csls.ca/
Provider-Postal: 111 Sparks Street, Ste. 500, Ottawa, ON K1P 5B5
Editor-Name: Patrick Grady
Editor-Name: Andrew Sharpe
Editor-Email: andrew.sharpe@csls.ca
Editor-Workplace-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Pages: 325-353
File-URL: http://www.csls.ca/events/slt01/neufeld.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Year: 2001
Classification-JEL: G21, G34, F33
Keywords: Canada, Banking, Banks, Financial Services, Mergers, Market Concentration, Bill C-8
Handle: RePEc:sls:secfds:14

Template-Type: ReDIF-Chapter 1.0
Author-Name: Morley Gunderson
Title: North American Economic Integration and Globalization
Abstract: Morley Gunderson presents an
overview of issues related to North American economic integration and
globalization. He provides a particularly balanced perspective, a rarity in this
area of highly charged, ideology-driven and emotional debate. He first notes
that economic integration has both a deepening and widening dimension and
enumerates the various aspects of these two dimensions in the context of
North American integration, noting that in practice the different dimensions
complement one another in a self-reinforcing fashion. He also points out that
deeper and wider economic integration can foster internal consolidation since
this integration is generally regarded as a precondition for external competitiveness. Gunderson pays particular attention to the issue of policy integration. He
argues that the emerging competitive pressures on the North from low-cost,
less regulated jurisdictions in the South is the most important consequence of
trade liberalization and globalization, although there is still insufficient
evidence of harmonization leading to the lowest common denominator. The
policy-making process is now subject to the forces of competition that apply
to business and labour. He argues that the laws and regulations that will be
under the most pressure will be those that are the most inefficient, that is
those that protect interest group rents and impose costs without commensurate
benefits. Gunderson notes that integration represents a threat to distributional or
equity-oriented policies that do not have positive feedback effects on
efficiency even when the population considers such policies highly desirable.
Raising taxes to finance these policies may not be the solution if mobile
factors of production consequently flee to lower-tax jurisdictions. He
documents the wide range of policy responses to the potential policy vacuum
created by globalization and integration, including the NAFTA labour side
agreement, the inclusion of social clauses in trade agreements, corporate
codes of conduct, social labelling, and consumer boycotts, transnational
efforts amongst unions, social groups and NGOs and union-to-union cooperation.
But he finds that effectiveness of these responses to date is moot. Gunderson raises the issue of whether the more circumscribed role of
governments and greater role of market forces will in fact benefit the most
disadvantaged. He notes that so far this has not been the case, although
whether this negative trend will continue is an open question. He concludes
by cautioning that the long-run sustainability of integration depends on the
equitable sharing of the efficiency gains arising from this process.
Book-Title: The State of Economics in Canada: Festschrift in Honour of David Slater
ISBN: 0-88911-942-2
Provider-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Provider-Email: info@csls.ca
Provider-Homepage: http://www.csls.ca/
Provider-Postal: 111 Sparks Street, Ste. 500, Ottawa, ON K1P 5B5
Editor-Name: Patrick Grady
Editor-Name: Andrew Sharpe
Editor-Email: andrew.sharpe@csls.ca
Editor-Workplace-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Pages: 355-377
File-URL: http://www.csls.ca/events/slt01/gunderson.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Year: 2001
Classification-JEL: O51, F41, F42, F02
Keywords: Canada, North America, NAFTA, Integration, Border Effects, Policy Integration, Competitiveness
Handle: RePEc:sls:secfds:15

