Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T18:39:00.319Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Impact of High Tariffs and Imperfect Market Structure on Plant Scale Inefficiency in Canadian Manufacturing Industries in the 1970’s *

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 August 2016

Get access

Extract

INTRODUCTION

Productivity differences between the Canadian and U.S. manufacturing sectors are commonly attributed to smaller Canadian plant scale and levels of product diversity that are too large. However, there are relatively few studies that have actually investigated the extent of suboptimal scale. And those that have done so have either concentrated on a relatively small number of industries (Eastman and Stykolt, 1967; Gorecki, 1976; Scherer et al., 1975), have been beset by missing data observations (Caves et al., 1980) or have focused on Canada without comparing it to some international standard (Gupta, 1979; Dickson, 1979).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de recherches économiques et sociales 1987 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

(**)

Respectively, Queen’s University and Economic Council of Canada.

(*)

This paper was based on research originally done for the Economic Council of Canada some of which was included in work prepared for the research program of the Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada. The views in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Economic Council of Canada. Elaboration on many of the points raised herein may be found in an earlier discussion paper (Baldwin and Gorecki, 1983b).

References

REFERENCES

Baldwin, J.R., Gorecki, P.K., Mcvey, J. and Crysdale, J. (1983a), Entry and Exit to the Canadian Manufacturing Sector: 1970–1979, Discussion Paper 225, Ottawa, Economic Council of Canada.Google Scholar
Baldwin, J.R., Gorecki, P.K., Mcvey, J. and Crysdale, J. (1983b), Trade, Tariffs and Relative Plant Scale in Canadian Manufacturing Industries: 1970–1979, Discussion Paper 232, Ottawa, Economic Council of Canada.Google Scholar
Baldwin, J.R. and Gorecki, P.K. (1985), The Determinants of the Canadian Tariff Structure Before and After the Kennedy Round, Discussion Paper 280, Ottawa, Economic Council of Canada.Google Scholar
Bloch, H. (1974), Prices, Costs and Profits in Canadian Manufacturing: The Influence of Tariffs and Concentration, Canadian Journal of Economics, 7, pp. 594610.Google Scholar
Bresnahan, T.F. (1981), Review of Competition in the Open Economy by Caves, R.E. et al., Journal of Economic Literature, 19, pp. 11161117.Google Scholar
CANADA. Department of Industry Trade and Commerce, Productivity Analysis Branch (1975), Comparative Tables of Principal Statistics and Ratios for Selected Manufacturing Industries Canada and the United States 1972, 1967 and 1963, Ottawa, Department of Industry, Trade and Commerce.Google Scholar
CANADA. Royal Commission on Corporate Concentration (1978), Report, Ottawa, Supply and Services Canada.Google Scholar
CANADA. Statistics Canada (1979), Concepts and Definitions of the Census of Manufactures, Catalogue 31–528, Ottawa, Supply and Services Canada.Google Scholar
Caves, R.E., Khalilzadeh-Shirazi, J. and Porter, M.E. (1975), Scale Economies in Statistical Analysis of Market Power, Review of Economics and Statistics, 62, pp. 133140.Google Scholar
Caves, R.E. and Porter, M. (1977), From Entry Barriers to Mobility Barriers: Conjectural Decisions and Contrived Deterrence to New Competition, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 91, pp. 241261.Google Scholar
Caves, R.E., Porter, M.E., Spence, A.M. and Scott, J.T. (1980), Competition in the Open Economy : A Model Applied to Canada, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Caves, R.E. and Pugel, T. (1980), Intraindustry Differences in Conduct and Performance: Viable Strategies in U.S. Manufacturing Industries, Monograph No. 1980–2, New York, New York University, Graduate School of Business Administration.Google Scholar
Caves, R.E. (ed.) (1980), Symposium on International Trade and Industrial Organization, The Journal of Industrial Economics, 29, pp. 113220.Google Scholar
