North American Economy Research Articles

How U.S. Trade Policy Has Changed Under President Donald Trump – Perceptions From Canada

The new “U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement” (USMCA) signed on 1 October 2018 sets out important markers concerning the future direction of Trump Administration trade policy. As consideration turns to the path to success in implementing this agreement, I will focus in my remarks today on what “success” might look like. In particular, I will discuss (1) the extent to which the USMCA can be seen as a model for a future trade regime; (2) the interaction between the USMCA model and the US Section 232 national security policy; and (3) the implications of the USMCA model for its allies in terms of the impact on the relationship going forward between the North American economies, the European Union and the global economy more generally.

A Study of the Effect of Central Bank Intervention on North American Debt Financial Markets


 This presentation, and corresponding research paper, serves to analyze the impact of Central Bank policy and operations on financial markets in the United States and Canada during the period of Summer 2008 to present day. Research is primarily focused on the effects of monetary stimulus and the setting of Central Bank policy rates and how these two tools impacted the market for fixed income financial instruments. The presentation analyzes the decisions made by borrowers of capital, primarily institutions and governments, given the unprecedented macroeconomic environment experienced during this period. To complement this research and provide a thorough analysis of the effects of Central Bank policy, the presentation analyzes other asset classes and provides insight into the impact of Canadian and U.S. Central Bank actions globally. In doing this, the presentation will provide a more complete picture of how Central Bank actions during this period impacted not only North American economies but also the effects experienced by investors across geopolitical and asset class divisions.

Mexican Labor at the Center of North American Economic Integration

Bean, Frank D., Rodolfo 0. de la Garza, Bryan R. Roberts, and Sidney Weintraub, eds. At the Crossroads: Mexico and U.S. Immigration Policy. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield, 1997. Tables, index, 322 pp.; hardcover $66, paperback $25.95. Cravey, Altha J. Women and Work in Mexico's Maquiladoras. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield, 1998. Maps, tables, index, 176 pp.; hardcover $52, paperback $19.95. De la Garza, Rodolfo 0., and Jesuis Velasco, eds. Bridging the Border: TransformingMexico-U.S. Relations. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield, 1997. Tables, index, 208 pp.; hardcover $68.50, paperback $26.95. Hart, John Mason, ed. Border Crossings: Mexican andMexican-American Workers. Wilmington: Scholarly Resources, 1998. Notes, index, 243 pp.; hardcover $55, paperback $18.95. Staudt, Kathleen. Free Trade? Informal Economies at the U.S.-Mexico Border. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1998. Photographs, maps, tables, index, 256 pp.; hardcover $59.95, paperback $19.95.

Determinants of under-Representation of Women on Boards of Directors: an Exploratory Study of African Public and Private Firms

The underlying causes for the low representation of women on board directorships has been the subject of considerable research when viewed in the context of North American, European and Asian economies and markets. In Africa, very few studies exist that examine this reality even if the socio-economic situation increasingly requires it. Indeed, women are a pillar of the social and economic life of African countries, as they constitute the equilibrium point of family stability and contributors to various essential economic activities alongside men in their community and country. This central role of African woman in all civic endeavours stands in stark contradiction to their general absence on the Board of Directors of most African companies. Although a recent ADB study indicates that the percentage of African women on boards is higher than on some other continents’ nonetheless, the fact remains that this low representation is astonishing. This research aims to understand the cause and effect relationship and to identify the determinants of this low representation of women as sitting board members. It is based on semi-structured interviews with women who are voting members on existing Boards of Directors of large firms in the public and private sectors. It shows that the low representation of women in boardrooms is explained more by socio-cultural factors rather than any organizational flaws or personal issues with these women.