Template-Type: ReDIF-Chapter 1.0
Author-Name: Pierre Fortin
Title: Has Quebec’s Standard of Living Been Catching Up?
Abstract: Quebec’s relative growth performance with Ontario has always been an issue
of concern for economic historians. In his paper Pierre Fortin discusses
trends in Quebec’s real domestic income relative to that in Ontario over the
last half-century. He finds that per capita real domestic income in Quebec, as
a percentage of that in Ontario, fell from 78 per cent in 1926 to 74 per cent at
the end of the 1950s, with a particularly steep decline during World War II. After WWII, it then started an upward climb, reaching 86 per cent in 1999,
and exhibited a particularly strong performance in the 1975–85 period. Fortin
sees the WWII slump related to the proportionally smaller number of men in
Quebec enrolled in the armed forces, which reduced the share of overall
military pay going to Quebec. He attributes what he calls the big bubble of the
1975–85 period to the strong cyclical expansion associated with a large
number of major projects accompanied by a wage explosion. The key development Fortin seeks to explain is the 12 percentage point
increase in Quebec’s per capita real domestic income from 74 per cent of that
in Ontario in 1960 to 86 per cent in 1999. He decomposes this change into
three sources: productivity, employment and the demographic structure, and
finds that faster growth in output per worker in Quebec was the most
important factor, accounting for 55 per cent of the decline in the gap. In
1999, output per worker in Quebec was 93 per cent of that in Ontario, up
from 83 per cent in 1954. Faster growth in the working age population
accounted for 35 per cent of the decline in the income gap, and more rapid
rate of increase in the employment rate for 10 per cent. Fortin points out that the massive investment Quebec has made in
education has greatly reduced that gap in average years of schooling between
persons in Quebec and Ontario. Indeed, in 1991 the average 25-year-old man
had received more years of schooling in Quebec than in Ontario. This
development bodes well for future income growth. Equally, Quebec has also
done well in investment in infrastructure and equipment and in research and
development. Fortin explains the continued income gap with Ontario by the
long gestation period required before the education revolution filters up to all
age groups.
Book-Title: The State of Economics in Canada: Festschrift in Honour of David Slater
ISBN: 0-88911-942-2
Provider-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Provider-Email: info@csls.ca
Provider-Homepage: http://www.csls.ca/
Provider-Postal: 111 Sparks Street, Ste. 500, Ottawa, ON K1P 5B5
Editor-Name: Patrick Grady
Editor-Name: Andrew Sharpe
Editor-Email: andrew.sharpe@csls.ca
Editor-Workplace-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Pages: 381-402
File-URL: http://www.csls.ca/events/slt01/fortin.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Year: 2001
Classification-JEL: O47, R11, J24, N32
Keywords: Canada, Quebec, Ontario, Living Standards, Income, Real Income, Growth, Income Growth, Relative Income, Productivity, World War 2, World War II, WWII, Demographic Structure, Demography, Employment Rate
Handle: RePEc:sls:secfds:16

Template-Type: ReDIF-Chapter 1.0
Author-Name: Anthony Scott
Title: Economists, Environmental Policies and Federalism
Abstract: With global warming, Canadians are becoming increasingly aware of the
importance of effective environmental policies. In his paper Anthony Scott,
a pioneer in the areas of resource and environmental economics in this
country, provides a comprehensive discussion of the role economists can and
should play in the development of more effective environmental policies. A
key theme of his paper is that environmental policy, particularly in crucial
areas like global air pollution, is still in its infancy and effective national
institutions to respond to policy challenges are still in the developmental stage. Scott first reviews the history of environmental policy in England, the
United States and Canada. He then examines the approaches of economists to
environmental issues, including the market failure and ideal output approach,
benefit-cost analysis of pollution, and environmental impact assessment, and
identifies topics that environmental economists teach and research. The paper
then compares what economists do in Canada in the environmental area
compared to that in the United States, finding that academic environmental
economists in Canada specialize more in theory and show little knowledge or
interest in issues directly related to the environmental policy debate in their
country of residence.
Book-Title: The State of Economics in Canada: Festschrift in Honour of David Slater
ISBN: 0-88911-942-2
Provider-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Provider-Email: info@csls.ca
Provider-Homepage: http://www.csls.ca/
Provider-Postal: 111 Sparks Street, Ste. 500, Ottawa, ON K1P 5B5
Editor-Name: Patrick Grady
Editor-Name: Andrew Sharpe
Editor-Email: andrew.sharpe@csls.ca
Editor-Workplace-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Pages: 405-449
File-URL: http://www.csls.ca/events/slt01/scott.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Year: 2001
Classification-JEL: Q50, Q54
Keywords: Environment, Climate, Environmental Policy, Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Environmental Economics
Handle: RePEc:sls:secfds:17

