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Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the Quebec pulp and paper industry fell by more than 30 percent from 1990 to 2006. We use an energy demand model to analyze the contributions to this decrease of energy prices, product mix, technological change, and biomass use. The product mix is made of pulp, and cardboard, and paper. Pulp is an intermediate product for the industry, but not necessarily so for mills; vertical integration varies across mills and presents different opportunities to transfer heat between stages of production. Chemical and mechanical pulping processes are used to form two groups of pulp and paper mills. We find that changes of product mixes contributed the most to reduce GHG emissions, followed to a lesser extent by increases of fuel prices relative to electricity. The estimated electricity and fuel price elasticities are low. However it is still possible to significantly reduce GHG emissions by substituting natural gas for heavy fuel oil; such a substitution could be brought about by a small change of their relative price. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on research exploring the contribution to social policy of social economy organizations (SEOs) in Atlantic Canada. Of particular interest is whether SEOs and government are engaged in what we have termed 'reciprocal relationships,' through inclusive, cross-sector alliances linked to improved policy planning and decision-making. Initial findings suggest that reciprocity of relationships between government and SEOs to enhance policy solutions and service provision is not yet fully realized and that SEOs remain structurally marginalized in the design and implementation of policy. The paper points to investment in appropriate support mechanisms to make government-SEO alliances meaningful and more durable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transferring income to families with children has long been a basic Canadian social policy. Though motivated by a range of goals, a central expectation has been that higher family income will lead to better child outcomes, especially in low-income families. This paper presents a synthesis of Canadian research estimating the effect of household income on measures of child development and well-being. While child outcomes and socioeconomic status (SES) are highly correlated, the effect of income on child outcomes, controlling for other SES factors, is found to be statistically significant but of much smaller magnitude than correlation alone indicates. The paper also discusses key theoretical and methodological issues in this area of research, identifies areas for future research, and draws implications for public policy design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses energy links between Canada, the United States, and Mexico and the state of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission-reduction policies. A review of GHG reduction policies reveals fragmented approaches with political stalemates at the national level. Closely integrated North American energy markets are potentially changing in different directions. While Canada is contemplating more diversification of energy trade, the United States is increasingly relying on domestic supply of energy and will soon be a net exporter of energy. The paper argues that carbon pricing needs to be harmonized in conjunction with trade flows and elaborates on how current, fragmented carbon pricing initiatives could be turned into a more harmonized carbon pricing system. It provides arguments in support of a binding absolute emissions cap with limited safety valves and price floors in a North American emissions-trading program. It also discusses lessons learned from the EU GHG emissions-trading system and their implications for the design of North American cap-and-trade regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically assesses the gap between Canada's criminal law standards of fault articulated in the 1950s and 1970s and its constitutional standards of criminal fault articulated in the 1980s and 1990s. This gap is explained in terms of the Court's ambivalence about subjective fault principles as manifested by its acceptance of criminal negligence. It is also explained by the Court's unique treatment of section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as a right that, unlike any other right in the Charter, is only subject to reasonable limitation under section 1 of the Charter in extraordinary emergency situations. The paper then suggests that the gap between criminal and constitutional fault standards is not sustainable and can only be closed if the Court rethinks its approach to the limitation of section 7 rights. Maintenance of the gap may erode respect for common-law presumptions of subjective fault. If this occurs, Canada's apparently robust approach to the constitutionalization of fault will have actually diminished respect for and protection of subjective fault principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Municipal water conservation is increasingly promoted as a key dimension of environmental sustainability at the municipal scale. Progress toward municipal water conservation in Canada has, however, been poor. This paper examines the governance dimension of water conservation, and presents evidence in support of the argument that conservation efforts on the part of water utilities (and sometimes municipalities) are often constrained by factors external to their jurisdiction. To explore these issues, this paper presents a case study of municipal water conservation in Canada. The analysis identifies governance-related barriers to water conservation and explores the relationship between these barriers and broader issues stemming from the multi-scalar, fragmented nature of environmental governance in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the overeducation of recent immigrants in the Canadian labour market. Data from the 1999 Workplace and Employee Survey are used to explore the determinants and earnings consequences of overeducation. Although a well-developed body of literature examines the earnings consequences of overeducation, this paper presents the first Canadian estimates of returns to years of schooling that are contingent upon perceived job requirements. Compared with Canadian-born workers, recent immigrants are found to have a relatively high incidence of overeducation and