Daly, D., Keys, B. and Spence, E. (1968), Scale and Specialization in Canadian Manufacturing, Economic Council of Canada Staff Study No. 21, Ottawa Queen’s Printer.Google Scholar
Dickson, V.A. (1979), Suboptimal Capacity and Market Structures in Canadian Industry, Southern Economic Journal, 46, pp. 206217.Google Scholar
Eastman, H.C. and Stykolt, S. (1967), The Tariff and Competition in Canada, Toronto, Macmillan.Google Scholar
ECONOMIC COUNCIL OF CANADA (1967), Fourth Annual Review: The Canadian Economy From the 1960’s to the 1970’s, Ottawa, Queen’s Printer.Google Scholar
ECONOMIC COUNCIL OF CANADA (1983), The Bottom Line, Technology, Trade and Income Growth, Ottawa, Supply and Services Canada.Google Scholar
English, H.E. (1964), Industrial Structure in Canada’s International Competitive Position, Montreal, Canadian Trade Committee.Google Scholar
Geroski, P.A. and Jacquemin, A. (1981), Imports as a Competitive Discipline, Recherches Economiques de Louvain, 47, pp. 197242.Google Scholar
Gorecki, P.K. (1976), Economies of Scale and Efficient Plant Size in Canadian Manufacturing Industries, Ottawa, Bureau of Competition Policy, Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs.Google Scholar
Gorecki, P.K. (1979), The Administration and Enforcement of Competition Policy in Canada; 1960–1975: An Application of Performance Measurement, Ottawa, Supply and Services Canada.Google Scholar
Gupta, V.K. (1979), Suboptimal Capacity and its Determinants in Canadian Manufacturing Industries, Review of Economics and Statistics, 61, pp. 506512.Google Scholar
Ijiri, Y. and Simon, H.A. (1964), Business Firm Growth and Size, American Economic Review, 54, pp. 7789.Google Scholar
Masson, R.T. and Shaanan, J. (1982), Stochastic-Dynamic Limit Pricing: An Empirical Test, Review of Economics and Statistics, 64, pp. 413422.Google Scholar
Muller, R.A. (1980), An Inappropriate Comparison of International Firm Sizes Used by the Royal Commission on Corporate Concentration, Canadian Public Policy, 5, pp. 564566.Google Scholar
Muller, R.A. (1982), The Eastman-Stykolt Hypothesis Reconsidered, Canadian Journal of Economics, 15, pp. 757765.Google Scholar
Newman, H.H. (1978), Strategic Groups and the Structure-Performance Relationships, Review of Economics and Statistics, 60, pp. 417427.Google Scholar
Porter, M.E. (1979), The Structure within Industries and Companies Performance, Review of Economics and Statistics, 61, pp. 214227.Google Scholar
Rosenbluth, G. (1957), Concentration in Canadian Manufacturing Industries, NBER General Series No. 61, Princeton, N.J., Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Saunders, R. (1980), The Determinants of Productivity in Canadian Manufacturing Industries, Journal of Industrial Economics, 29, pp. 167184.Google Scholar
Scherer, F.M., Beckenstein, A., Kaufer, E., Murphy, R.D. and Bougeon-Maassen, F. (1975), The Economics of Multi-Plant Operation: An International Comparisons Study, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Simon, H.A. and Bonini, C.P. (1958), The Size Distribution of Business Firms, American Economic Review, 48, pp. 607614.Google Scholar
Spence, A.M. (1977), Efficiency, Scale and Trade in Canadian and United States Manufacturing Industries, in Caves, R.E. Porter, M.E. Spence, A.M. Scott, J.T. and Lemelin, A. (1977), Studies in Canadian Industrial Organization, Study No. 28 for the Royal Commission on Corporate Concentration, Ottawa, Supply and Services Canada.Google Scholar
Weiss, L.W. (1976), Optimal Plant Size and the Extent of Suboptimal Capacity, in Masson, R.T. and Quails, P.D. (eds.), (1976), Essays on Industrial Organization in Honor of Joe S. Bain, Cambridge, Mass., Ballinger, pp. 123141.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, B.W. and Norrie, K. (1975), Effective Protection and Return to Capital, Economic Council of Canada Research Study, Ottawa, Information Canada.Google Scholar
Wonnacott, P.J. and Wonnacott, R.J. (1982), Free Trade Between the United States and Canada: Fifteen Years Later, Canadian Public Policy, 8, pp. 412427.Google Scholar