Crisis en la política socio-comercial presidencialista norteamericana y sus efectos para la economía mexicana

Durante los últimos 10 años se ha observado un incremento de las contradicciones en la política económica comercial de la presencia de los Estados Unidos hacia México teniendo como resultado una inestabilidad en la relación comercial entre ambos países, hoy en día llama la atención las propuestas de los dos candidatos presidenciales a la Casa Blanca especialmente la política comercial y un escaso seguimiento por parte del Gobierno Federal Mexicano. El trabajo presentado pone énfasis en las propuestas comerciales de Donald Trump y en segunda instancia en los intereses ocultos de Hillary Clinton.
 El reto de análisis es mayor dadas las crisis recurrentes de la Economía Norteamericana en materia inmobiliaria y crisis financiera especialmente el incremento de su deuda interna y cartera vencida, así como el incremento de las remesas hacia nuestro país. Se pretende Identificar las contradicciones de la política económica-comercial presidencialista norteamericana y sus efectos para México en torno a la crisis económica y financiera de ambos países, objetivo concluido, bajo la línea de investigación Crisis económica y financiera Internacional, como resultado relevante la política socio-comercial de Estados Unidos ha agudizado las contradicciones de las crisis recurrentes en Estados Unidos y en los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, generando nuevos procesos de acumulación de capital, y como conclusión apremiante se presenta en que la política socioeconómica del gobierno norteamericano y sus presidenciales aumenta los factores de crisis económica y financiera.
 JEL A:13, D:60, F:18, N:35

Schumpeterian and semi‐endogenous productivity growth explanations

AbstractThis paper examines the nature and sources of productivity growth in South African manufacturing sectors, from an international comparative perspective. On panel data estimations, we find that the evidence tends to support Schumpeterian explanations of productivity growth for a panel of countries including both developed and developing countries, and a panel of South African manufacturing sectors. By contrast, semi‐endogenous productivity growth is supported for a panel of OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) manufacturing sectors. However, we also report evidence that suggests that sectors are not homogeneous. For this reason, time series evidence may be more reliable than panel data. Time series evidence for South Africa suggests that prospects for the sustained productivity growth associated with Schumpeterian innovation processes, is restricted to a narrow set of sectors. For the OECD manufacturing sectors, both semi‐endogenous and Schumpeterian growth finds support. Schumpeterian growth is present for a larger number of sectors than for South Africa, and is most prevalent in the North American economies.

Misfits, Mavericks and Mainstreams: Drivers of Innovation in the Creative Industries

Creative industries are among the fastest-growing and most important sectors of European and North American economies. Their growth depends on continuous innovation, which is important in many industries and also challenging to manage because of inherent tensions. Creative industries, similar to many industries, depend not only on novelty to attract consumers, but also on familiarity to aid comprehension and stabilize demand for cultural products. Agents in the creative industries play with these tensions, generating novelty that shifts industries’ labels and boundaries. This tension and agency makes them a valuable setting for advancing theoretical ideas on who drives innovation, from mavericks that challenge conventions to mainstreams that build upon them. We trace this history and then turn to the five papers in the special issue, which examine in depth how mavericks, misfits, mainstreams and amphibians in various creative domains, from artistic perfumery to choreography, engage with innovation and address tensions. These processes of innovation point to future research that explores and exploits the role of materiality in meaning making, the role of capitals in translation processes and the dynamics of value and evaluation.

Serial payers, serial losers? The political economy of Argentina’s public debt

A global neoliberal architecture has enabled many countries to increase their public debts to meet their fiscal needs. But since 2008 a number of European and North American economies have faced financial crises induced by unsustainable debts. This paper analyses the case of post-default Argentina since 2001, so as to better comprehend the political economy of public debt, especially in cases where governments are elected on anti-austerity platforms. Presidents Néstor and Cristina Kirchner were committed to a debt-reduction policy, yet Argentina faced a new, ‘selective’, default in 2014. This paper analyses how the country has been trapped in a cycle of debt dependency, which can only be interrupted by a comprehensive audit of the debt’s legitimacy followed by debt cancellation. Critical lessons are provided for other countries facing similar situations.