to earn relatively low returns for surplus schooling. These are shown to be major contributors to the earnings gap between recent immigrants and workers born in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little research has examined how migration affects marital relationships, or the processes by which immigrant couples adapt to their new circumstances. This paper presents data from a research project conducted with newcomer Ethiopians in Toronto, both married and divorced or separated. The objective of this paper is to document post-migration changes in the lives of newcomer couples and to examine the impact of post-migration changes on marital relationships. The study sample consisted of 25 participants, all of who were Ethiopian immigrants to Toronto. Both individual and focus group interviews were conducted. The major types of post-migration changes described by study participants were losses of household help, emotional support, income and status, and changes in gender roles. The impacts of these change on marital relationships were described as increased marital conflict, increased autonomy for women, increased mutual dependence, more joint decisionmaking, and changes in communication and intimacy. Study findings challenged the notion that the impact of post-migration changes on marital relationships is all negative. Recognising the potential for positive and negative changes in marital relationships following migration can inform the practices of settlement organizations and the development of violence prevention strategies for newcomer couples and communities. Findings also have implications for the development of theory on the etiology of IPV. However, future research is necessary to confirm study findings with other immigrant communities representing different migration and resettlement experiences to identify commonalties and synthesize results across communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human capital policy has come to be seen as something of a panacea: acting both as a necessary input for modern growth and an effective tool for redistribution. Canada has moved strongly in the direction of linking redistribution and human capital investment. In this paper, I investigate the empirical evidence and theoretical arguments behind the claim that increasing skills investment opportunities and tying transfers to human capital investments while decreasing traditional income support will ultimately lead to a more equal, more just society. Whether this is true, of course, will depend on the notion of justice one adopts. One of my goals in this paper is to examine the implications of the kind of policy path Canada is following under different notions of fairness. I conclude that both empirical evidence and fairness considerations indicate that human capital policy does not make good redistributive policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper projects annual growth rates between 2001 and 2031 in the need for informal and formal support among elderly Canadians with disabilities. The paper also discusses the policy implications of the increasing demand for informal caregivers. Using Statistics Canada's LifePaths microsimulation model, these projections incorporate disability rates and the potential availability of family caregivers. The authors conclude that continued focus on family to meet the needs of elderly Canadians is not sustainable. New public policies involving financial support and respite for family caregivers are proposed and their economic feasibility is evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines the issues surrounding a recent move by the Government of Alberta, Canada to lower the accepted working age to 12 years old. The paper places this decision within the wider context of changes in labour standards in North America and internationally. The lowering of the working age not only contravenes the principles of international labour agreements but is also in tension with other social policy aimed at reducing child poverty, increasing school completion rates, and providing effective transitions for youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the forecast performance of Canadian financial institutions and forecasting firms between 1984 and 2003. The sample period is roughly double that of an earlier study. We divide the sample in two and investigate whether a particular institution has improved its relative standing over the last ten years. Results for two Quebec institutions — the Banque Nationale (National Bank) and the Mouvement Desjardins — are now included in the second part of the sample, whereas a complete dataset was not available for these two institutions during the 1980s. We look as well at the relative performance of individual forecasters compared to the consensus forecast (defined as the mean of the forecasts available during the period in question). The paper then compares the accuracy of the Canadian consensus forecast with the forecast offered by the OECD each December for a limited number of key macroeconomic variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we offer a normative analysis of economic evaluations by critically examining Canadian social values in relation to health, and contrasting these with the inherent values, methodological assumptions and pragmatic policy consequences of conventional cost of illness (COl) models. Through this analysis we reveal the value biases and resulting limitations of existing COl approaches, and propose an expanded framework for estimating costs that takes into account gender and diversity. This proposed framework builds upon fundamental shifts in values discourse emerging in the fields of economics, ethics, social policy, and feminist theory. Specifically, we demonstrate the implications of these cross-disciplinary convergences for COl studies. The analysis and framework provide arguments for why and how traditional costing methodologies need to be transformed to realize their full potential for informing health policy decisions. The paper reflects the work of a multidisciplinary group of researchers from the fields of economics, political science, sociology, and nursing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Work by Aschauer (1989) triggered a debate in the United States on the role played by public capital in determining productivity and growth; more recently, infrastructure has become an issue in the Canadian public policy debate. This paper