Openness to Trade and the Spread of Industrialization: Evidence from Canada During the First Era of Globalization

Abstract

We use new data on manufacturing in Canada to quantify the impact of globalization on the growth and composition of industrialization in the second half of the nineteenth century. We find that industries and regions more exposed to international trade experienced faster growth. Consistent with the literature on economic development in Canada, we find that scale economies, government policy decisions, and domestic market expansion also played an important role in manufacturing growth. However, after controlling for these factors, we find that greater exposure to globalization shaped the pattern of regional industrialization in a way not appreciated in Canadian historiography.