Over the past decade, the topic of globalization has infiltrated both public and academic debates. The aim of this dissertation is to investigate whether the growth in the discussion of globalization is justified by an equivalent increase in the interaction of economies. The focus of this dissertation is on economic globalization and specifically how it affects Canada. Evidence of cross-border 'flows' is presented in three parts. One, the trade of goods is traced from Confederation (1867) to the present, showing that contemporary levels of trade are not unprecedented. Furthermore, the data reveal that the bulk of the increase in Canada's trade since the Second World War has been with the United States. There are also strong indications that as the economy is becoming more service oriented, it will also become less trade dependent. Two, statistics on foreign direct investment (FDI) reveal that foreign ownership in Canada is at an all-time historical low. Three, the stock of portfolio investments (stocks and bonds) owned across borders is also not, historically speaking, at particularly high levels. Overall, when foreign direct and portfolio investment are combined, the data show that only a small percentage of Canada's wealth is owned by foreign investors and, likewise, only a small portion of Canada's wealth is located outside of its borders. Another claim found in the globalization literature is that the nation state is weakening or disappearing altogether. However, once subjected to scrutiny, this claim, too, is difficult to sustain. Government expenditures have increased dramatically since the Second World War and show few signs of abating. For the fiscal year 1996/97, government expenditures amounted to approximately half of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), indicating a general levelling of expenditures since the mid-1970s. More importantly, the globalization literature has unfailingly ignored the welfare-state side of government spending, arguably the most significant development in the political economy of the nation state in the 20th century. To bridge this gap, three sectors of the welfare state — education, health, and social services — are examined in detail. Lastly, an alternate explanation for globalization is put forward. Capital, it is argued, has made a concerted attack on the welfare state, utilizing high interest rates and high unemployment to discipline labour. Although having suffered a few scratches and dents as a consequence, the welfare-state has resolutely endured. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

This research was undertaken to provide a quantitative assessment of the impact of a Canada/U.S. free trade agreement on six B.C. food and beverage processing industries. The objective was achieved by building a partial equilibrium model simulating changes in trade policy. The six industries were modelled as oligopolists in which the degree of oligopolistic behaviour and the industries' characteristics were captured through specified parameters. Following the abolition of trade barriers the model allowed the industries to rationalize, where necessary, and the highest-cost firms in an industry left for the benefit of lower-cost ones. The final effect is measured for each industry through changes in output, employment, trade volume and prices. As different policy scenarios have been simulated for each industry, the results obtained are quite diverse but they generally follow the a priori expectations. In open industries such as meat, fruit and vegetable and flour mixes, results, however differents for each scenario, tend to leave the industries in a better off or no worse off situation. For heavily protected industries like dairy and poultry, very sensitive to the elimination or not of the quota system, the range of possible results between the scenarios is pronounced. It was concluded that the final effect of the abolition of trade barriers on each industry cannot be assessed specifically but in rather general terms. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

No description available.

No description available.

From early colonial times the Canadian economy, highly dependent on exports, has developed a pluralist economic system in a generally congenial international environment. Since 1970 however, the Canadian economy has been challenged, albeit at the margins, by unfamiliar impacts largely originating in the Pacific economy. The institutional reactions of relevant Canadian export interests - defined as the federal government, provincial governments and a small number of Canadian firms - have, on the whole, proved inadequate to these challenges. This inadequacy threatens Canadian domestic prosperity and constrains economic and political options internationally. This study hypothesizes that an adequate response to these new challenges depends on institutional adaptation within and among Canadian export interests. Six principles are advanced to promote this adaptation: 1. the priority of economic considerations; 2. the legitimate role of government; 3. full provincial participation; 4. coordination by the national government; 5. an authoritative voice for each interest; 6. better sharing and use of information. The six principles are applied in three case studies. The first concerns the international marketing challenge posed by the Japanese general trading company (soga shosha), and the Canadian government's initiative to create a Canadian trading corporation. The application of the six principles suggests an alternative proposal, the Canadian Commercial Centre, in which Canadian export interests develop and share information in a way which recognizes the appropriate role of each and the obligation of all to attain a greater coherence. The second case study concerns the recent Western Liquid Natural Gas (WLNG) project which featured a new form of investment (the minority interest joint venture coupled with a long-term supply contract) in which a consortium of Japanese buyers represented by a Japanese general trading company sought to reach agreement with an uncoordinated collection of Canadian firms and governments. The lack of coherence among these Canadian interests was at least a contributing factor in the loss of an opportunity to expand and diversify Canadian LNG markets. The application of the six principles to the WLNG case yields an alternative Canadian approach involving the early establishment of a committee of authoritative officials from the relevant Canadian interests, and a new coordinating role for a federal agency like the (now disbanded) Ministry of State for Economic and Regional Development and the Federal Economic Development Coordinator. The final case study concerns the challenge to trade and investment represented by the movement to a Pacific economic community, notably the Pacific Economic Community concept (PECC). The current reactions of such institutions as the Canadian committee of the Pacific Basin Economic Council and the federal Department of External Affairs are assessed, leading to the recommendation that the Canadian government should involve a wider constituency of current and potential Canadian export interests in an educational policy process which may bear on Canada's future prosperity and political resilience. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Before 1965, Canadian automotive manufacturers were producing a wide variety of models for a limited market in an industry in which economies of scale are very important. Tariffs and a Canadian content requirement protected this high cost industry from being overwhelmed by the more efficient U.S. manufacturers. The efficiency of Canadian firms was expected to improve under the Auto Pact with the U.S., which allowed duty free passage of new automotive equipment subject to certain conditions designed to protect the weaker Canadian industry. The Auto Pact was prevented by these Canadian safeguards from being a true free trade agreement (FTA), but it was an important step towards reducing the barriers to bilateral automotive trade. / Master of Arts