sheds some light on this debate by addressing three questions: (i) How large is the stock of public infrastructure in Canada? (ii) What are the main components of that infrastructure? (iii) How has that infrastructure evolved over the last 40 years? The paper also examines the impact of public infrastructure on Canada's standard of living and on the performance of the business sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent assessments of the federal government's social policy leadership fail to provide a satisfactory linkage between its unilateral actions and its ongoing involvement in intergovernmental bargaining. This paper argues that the federal government is honing old and new tools to shape the direction of provincial policy development. Indeed, many unilateral initiatives appear tied to a broader strategy of assuring the federal government an important place in intergovernmental negotiations. The paper unpacks four key tools (new money, accountability, creation of expertise, and structuring investments) and assesses how they have been employed to rebuild federal leadership to various degrees in the health, child, and labour market policy fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demographic change and policy reorientation are often conflated with economic and social changes in anticipating the social and policy implications of demographic aging. In this paper, an attempt is made to begin to disentangle these factors to gain a clearer sense of the implications of population aging for social and policy responses. Analyzed here are selected socio-economic changes that intervene in the connection of demographic aging to policy, such as actual working patterns by age, education to work timing, retirement patterns, productivity shifts, pension investment shifts, policy changes such as the move toward economic liberalism and away from redistribution and social protection, changing family patterns, and shifts among generations in terms of wealth inequality. These are related to shifts in demographic age structures. Data which are more illustrative than the analytical focus of the paper, come largely from various Statistics Canada sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is essentially twofold. The first aim is to establish the demographic patterns and social trends which characterize contemporary grandparenthood in Canada using nationally representative data from the 1990 and 1995 General Social Surveys of Canada. Patterns characterizing and influencing grandparenthood such as the prevalence of grandparenthood, multiple generation families, step- grandparenthood and the availability of grandparents and grandchildren are examined. Analysis also focuses on rates of intergenerational cohabitation and surrogate parenting by grandparents, as well as the intersection of grandparenthood and other family and work-related roles. The second aim of the paper--where methodologically possible--is to provide a comparative analysis of Canadian and American trends, thereby placing findings within a North American context. Canadian families are presently undergoing processes of transformation and redefinition, generally assuming more heterogeneity in size and structure. Increasing life expectancy, decreasing fertility, changing gender roles, patterns of work and of marriage and divorce, all join to influence family structure and consequently, grandparenthood.

In this paper we re-examine inequality in Canada with a comprehensive look at inequality trends in Atlantic Canada during the period 1969 to 1996. We use consumption expenditure as a measure of family well-being and compare it with the income-based measures of well-being. The results of this study reveal the following: (a) consumption distribution is more equal than the income distribution; (b) inequality trends are sensitive to how family resources are measured; (c) consumption inequality in Atlantic Canada fluctuated considerably until the mid-1980s; and (d) tax and transfer policies have played an important role in reducing income disparities in Atlantic Canada as well as in the rest of Canada. Overall, consumption inequality has continually been lower in Atlantic Canada in comparison to the rest of Canada. The paper also examines the role of key socio-demographic factors using a decomposition methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While much research points to the importance of a range of welfare state policies to reduce inequalities in health, the growing literature in this field is full of mixed and contradictory results. In this paper, we provide a brief discussion about the different conceptual and methodological approaches used in comparative research on the relationship between welfare policies and health. Against a theoretical discussion of possible linkages among one central welfare policy, unemployment benefit schemes, and health, we also provide examples of findings on how two central dimensions of such schemes--coverage and replacement rates--are linked to health and health inequalities across Europe. These examples indicate not only that welfare state programs can contribute to smaller health inequalities but also that their effectiveness in this respect depends on their institutional set-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2006, Ontario made history by passing legislation to address licensing barriers experienced by internationally educated professionals. While registration requirements have been slow to change, regulators demonstrate increasing openness to alternative ways that individuals can develop or demonstrate professional competencies. This paper reviews acceptable alternatives for meeting academic requirements in 38 Ontario professions and compares local experience requirements and alternatives for three professions in Canada and Australia. Acceptable alternatives improve flexibility and remove artificial barriers by focusing on competency. However, ongoing investment is needed from regulators and government to ensure that alternative routes to licensing are accessible, affordable, and sustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares employment match rates for immigrants educated in a regulated profession with those of their Canadian-born and -educated counterparts. In particular, it examines Statistics Canada data for 2006 and 2011, analyzing trends and provincial comparisons over the five years following the implementation of Ontario's fair access