Resource Intensive Production And Aggregate Economic Performance

Ian Keay

No 1176, Working Paper from Economics Department, Queen's University

Abstract: The main objective of this paper is to determine whetherspecialization in resource intensive production had a positiveimpact on the performance of the aggregate Canadian economy over the1970-2005 period. Specialization is simply measured as theproportion of aggregate employment, the aggregate fixed capitalstock, and G.N.P. that may be attributed to Canada's energy,fishing, forestry, and mining industries. Direct contributions tointensive, or per capita performance are measured in terms of theresource industries' profitability, productivity, and capitalintensity. Indirect contributions to economic performance aremeasured in terms of spill overs, or linkages to other non-resourceintensive industries through raw material price advantages anddemand generation. The possibility that resource intensiveproduction may have been crowding out other sectors in the economythrough input price inflation or currency appreciation is alsoinvestigated. Based on the evidence, I argue that Canada's resourceindustries were making a substantial positive impact on aggregateeconomic performance after 1970, but this conclusion depends on theinclusion of the energy industries in resource sector.

Keywords: Resource Dependence; Spill Overs; Crowding Out; Resource Based Growth (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N52 O13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 36 pages
Date: 2008-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene and nep-env
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:qed:wpaper:1176

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