Template-Type: ReDIF-Chapter 1.0
Author-Name: Charles M. Beach
Author-Name: Ross Finnie
Title: Cyclical Changes in Short-Run Earnings Mobility in Canada, 1982-1996
Abstract: The paper by Charles M. Beach and Ross Finnie
represents the first attempt to quantify short-term or cyclical changes in
earnings mobility in Canada. Mobility analysis can be seen as a complement
to the analysis of income distribution. For a given degree of earnings
inequality, more earnings mobility corresponds to securing greater labour
market opportunity. Using longitudinal income-tax-based data, the authors divide the employed
population into eight age/sex groups: entry workers (20–24), younger
workers (25–34), prime-age workers (35–54), and older workers (55–64) for
both sexes; and divide the earnings distribution into lower, middle and upper
regions or earnings intervals based on median earnings levels for the
distribution as a whole, and calculate the proportion of workers in each group
for all years over the 1982–96 period. They also develop transition matrices
that show the probability of moving from one earnings interval to another
over a one-year period. They find that there have been major cyclical changes in earnings
polarization and that these changes have been concentrated in recessions,
notably in the 1990–92 downturn. They also find that men in particular
experienced a marked decrease in their net probability of upward mobility in
the earnings distribution during recessions, as the probability of moving up fell
sharply as did the probability of moving down. The results of the paper are
particularly relevant for an understanding of how earnings mobility may be
affected by the current economic slowdown.
Book-Title: The State of Economics in Canada: Festschrift in Honour of David Slater
ISBN: 0-88911-942-2
Provider-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Provider-Email: info@csls.ca
Provider-Homepage: http://www.csls.ca/
Provider-Postal: 111 Sparks Street, Ste. 500, Ottawa, ON K1P 5B5
Editor-Name: Patrick Grady
Editor-Name: Andrew Sharpe
Editor-Email: andrew.sharpe@csls.ca
Editor-Workplace-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Pages: 453-484
File-URL: http://www.csls.ca/events/slt01/beach.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Year: 2001
Classification-JEL: O51, D31, D33, E25, J31
Keywords: Earnings Mobility, Income Mobility, Mobility, Income, Earnings, Distribution, Income Distribution, Earnings Distribution, Earnings Inequality, Recession, Cyclical
Handle: RePEc:sls:secfds:18

Template-Type: ReDIF-Chapter 1.0
Author-Name: W. Craig Riddell
Title: Education and Skills: An Assessment of Recent Canadian Experience
Abstract: The skills issue is currently at or near the top of the federal government’s
policy agenda, given its importance for harnessing the benefits of technological
advances. Policy initiatives in the area should be premised on an
accurate assessment of Canada’s recent experience in education and skill
formation. In his paper, W. Craig Riddell attempts such an assessment. He
provides a careful examination of trends in education expenditures and
outcomes in Canada compared to other countries, looks at trends in the
incidence of education, and analyzes the link between education and labour
market success. Riddell’s overall assessment of Canada’s record in education and skills is
quite positive. He finds that relative to other OECD countries, Canada ranks
near the top in terms of expenditure per student and share of GDP devoted to
elementary, secondary and post-secondary education; that Canada’s
population is well educated by international standards, with the highest
proportion of the population with non-university, post-secondary education in
the OECD; and that the country’s literacy skills, particularly for the young
and well educated, are above average among the G7 countries that
participated in the International Adult Literacy Survey. One possible weakness
he identifies is the relatively low student achievement in mathematics
among the G7 countries that participated in the standardized tests. This
suggests Canada may not be obtaining good “value for money” from its
relatively high expenditure on education. Riddell notes that the conventional estimates of the return to education
appear downward biased so that the causal effect of education on earnings
may be higher than previously believed. Evidence suggests that the marginal
return to incremental investment in education exceeds the average from previous
investments and that there is no evidence that investments in schooling
are running into diminishing returns. Riddell concludes that investments in
human capital remain an important potential source of economic growth and
equality of opportunity.
Book-Title: The State of Economics in Canada: Festschrift in Honour of David Slater
ISBN: 0-88911-942-2
Provider-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Provider-Email: info@csls.ca
Provider-Homepage: http://www.csls.ca/
Provider-Postal: 111 Sparks Street, Ste. 500, Ottawa, ON K1P 5B5
Editor-Name: Patrick Grady
Editor-Name: Andrew Sharpe
Editor-Email: andrew.sharpe@csls.ca
Editor-Workplace-Name: Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Pages: 485-517
File-URL: http://www.csls.ca/events/slt01/riddell.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Year: 2001
Classification-JEL: O51, J24, I20, H52, J31
Keywords: Education, Human Capital, Skills, Literacy, Numeracy, Canada, Post-secondary, Postsecondary, Post Secondary, Earnings, Return To Education
Handle: RePEc:sls:secfds:19