legislation. Overall, the findings support a continued role for fair access legislation to hold regulators accountable, stronger engagement with employers to promote immigrant hiring and retention, specialized advisement and training for alternative careers, and thoughtfully designed pre-arrival initiatives that reduce time away from professional practice without increasing barriers to immigration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the effects of occupational licensing in Canada on the earnings of immigrants and nonimmigrants. The econometric model is estimated for immigrants and non-immigrants as well as between joiners and leavers from occupationally licensed jobs using a large panel data set. The results suggest that occupational licensing raises wages more for immigrant workers than for non-immigrants with similar observed characteristics. However, the probability of being in an occupationally licensed job is lower for immigrants as compared to non-immigrants. The implications of these findings for whether immigrants gain or lose from occupational licensing are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canada's laws regarding children and families can be examined on the basis of the balance they strike among the rights and obligations of the child, the family, and the state. In the past, the legislation and policies have traditionally adopted what may be called a paternalistic and reactive stance towards ensuring the well-being of Canadian children. The emphasis has been on apportioning power over children between parental figures and the state, on the weighing of family (parental) autonomy versus state intrusion into the family. Government intervention has generally followed a residual or safety net model, in which the authorities react to rescue or protect children, and only after specified problems have occurred in the families. A shift does, however, appear to be beginning in the field of child and family law. The earlier focus on parental and state rights is now being tempered with a growing concern for the rights of the children themselves, a movement which may lead to laws and policies that are more proactive or preventive in character. Following a brief description of the historical context for current child and family law in Canada, this paper outlines the important principles which underly the legislation and which reflect the continuing attempt to balance con attempted balance: first the field of "child protection," and second the field of what used to be termed "juvenile delinquents" but which is now referred to as "young offenders." The paper closes with an indication of future directions for the shifting balance of the child's, the family's, and the state's riots within the process of seeking the welfare of Canada's children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under a flexible exchange rate regime, the Canadian economy is constantly affected by fluctuations in exchange rates. This paper focuses on the effect of the exchange rate on employment in Canada. We find that appreciation of the Canadian dollar has significant effects on employment in manufacturing industries; such effects are mostly associated with the export-weighted exchange rate, but not the import-weighted exchange rate. Meanwhile, the exchange rate has little effect on jobs in non-manufacturing industries. Because the manufacturing sector accounts for only about 10 percent of employment in Canada, the overall effect of the exchange rate on employment is small. In addition, we quantify the loss of manufacturing employment associated with a commodity market boom, during which the Canadian dollar tends to appreciate. Our estimates suggest that when commodity prices increase by 15.77 percent (one standard deviation of annual change in commodity prices between 1994 and 2010), manufacturing employment in Canada decreases by 0.8 percent, which is about 0.08 percent of the total employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different categories of services present different policy issues for financing health care. This conceptual paper suggests four categories: (1) public health services for the entire population; (2) basic health care to individuals, where anticipated costs are small and relatively homogeneous; (3) potentially catastrophically expensive services to individuals, where costs are skewed but not predictable; and (4) potentially catastrophically expensive services to individuals, where anticipated costs are both skewed and predictable. Using Canadian and Manitoba data to illustrate some implications of the distribution of health expenditures, we suggest policies suitable for one category of services may not necessarily work for others. The small proportion responsible for incurring high health expenditures are not attractive candidates for voluntary risk pools, particularly in competitive markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares the public indebtedness of the Canadian provinces and the US states (including a share of the federal debt) over the 2000–2007 period. It presents rankings of the most indebted subnational jurisdictions based on five public debt concepts. Among the provinces, Quebec (with the lowest average rank) and Alberta (with the highest average rank) display the most stable position across the rankings. All other provinces show important fluctuations in their position in the rankings. Hence, allocating the federal debt to subnational states and the specific debt concept being considered significantly influence the rankings, quite spectacularly in some instances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses longitudinal microdata from the Statistics Canada National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) to study the family income dynamics of Canadian children from the time they are 4 or 5 until they are 14 or 15. Dynamics of family income have been studied less often than dynamics of child poverty. Yet we argue that from the perspective of equity, it is important to know the extent to which some children are always affluent while other children are always poor. Also, since our social safety net is designed to shelter Canadians, including children, from both economic hardship and economic loss, it is also important, from the perspective of policy, to assess risk factors for persistent low income as well as correlates of major economic loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper defines two key core concepts