Thirty-Five Years of Peer-Reviewed Publishing by North American Economics PhDs: Quantity, Quality, and Beyond

We analyze and document various qualities of peer-reviewed journal publications listed in the EconLit database between 1980 and 2014. At least one author of the publication had to graduate from a North American economics PhD program between 1970 and 2009. We find that the share of single-author papers diminishes over time, and North American PhDs engage more in coauthored publications. While two-author papers are published on average more than three-author papers during 1980-1999, this switches after 2000. We also find that author teams containing at least one author who is a graduate of a top thirty department publish significantly more compared with other author teams. All-female and mixed-gender author teams publish significantly less compared with all-male author teams between 1980-1999, but we find no significant difference after 2000. The shares in the different fields in total publications show little variation in three decades. While male authors are over-represented in micro and macroeconomics, female authors are over-represented in labor and development economics. Some fields, such as microeconomics, econometrics, and experimental economics, are published in high quality journals, whereas macroeconomics, public economics, industrial organization, finance, health and urban economics, and development economics are published in journals that have lower quality weights than the average journal. Labor economics and economic history are published significantly better after 2000.

NAFTA at 20: Time to open the internal borders of North American to cabotage

The deeply integrated North American economy depends on efficient freight transport systems. This essay examines cabotage in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico from an economic and policy perspective. Cabotage is restricted by a web of regulations in North America that remain pervasive and continue to impose significant restraints on freight transportation. Liberalizing cabotage could improve efficiency/productivity, increase trade opportunities and regional economic integration. Open cabotage could also reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, reform is difficult because these regulations are linked to tax, immigration and other customs issues and because they protect the interests of domestic transport industries.The creation of a North American trading bloc is a work in progress. While various initiatives since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have failed to advance cabotage, the authors of this report remain optimistic that freer trade in transportation is inevitable.

Cameron H. Holmes: Organized crime in Mexico: assessing the threat to North American economies

Cameron H. Holmes: Organized crime in Mexico: assessing the threat to North American economies

Special Edition: Environment in Sustainable Development

When we were invited by the editors of Sustainability to put together a special edition on “Environment in Sustainable Development” our first reaction was to question whether this was really needed. After all, the environment has long been regarded as a central plank in sustainability and there are countless articles and books published on an annual basis that explore the impact of our economic and social activities on our environment. Just what is it that a special edition can achieve? What new angles could we hope to provide? Our initial thinking was to link the special edition to a particular, almost unique, location in time rather than space. We are in the process of recovering, albeit stuttering, from the deepest economic crash experienced by the European and North American economies. The crash has brought some national economies to their knees and, if economic commentators are to be believed, almost destroyed the Euro. Recovery from th at crash has been slow and it is arguable whether at the time of writing this has developed much momentum. There is still the skewed perception that prosperity equals economic growth and that economic growth can take place without real (sustainable) development or by simply implementing austerity measures and surely without people’s participation. An analogy from National Parks worldwide is when conservation agencies try to enforce protection without local people’s support. All such attempts have either failed or resurrected only once people’s involvement was secured and guaranteed. The unidirectional austerity measures imposed mainly in the countries of southern Europe have destroyed social cohesion leaving deeply w ounded societies, while at the same time have also put up for grabs important assets (including natural capital) in each of these countries and therefore in jeopardy even their long term recovery.

