RESEARCH PROPOSAL: Economic Integration and Cross-Border
Policy Convergence at the Subnational Level? Environmental
and Social Policy in the Canadian Provinces
and American States, 1980-2000
[Introduction/Brief Literature
Review] The degree to which globalization fosters
policy convergence has been a central focus in the comparative international
public policy literature. (See Skogstad, 2000 for an excellent
overview.) In Canada, increasing continental economic integration has made the
relationship between economic integration and policy convergence a central
focus for Canadian policy analysts. (See Watson, 1998; Banting, Hoberg and
Simeon, 1999; Hoberg, 2000;
Teeple, 2000; Skogstad, 2000.) While initial analyses tend to link economic
integration and policy convergence, the newly emergent conventional wisdom,
based on a substantial body of literature, is sceptical of the proposition that deepening
economic integration is generating policy convergence across western
industrialized countries. (For an overview, see Boychuk and Banting, 2001) Existing research examining social and
environmental policy in Canada and the United States tends to echo these findings. (Banting 1997a, 1997b; Banting, Hoberg and Simeon, 1997; Boychuk
1997, 2000; VanNijnatten, 1999.)
However, these studies generally have adopted a focus on national-level
programs.
[The Research
Question] This national-level focus raises the following
question: has policy convergence
resulting from deepening cross-border economic integration been emerging
earlier and more forcefully between American states and Canadian provinces than is
evident at the national level?
[The Hypothesis.]
There are
several reasons to suspect that cross-border
convergence will emerge earlier and more forcefully between provinces and their
neighbouring American states than at the national level. (Boychuk and Banting, 2001) Provinces control some of the most important policy levers for adjusting to
increasing economic integration and competitive pressures. Secondly, provinces have distinct economic
structures and trading patterns requiring unique policy adjustment. Provincial governments are arguably more
sensitive than the federal government to the competitive pressures generated by
cross-border economic integration and competition. Thus, according to Courchene, provinces will
increasingly tailor their public policies to the patterns prevailing in the U.S. states with which they are increasingly
integrating and/or competing. (Courchene and Telmer,
1998, 289-91)
[Statement of Significance] The findings will be of crucial interest both to policy-makers and the
Canadian public in general as Canadian debates have recently turned towards
considering the possibility of even deeper integration with the United States.
[Research Design]
Selected Policy Areas: In
our estimation, two strong areas for an examination of the convergent effects
of cross-border economic integration at the sub-national level are social and
environmental policy. Both ought to be particularly sensitive
indicators of Canada-US policy convergence since they are seen to be key
elements in determining competitive advantage. It is for these reasons that “[c]oncern about
harmonization in each of these areas was central to the debate” over the FTA in
1988 and NAFTA in the early 1990s. (Hoberg, Banting and Simeon, 1999: 2) Within
each broad policy field, we have specified three sub-sectors for particular
focus. Social policy: income maintenance
(including employment insurance, social assistance, and workers’ compensation);
post-secondary education; and health care.
Environmental policy: pollution control; waste
management [solid and hazardous]; natural resource management. The focus will be on degrees of policy
similarity and difference in matching province/state
pairs as well as patterns of convergence/divergence between them over time.
Time Period: Examining the policy
effects of deepening economic integration requires an examination over
time. Research will focus on the period
1980-2000. First, this is a manageable
period of time with five points being examined at five-year intervals (1980,
1985, 1990, 1995, 2000). Secondly, it allows for a reasonable period
both before and after the accelerated rate of economic integration occurring in
the wake of the FTA (1988) and NAFTA (1993).
[Data Review/Availability of Data] The quantitative
empirical foci for each of the policy sub-sectors are as follows:
·
Income Maintenance/Support: social assistance
expenditures; levels of benefit receipt (% of
pop); eligibility
requirements; social assistance benefit rates;
unemployment insurance expenditures; benefit to unemployment ratios; levels of
unemployment benefits; maximum and average duration of benefits. (Primary
sources: US House of Representatives Committee
on Ways and Means, National Council of Welfare, Human Resources Development
Canada)
·
Post-secondary Education: public vs. private
provision of higher education; sources of university
funding;
access to university education; structure of institutions of higher education
(colleges and universities). (Primary Sources: US National
Center for Education Statistics
on-line, Association for Universities and Colleges in Canada)
·
Health Care: total
public sector health care expenditures per capita;
public vs. private health care
expenditures as proportion
of total health care expenditures;
public/private hospital and physician care
coverage; control of hospitals
(profit, government, voluntary
not-for-profit) (Primary sources: Health
Canada; US Health Care Financing Administration, US Bureau of the Census, Statistics
Canada, OECD)
·
Pollution Control: per capita
expenditures (overall, air, water); number of personnel (overall, air,
water, enforcement);
enforcement activities; air and water standards;
emission reduction programs (Primary Sources: provincial government estimates,
Council of State Governments, US Bureau of the
Census, OECD, Statistics Canada, Commission
for Environmental Cooperation, environmental
agency business plans, Manufacturers of Emissions Controls Association, Environmental
Policy and Law; US EPA Webspirs data
center)
·
Waste Management: disposal policies (solid
waste/hazardous waste); reduction policies (recycling,
deposit, packaging); contaminated
site remediation (Primary Sources: State
Laws Recycling Update, Handbook of States
Environmental Programs, Environmental
Policy and Law, Container Recycling
Organization, Canadian Environmental
Directory, agency web sites, US EPA Webspirs data
center)
·
Natural Resource Management: environmental
assessment policies (mandatory vs. discretionary);
parks and protected areas
(acres protected, % of total surface area,
expenditures, regulations regarding use);
endangered species and wildlife protection; forestry practices (Primary
Sources: agency websites, Environmental
Policy and Law, National Association of State
Park Directors, Political Economy Research Center, US Census Bureau, State
Park Information Resources Center, Commission on Environmental
Cooperation.)
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