in the field of public policy: co-production and co-construction. It first examines the role of the third sector in the co-construction of two public policy initiatives, the Voluntary Sector Initiative and the Social Economy Initiative, developed under the responsibility of the federal state. Then it turns to the participation of the third sector in co-constructing public policy under the responsibility of the Quebec provincial state in six policy areas: policy to recognize autonomous community organizations, policy to recognize the social economy, daycare policy, home care policy, social housing policy and Quebec legislation to combat poverty. The policy initiatives of both the federal state and Quebec state are compared and analysed from a co-construction perspective [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the political economy of procurement and purchasing policies, specifically at the sub-national level. It frames these policies historically and philosophically as struggling to articulate an alternative to capitalism while working within capitalist contexts. It then examines the proposed trade agreement between Canada and the European Union, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), as an exemplar of this struggle, concluding with three policy suggestions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the implication of the decision to give 2006 Census respondents the option of letting Statistics Canada access their income tax files rather than answering income-related questions directly. We find that giving respondents the option to share their income tax files (or not) adds a confounding factor when it comes to measuring family-income inequality, particularly for the bottom tail of the distribution. The consent decision does not, however, materially affect the estimation of standard wage equations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In-depth interviews with government officials are a critical research method for the study of government. Historical and institutional factors, and particularly the informal internal dynamics that influence policy, require a depth of understanding that is often best investigated through such interview methods. At the federal level in Canada we see many trends that point to the increasing centralization and control of government information. There has been political interference in Access to Information Requests; the outcomes of scientific research have been suppressed; and media access to politicians has become highly constrained. This led us to ask whether tightening controls on information have also affected access to research interviews with government officials. This paper explores this issue by interviewing both academics and public servants in the Canadian federal government. We ask is there evidence of a tightening grip on access to governmental research interviews and, if so, is this affecting how and what we research? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Millions of Canadians continue to drive after drinking, in part because they can do so with little fear of being apprehended, charged, and convicted. The federal amendments to impaired driving law of the past 15 years have focused on penalties, narrow prosecutorial issues, and long-standing loopholes. However, significant progress requires a shift from these so-called 'tough' laws to effective laws (i.e., those that will sharply reduce impaired driving). In response to similar problems with the persistence of impaired driving, many developed countries have enacted both a criminal .05 percent blood-alcohol concentration limit for driving and random breath testing, thereby achieving dramatic reductions in related crash deaths. This paper examines these two measures in the context of Canada's impaired driving record and the current federal law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines health-care spending projections when the interaction between end-of-life care expenditures and declining mortality is taken explicitly into account. Based on Quebec's historical public health-care spending data and mortality rates for 20 age groups over the period 1998 to 2009, an econometric model is developed with the aim of differentiating 'ordinary' health-care spending from end-of-life care expenditures. Numerical simulations reveal that the average annual growth rate of future health-care spending projected over the period 2009-2056 diminishes by about 0.19 to 0.23 percentage points. This implies a cumulative health-care savings of about 8.4 to 10.3 percent in 2056, independent of other health-related factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines public policy relating to the licensing of older Canadian drivers. We focus on licence renewal frequency, assessment of driving competence, and the role of medical professionals, insurers, and police in assessing fitness-to-drive. Our evaluation of the current regimes finds shortcomings with respect to cost-effectiveness, equity, transparency, and feasibility. We propose a new elderly licensing regime which includes a two-stage assessment process with an age-based trigger, a mandatory education session, and adoption of graduated delicensing. These reforms will overcome some of the identified weaknesses of the current regime and improve road safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the impact of a recent recommendation made by Quebec's Comité consultatif de lutte contre la pauvreté et l'exclusion sociale to guarantee every individual an income equal to 80 percent of Statistics Canada's Market Basket Measure (MBM). Workers with earnings at least equivalent to 16 hours at the minimum wage would be entitled to 100 percent of the MBM. We also investigate the impact of three alternative proposals: (a) a change in the above hours cut-off from 16 to 30 hours; (b) a guaranteed income equal to 100 percent of the MBM, irrespective of earnings; and (c) a $3/hour conditional wage subsidy. To do this, we first estimate a structural labour supply model using the existing tax code and predict the labour supply of a representative sample of individuals based upon the parameter estimates of the model. Simulations show that the original recommendation would have strong negative impacts on participation rates of low earners and that its cost would exceed $2 billion. Increasing the hours cut-off is predicted to have little impact beyond that of the original recommendation. Providing a guaranteed income