Reevaluating NAFTA: theory and practice

Nafta's Fifteen Year Itch North American Economic Integration in Theoretical Context: Neo-Functionalism or not Functional? Investment: Sticky Fingers? Nafta's Dispute Settlement Mechanism: Designs, 15-Year Performances, Comparisons Nafta & Intellectual Property Rights Increasing Nafta Trade Trends: Incidental or Institutional? Pooling Empirical Observations: Nafta an Integrative Camelot? Players Under the Microscope Conclusions/Implications

A Voice of the US Southwestern Border: The 2012 “We the Border: Envisioning a Narrative for Our Future” Conference

In July 2012, a diverse group of US residents living near the US-Mexico border met in El Paso, Texas for a conference entitled, We the Border: Envisioning a Narrative for Our Future. This paper describes their vision for the US-Mexico border that is at odds with the widespread view of the border as a threat to the United States. These border residents viewed their region as a set of human communities with rights, capacities, and valuable insights and knowledge. They embraced an alternative vision of border enforcement that would focus on “quality” (dangerous entrants and contraband) over “quantity” (mass migration enforcement). They called for investments in the functionality and security of ports of entry, rather than in between ports of entry. They noted the low crime rate in US border cities, and examined how policies of not mixing local law enforcement with federal immigration enforcement contributed to this achievement. They saw the border region as the key transportation and brokerage zone of the emerging, integrated North American economy. In their view, the bilingual, bicultural, and binational skills that characterize border residents form part of a wider border culture that embraces diversity and engenders creativity. Under this vision the border region is not an empty enforcement zone, but is part of the national community and its residents should enjoy the same constitutional and human rights as other US residents. The conference participants emphasized the necessity and value of accountability and oversight of central government enforcement operations, and the need for border communities to participate in federal decision-making that affects their lives.

Inégalités sociales de santé mentale en population au travail : résultats de l’enquête nationale « santé et itinéraire professionnel » (SIP)

This study extends upon previous research into the profile and direction of social and environmental accounting research, analysing and critiquing 21 years of contemporary research in social and environmental accounting published particularly in four leading interdisciplinary accounting research journals covering the period 1988–2002 inclusive. It reflects upon selected seminal papers on the field, and presents an empirical analysis of SEA publication that updates Parker's (2005) findings. The prospect of a sharing of the territory between critical and managerialist approaches is envisaged, along with the application of multiple theoretical lenses. Social and environmental research show signs of more recent balancing between these two subject areas, while recent shifts in methodological approaches are increasingly emphasising the employment of content analysis/statistical relationships research and case/field/action/ethnograpic research. National practices/comparisons and regulations are leading topic areas occupying researchers. External disclosure, attitudinal studies and theoretical framework papers also attracted significant attention. The paper also overviews emerging research in three non-Anglo-Saxon countries and identifies leading and emerging scholars in the field. The SEA field exhibits considerable momentum, but is found to be largely driven by research and publishing infrastructure outside North American economics focussed research communities.

Global and Regional Business Cycles - Shocks and Propagations

We study the synchronization of real and nominal variables across four different regions of the world, Asia, Europe, North and South America, covering 32 different countries. Employing a FAVAR framework, we distinguish between global and regional demand and supply shocks and document the relative contributions of these shocks to explaining macroeconomic fluctuations and synchronization. Our results support the decoupling hypothesis advanced in recent business cycle studies and yield new insights regarding the causes of business cycle synchronization. In particular, global supply shocks cause more severe activity fluctuations in European and North American economies than in Asian and South American economies, whereas global demand shocks shift activity in the different regions in opposite directions at longer horizons. Furthermore, demand shocks play a larger role than that found in related studies. Finally, only innovations to the Asian activity and price factors have significant spillover effects on shared global factors, demonstrating the growing importance of Asia in the global economy.

On the Boundary: Local Authorities, Intergovernmental Relations and the Governance of Border Infrastructure in the Detroit–Windsor Region

