Analysis

Description:

The Activities of Multinational Enterprises in Canada program describes the characteristics, activity, financial position and performance of multinational and non-multinational enterprises in Canada. This paper focuses specifically on the characteristics of employment at foreign and Canadian multinational enterprises operating in Canada, by province and industry. This study focuses specifically on the employment characteristics in Canada, by province and industry, of foreign MNEs, Canadian MNEs and non-MNE corporations.

Description:

Canada has a relatively large foreign-born population, and the country’s economic prosperity depends on international trade. This paper examines how these two characteristics are linked. Specifically, it investigates the effect of immigrant business ownership on international trade in Canada.

Understanding the impact of immigrants on international trade is particularly important for Canada, as it is a small open economy with a relatively large immigrant population. This paper empirically investigates the effect of immigrant business ownership on international trade in Canada using a newly developed firm-level database with detailed business ownership and trade information. The new data make it possible to better distinguish between the effect immigrants have on reducing information costs and on product demand, and to assess the impact of immigrant business ownership on the extensive and intensive margins of international trade.

Description: This paper investigates the productivity effects of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on Canadian manufacturing. It finds that Canadian tariff cuts increased exit rates among moderately productive non-exporting plants. This led to the reallocation of market share toward highly productive plants, which helps explain why aggregate productivity gains were observed when Canadian tariffs were reduced. The paper also finds that all of the within-plant productivity gains resulting from the U.S. tariff cuts involved exporters and, especially, new entrants into the export market. It demonstrates that any lack of output responses and labour-shedding as a consequence of the FTA were experienced by Canadian plants who were non-exporters, while exporters captured the gains from the FTA.

Description:

This paper uses firm-level data from the T2/LEAP to investigate whether the link between tariff changes and employment differed across firms with various productivity and leverage characteristics over the period 1988 to 1994. The results suggest that the combined effect of domestic and U.S. tariff reductions on employment was typically small, but that losses were significantly larger for firms which were less productive. For instance, firms with average productivity in 1988 responded to tariff changes by cutting employment by only 3.6% over the period 1988 to 1994, while lower productivity firms typically shed 15.1% of their workforce over the same period. This paper also indicates that firms which were more heavily in debt downsized more in response to declining domestic tariffs, suggesting that financial constrains became more binding when tariff cuts were implemented. These results suggest that firms with high productivity and low leverage were less likely than others to feel the impact of declining U.S. and domestic tariffs.

Description:

This article summarizes findings from the research paper entitled: Tariff Reduction and Employment in Canadian Manufacturing, 1988-1994. At the end of the 1980s, Canada and the United States reached an agreement to phase out import tariffs over a 10-year period beginning January 1st, 1989. This tariff reduction scheme was a major centre-piece of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The implementation of the FTA was followed by a recession, characterized by massive job cuts in manufacturing industries, which led to suggestions that employment losses were related to the reduction of trade barriers. Research on firm output and survival (Gu, Sawchuk and Whewell, 2003; Baggs, 2004) suggests the impact of tariff changes was different across industries and across firms within industries. Using firm-level data, this study investigates the impact of reduced Canadian and U.S. tariffs on Canadian manufacturing employment. The study also asks whether the impact was heterogeneous across firms with various productivity and leverage characteristics.

Description:

The North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) is being adopted by Statistics Canada to replace the 1980 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system used during the past two decades. The impetus behind NAICS was the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the resultant need for the three signatories (Canada, the United States and Mexico) to have a statistical framework enabling industrial statistics to be collected, analyzed and disseminated in a consistent manner by all three countries on an industry-by-industry basis.

Description:

With the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Canada forged a partnership with the United States and Mexico that would see it enter an era of trade liberalization hitherto unparalleled on the North American continent. In so doing, Canada became a key player and an integral part of the world's largest economic union.

Description:

The Activities of Multinational Enterprises in Canada program describes the characteristics, activity, financial position and performance of multinational and non-multinational enterprises in Canada. This paper focuses specifically on the characteristics of employment at foreign and Canadian multinational enterprises operating in Canada, by province and industry. This study focuses specifically on the employment characteristics in Canada, by province and industry, of foreign MNEs, Canadian MNEs and non-MNE corporations.

Description:

Canada has a relatively large foreign-born population, and the country’s economic prosperity depends on international trade. This paper examines how these two characteristics are linked. Specifically, it investigates the effect of immigrant business ownership on international trade in Canada.

Understanding the impact of immigrants on international trade is particularly important for Canada, as it is a small open economy with a relatively large immigrant population. This paper empirically investigates the effect of immigrant business ownership on international trade in Canada using a newly developed firm-level database with detailed business ownership and trade information. The new data make it possible to better distinguish between the effect immigrants have on reducing information costs and on product demand, and to assess the impact of immigrant business ownership on the extensive and intensive margins of international trade.

Description: This paper investigates the productivity effects of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on Canadian manufacturing. It finds that Canadian tariff cuts increased exit rates among moderately productive non-exporting plants. This led to the reallocation of market share toward highly productive plants, which helps explain why aggregate productivity gains were observed when Canadian tariffs were reduced. The paper also finds that all of the within-plant productivity gains resulting from the U.S. tariff cuts involved exporters and, especially, new entrants into the export market. It demonstrates that any lack of output responses and labour-shedding as a consequence of the FTA were experienced by Canadian plants who were non-exporters, while exporters captured the gains from the FTA.

Description:

This paper uses firm-level data from the T2/LEAP to investigate whether the link between tariff changes and employment differed across firms with various productivity and leverage characteristics over the period 1988 to 1994. The results suggest that the combined effect of domestic and U.S. tariff reductions on employment was typically small, but that losses were significantly larger for firms which were less productive. For instance, firms with average productivity in 1988 responded to tariff changes by cutting employment by only 3.6% over the period 1988 to 1994, while lower productivity firms typically shed 15.1% of their workforce over the same period. This paper also indicates that firms which were more heavily in debt downsized more in response to declining domestic tariffs, suggesting that financial constrains became more binding when tariff cuts were implemented. These results suggest that firms with high productivity and low leverage were less likely than others to feel the impact of declining U.S. and domestic tariffs.

Description:

This article summarizes findings from the research paper entitled: Tariff Reduction and Employment in Canadian Manufacturing, 1988-1994. At the end of the 1980s, Canada and the United States reached an agreement to phase out import tariffs over a 10-year period beginning January 1st, 1989. This tariff reduction scheme was a major centre-piece of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The implementation of the FTA was followed by a recession, characterized by massive job cuts in manufacturing industries, which led to suggestions that employment losses were related to the reduction of trade barriers. Research on firm output and survival (Gu, Sawchuk and Whewell, 2003; Baggs, 2004) suggests the impact of tariff changes was different across industries and across firms within industries. Using firm-level data, this study investigates the impact of reduced Canadian and U.S. tariffs on Canadian manufacturing employment. The study also asks whether the impact was heterogeneous across firms with various productivity and leverage characteristics.

Description:

The North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) is being adopted by Statistics Canada to replace the 1980 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system used during the past two decades. The impetus behind NAICS was the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the resultant need for the three signatories (Canada, the United States and Mexico) to have a statistical framework enabling industrial statistics to be collected, analyzed and disseminated in a consistent manner by all three countries on an industry-by-industry basis.

Description:

With the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Canada forged a partnership with the United States and Mexico that would see it enter an era of trade liberalization hitherto unparalleled on the North American continent. In so doing, Canada became a key player and an integral part of the world's largest economic union.