equivalent to 100 percent of the MBM, on the other hand, would have a large impact. We find that contrary to what is usually assumed, guaranteed income schemes may increase the incidence of low income rather than decrease it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1990s, many Western countries have implemented restrictions on immigrants' access to welfare programs, thereby creating new lines of exclusion between immigrants and the native-born. Canada is commonly seen to have resisted this trend. This view overlooks, however, that exclusion can come in different forms. In addition to direct formal exclusion from welfare programs, immigrants can also have more limited access because of indirect or informal mechanisms of differentiation. Reviewing five core welfare programs, this paper shows that direct, indirect, and informal types of exclusion exist in the Canadian welfare state, albeit with different consequences for different categories of newcomers. While this conclusion is not meant to suggest that immigrants face as much exclusion as they do in some other Western countries, it does demonstrate the need to avoid the complacency regarding immigrants' social rights in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The announcement of the Trans-Pacific Partnership in June 2012 raised speculation about dire consequences for the dairy sector and the end of supply management. We examine these claims in the context of tariff liberalization and the transmission of volatile international dairy prices into the Canadian market. The paper examines the implications for dairy farmer welfare, quota values, and the welfare of other agents in the economy. Given that the US dairy industry has interests of its own to protect, significant dairy tariff liberalization is not expected. With modest tariff reductions, the impact on quota values will be minimal. Likewise, the overall decline in producer welfare will also be small. Therefore, supply management, as a marketing institution, is likely to survive the TPP, but marketing boards may have to change their pricing policies in response to tariff reductions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complex environment and resource policy issues such as wind energy planning can benefit greatly from public input but may also be challenging for the public to understand. This paper examines informational barriers to public engagement with policy, using a case study of wind energy planning in Saskatchewan, Canada. A document review showed four types of barriers to effective policy-public communication in the case study: non-intuitive information, misreported information, obsolete information, and absent information. We provide some intuitive solutions for these difficulties but also suggest that they may be strongly rooted in the inherent political incentives of policy-makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the changing nature of regulation making with a special emphasis on the role that economists should play. It focuses specifically on the processes used to develop regulations. It argues that the traditional process for regulation making is breaking down and that the quality of regulation will decline if processes do not adapt to the changing environment. In addition to their traditional work of comparing regulatory instruments and calculating their benefits and costs, economists can play an important role by serving as strategists to help the public interest win in the strategic game of regulation making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a model of the determinants of environmental management practices and the impact of these practices on environmental performance is described and tested using Canadian manufacturing facility-level data. Our results show that Canadian manufacturing facilities have indeed undertaken environmental initiatives as a result of pressures arising from the buyers of their products and corporate headquarters. The relationship between environmental management practices and environmental performance is curvilinear. Increases in environmental performance are observed as the number of environmental practices increases up to an inflection point. Past this inflection point, environmental performance diminishes with further increases in environmental practices. We also find that, across time, facilities with more comprehensive practices continue to see improvements in environmental performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments are increasingly concerned that current levels of water use are unsustainable, particularly in the face of threats posed by climate change. This paper examines recent research on water-using innovation in three key water-using sectors (residential, manufacturing, and agriculture) for evidence to support the call for greater reliance on economic instruments as part of the suite of policy measures to promote water innovation, conservation, and efficiency. The findings illustrate the need to understand water’s role in production (industrial, agricultural, and household) and the way changes in unit costs of other inputs (particularly energy and capital) influence innovation. In addition, the available research indicates that policies based on economic instruments should be tailored to the specific features and contexts of the different water-using sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the key issues regarding the Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) policies on increasing the economic well-being of Canadians that was presented through four papers. The first paper examines the impact of universities on the living standards in Canada. Labor and well-being are discussed in the second paper. The third paper tackles on the new social policy, based on the importance of human capital. The last paper focuses on adult benefits.