A growing and diverse academic literature exists on the functional, cultural and political linkages between border communities. These examinations of borderland communities seek to explain why and how linkages develop and assess the strength and implications of these relationships. In North America, Detroit–Windsor is the quintessential metropolitan border region along the Canada–US border. It is a community that shares many problems and policy concerns as well as strong functional linkages. One of these concerns is the reform of the Detroit River border crossing. This is the busiest land border crossing in North America and it is central to the regional economy as well as the wider North American economy. Over the past decade, the senior governments have debated reform of border infrastructure and the access routes to planned and existing crossings. One of the central considerations in this set of reforms has been the construction of a new crossing to reduce waiting times and increase infrastructural redundancy at this key choke point. Any new crossing will have a major impact on the local communities and various local actors on both sides of the border have sought to participate in the policy debate and influence the decision-making process. This article examines the extent to which local actors in Detroit and Windsor have interacted and sought to co-ordinate their policy positions and strategies within the border reform debate. The article focuses on the extent of the interaction among municipal governments and community groups in an effort to map and understand functional and political relationships between local actors in this dynamic border space.

Consumer Rationing and Cournot Outcomes: Experimental Evidence

[Author Affiliation]Jason J Lepore, * Department of Economics, Orfalea Business College, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407, USA; E-mail: jlepore@calpoly.edu .Aric P Shafran, [dagger] Department of Economics, Orfalea Business College, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407, USA; E-mail: ashafran@calpoly.edu ; corresponding author.[Acknowledgment]The authors acknowledge the Orfalea College of Business for financial support. We thank Blake Allison for assistance running the experiments and the anonymous reviewers and conference participants at the North American Economic Science Association Meetings for helpful comments.1. IntroductionThis article reports the results of duopoly market experiments where firms first commit to capacities and then compete in prices. The theoretical literature pertaining to these duopoly models suggests that the way residual demand is rationed is fundamental to the character of equilibrium outcomes. The goal of this study is to test the impact of residual demand rationing on the behavior of subjects in an experimental environment.In a two-stage game, where firms first commit to capacities and then compete in prices, Kreps and Scheinkman (1983; hereafter K&S) prove that the unique Nash equilibrium outcome coincides with the Cournot equilibrium outcome with efficient rationing of residual demand. Efficient rationing means that the higher-priced firm is left with the worst possible residual demand curve. If demand is composed of many similar consumers that each demand multiple units and we construct aggregate demand by way of a representative consumer, then efficient rationing is imposed by the model. On the other hand, if demand is instead composed of a mass of consumers with unit demand and varied willingness to pay, then the efficient rationing rule imposes the restriction that the highest-valued consumers buy from the firm with the lower price. Davidson and Deneckere (1986) make a compelling argument that proportional rationing is a more appropriate assumption in the latter case. Proportional rationing means that a uniform distribution of possible consumers buy from the firm with the lower price. Davidson and Deneckere show that under proportional rationing (as well as any rationing rule other than the efficient rule), the Cournot outcome is not necessarily the unique equilibrium of the two-stage game. The Davidson and Deneckere result is problematic for the K&S model because it deflates the generality of their theoretical result.1Lepore (2009) further clarifies the relationship between proportional rationing and the Cournot outcome. In the K&S game with proportional rationing, the Cournot outcome is the unique Nash equilibrium only when capacity cost is greater than a threshold level. The purpose of our experiments is to assess if the play of experimental subjects in the two-stage game is sensitive to the rationing scheme in the way that theory predicts. To do this, we construct an experimental design with four treatments. The treatments vary by two controls: the demand-rationing scheme and the cost of capacity. We conduct two efficient rationing treatments, one with a high capacity cost and one with a low cost. For both costs, theory predicts that the outcome coincide with the Cournot model. We also conduct two treatments using proportional rationing, one with each of the capacity costs used in the efficient rationing treatments. With a high cost, theory predicts the outcome should coincide with the Cournot model, as in the case of efficient rationing. However, theory predicts that the Cournot outcome should not occur when the cost of capacity is low, and prices should not clear the market.Recently several authors have used laboratory experiments as a means to empirically test the predictions of the K&S model. …

Transferring corporate knowledge via succession planning: analysis and solutions – Part 2