This paper examines the employment and recruitment of immigrant care workers in the older adult care sector in Canada, based on data from interviews with 77 workers and 24 employers in care settings, as well as from 149 online employer surveys conducted in 2007-08. We find that workers enter this sector largely through social networks. Although recruitment agencies do not play a critical role in the employment and recruitment of immigrant workers, regulation could prevent instances of abuse we found. Our findings also suggest that immigration admission policies could be better aligned with Canada's needs for older adult care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education policy should be informed by research that distinguishes school-based learning from learning that occurs during non-school time. American studies find that socio-economic disparities in learning tend to widen over the summer months, the longest continuous stretch of non-school time. This paper analyzes the first large-scale Canadian study of summer learning. We collected data on literacy growth for a non-random sample of 1,376 Ontario children in Grades 1-3 during the summers of 2010 and 2011. Summer learning was widely dispersed with a mean of zero, and equal proportions of children had substantial learning gains and losses. There were strong disparities by family socio-economic status (SES), as affluent children gained literacy while those from poorer families lost literacy. We attributed 25 percent of the gap between the top and bottom SES quartiles at the start of the school year to the previous summer. We discuss implications for Canadian education policy and future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the fiscal rules used by Canadian provincial governments during 1981–2007, by employing various empirical approaches including panel regressions, instrumental variables, and difference-in-difference estimators. The results suggest that the type of fiscal rule matters, as budget balance and debt rules were effective whereas revenue and spending rules were ineffective on average over this period. Specifically, the preferred point estimates imply that budget balance rules were associated with improved budgetary balances of 0.8 percentage points of GDP, while debt rules were associated with net debt-to-GDP ratios that were 1.5 percentage points better on average. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers whether Canadian immigrants are particularly vulnerable to mandatory retirement (MR) rules. Because of their relatively late entry into the Canadian labour market, many immigrants have less time to accumulate sufficient savings for retirement if forced to retire at a specific age. We utilize the General Social Survey (Cycle 21 2007) to examine the extent to which MR has been a binding constraint on the retirement decision of Canadians. We find a significant “MR effect,” especially for late-arriving immigrants, who are more likely to suffer financial hardship when they are forced to reitre. Accordingly, recent legislation restricting the practice of MR can be expected to result in important welfare gains for many older workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses data from the Canadian National Population Health Survey to compare the utilization of general practitioners by elderly immigrants to that of Canadian-born elderly people. The study employs count data regression methods to take into account that the number of visits to general practitioners is a non-negative integer variable. The study estimates models using the overall sample as well as subsamples of males and females separately. The results suggest that there is no significant difference between elderly immigrants and Canadian-born seniors in their utilization of general practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes publication activity and its Canadian content for a random sample of current academic faculty in Canadian economics departments using both descriptive evidence and time-dependent panel regression models. We find some support for Anthony Scott’s (1993) hypothesis that publications with Canadian content are delayed until later career stages, but we also find strong evidence of declining interest in Canadian content for newer faculty hired since 1990 and for faculty in Canada’s top-rated departments. Canadian academics have tended to publish in the Canadian Journal of Economics (CJE/RCE) early in their career and Canadian Public Policy/Analyse de politiques (CPP/Adp) in mid-career, but both these outlets feature fewer publications from faculty hired since 1990. Publication in the CJE/RCE persists for top departments into mid-career but is less common among those hired with a PhD from outside Canada, while publication in CPP/Adp is more likely among faculty in departments outside the top ten. The contracting supply of content for Canadian economics journals, particularly CPP/Adp, appears to be aggravated by the recent hiring and retention decisions of departments seeking to improve their ranking based on top journal publications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two decades have passed since the first wave of balanced budget legislation (BBL) in Canada. This passage of time and the recent economic downturn afford researchers the opportunity to evaluate the success of these regulations in encouraging fiscal responsibility. This paper provides both a quantitative analysis of the impact of BBL on expenditure growth and a qualitative assessment of BBL in Western Canada as these four western provinces confronted the Great Recession of 2008–09. On both accounts, our analysis suggests that BBL did not fare particularly well in terms of its original objectives. Our empirical analysis shows that BBL had no discernible effect in restraining expenditure growth relative to revenue growth in most provinces, leaving them in a vulnerable fiscal position to avert deficits during economic recession. We illustrate this vulnerability among Western Canadian governments when confronted with the Great Recession. In other words, BBL was neither strong enough to limit expenditure growth during the good times nor adequate to prevent governments from choosing to run deficits during the bad times. Our analysis suggests that, like any piece of legislation, BBL is only as effective as the political will and public support surrounding it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a decomposition of the changes in the Canada-US unemployment rate gap using measures of the flow rates into unemployment (the inflow hazard) and out of unemployment (the outflow hazard). The estimates indicate that most of the changes in the unemployment rate gap between 1981 and 2009 are due to changes in the outflow hazard (i.e., the duration of unemployment spells). The relative importance of the inflow and outflow hazard effects on the unemployment rate gap changes over time, but the outflow hazard tends to account for most of the changes in the unemployment rate gap since 1997. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]