PurposeThe focus of the paper is a large, national, publicly traded company. As a large number of its workforce consists of “baby boomers”, 50 percent of its employees will be of retirement age within the next five years. Having acknowledged the company's concerns about efficiency of new employees and the loss of morale in senior employees, this two‐part article sets out to provide motivational tools for management and to suggest solutions to restructure and reorganize in a way to prevent the inevitable – i.e. the loss of corporate knowledge – via succession planning.Design/methodology/approachA survey and individual interviews were conducted within the company to measure current job satisfaction and company culture as well as how the different generations of employees view each other and themselves. Employees were also questioned about their legacy in the organization and their thoughts about transferring corporate knowledge from one generation to another. This is a two‐part article. Part 1 covers the background to the case under investigation, a review of relevant literature and the hypotheses to test the problem to be studied and solved. Part 2 describes the methodology and data related to demographics, the testing of the hypotheses and conclusions and recommendations.FindingsThe study found a correlation between job satisfaction and effective communication and a negative correlation between pre‐retirees and their lack of motivation as they approach retirement. Also, it was found that senior employees possess a willingness to share and transfer knowledge to younger generations.Research limitations/implicationsThe article relies on limited survey and interview data of one particular regional department within a large organization. Certain demographic questions were omitted to preserve confidentiality. The selected department and interview subjects were chosen by the organization and therefore the occurrence of sampling error is possible.Practical implicationsThis study monitored the impact that recent retirees will have on the remaining staff of a company. The act of effective succession planning is of paramount importance since the “baby boomer” generation is comprised of 76 million North Americans and the threat of the loss of corporate knowledge will inevitably increase as the population ages. The article offers recommendations as to how an organization can better manage the impact of a large number of retirees on the remaining workforce and what it can do to maximize efficiency.Originality/valueThe article offers practical solutions for dealing with the impact of retiring baby boomers and identifies models for a proactive approach in dealing with an issue that will affect the North American economy within the next five years.

Transferring corporate knowledge via succession planning: analysis and solutions – Part 1

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study and provide a large national publicly traded company with realistic solutions for succession planning. The name of the actual company where all data were collected has remained anonymous and been replaced with Millennium Dynamics, Inc. As a large number of their workforce consists of “Baby Boomers”, 50 percent of their employees will be of retirement age within the next five years. Having acknowledged the company's concerns about efficiency of new employees and the loss of morale in senior employees, this two‐part article sets out to provide motivational tools for management and suggest solutions to restructure and reorganize in a way to prevent the inevitable – loss of corporate knowledge via succession planning.Design/methodology/approachA survey and individual interviews were conducted within the company to measure current job satisfaction and company culture as well as how the different generations of employees view each other and themselves. Employees were also questioned about their legacy in the organization and their thoughts about transferring corporate knowledge from one generation to another. This is a two‐part article. Part 1 covers the background to the case under investigation, a review of relevant literature and the hypotheses to test the problem to be studied and solved. Part 2 will describe the methodology and data related to demographics, the testing of the hypotheses and conclusions and recommendations.FindingsThe study found a correlation between job satisfaction and effective communication and a negative correlation between pre‐retirees and their lack of motivation as they approach retirement. Also, it was found that senior employees possess a willingness to share and transfer knowledge to younger generations.Research limitations/implicationsThe article relies on limited survey and interview data of one particular regional department within a large organization. Certain demographic questions were omitted to preserve confidentiality. The selected department and interview subjects were chosen by the organization and therefore the occurrence of a sampling error is possible.Practical implicationsThis study monitored the impact that recent retirees will have on the remaining staff of a company. The act of effective succession planning is of paramount importance since the “Baby Boomer” generation is comprised of 76 million North Americans and the threat of the loss of corporate knowledge will inevitably increase as the population ages. This article offers recommendations as to how an organization can better manage the impact of a large number of retirees on the remaining workforce and what it can do to maximize efficiency.Originality/valueThe article offers practical solutions for dealing with the impact of retiring Baby Boomers and identifies models for a proactive approach in dealing with an issue that will affect the North American economy within the next five years.