Longstanding federations [such as] the United States are ...
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.)
LIST OF CITATIONS
Banting, Keith G. (1987) The Welfare State and Canadian Federalism, 2nd ed. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
Banting, Keith, (1997a) “The Social Policy Divide: The Welfare State in Canada and the United States,” in Keith Banting, George Hoberg and Richard Simeon, editors, Degrees of Freedom: Canada and the United States in a Changing World. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
Banting, Keith. (1997b) “The Internationalization of the Social Contract,” in Thomas Courchene, editor, The Nation State in a Global/Information Era. Kingston: John Deutsch Institute for the Study of Economic Policy, Queen’s University.
Banting, Keith. (1997c) “The Past Speaks to the Future: Lessons from the Postwar Social Union,” 39-69 in Harvey Lazar, ed., Canada: The State of the Federation, 1997 – Non-Constitutional Renewal. Kingston: Institute of Intergovernmental Relations, 1998.
Barker, Paul. (1998) “Disentangling the Federation: Social Policy and Fiscal Federalism,” 144-56 in Martin Westmacott and Hugh Mellon, ed., Challenges to Canadian Federalism. Scarborough: Prentice-Hall.
Bennett, Colin J. (1991) “What is Policy Convergence and What Causes It?” British Journal of Political Science 21, 215-33.
Boychuk, Gerard. (1999a) “Resemblance and Relief: National Clustering and Social Assistance Provision in the United States and Canadian Provinces.” American Review of Canadian Studies (Summer 1999): 259-85.
Boychuk, Gerard. (1999b) “Flux and Fixity, Flows and Closure: Conventional Wisdoms on Globalization, Economic Integration and Policy Autonomy.” Paper prepared under contract for HRDC. Ottawa, November 1999.
Boychuk, Gerard. (1999c) “Comparing Social Policies in Canada and the United States: Program Design and Inputs.” Paper prepared under contract for HRDC. Ottawa, November 1999.
Boychuk, Gerard W. and Keith G. Banting. (2001) "Converging and Diverging Paradoxes: National and Sub-National Variation in Income Maintenance Programs in Canada and the United States." Paper presented to North American Linkages: Opportunities and Challenges for Canada (sponsored by Industry Canada), Calgary, June 2001.
Boychuk, Gerard and Keith G. Banting. (forthcoming) "Converging and Diverging Paradoxes: National and Sub-National Variation in Income Maintenance Programs in Canada and the United States." In Richard G. Harris, ed., North American Linkages: Opportunities and Challenges for Canada. Forthcoming.
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Courchene, Thomas J and Colin R. Telmer. (1998) From Heartland to North American Region State: The Social, Fiscal and Federal Evolution of Ontario. Toronto: University of Toronto Centre for Public Management.
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Gibbins, Roger. (1996) “Decentralization and National Standards: “This Dog Won’t Hunt.” Policy Options 17, 5 (June 1996): 7-10.
Graves, Frank. (2001) “Indentity, Globalization and North American Integration: Canada at the Crossroads.” Speaking notes for presentation to Canadian Club, January 2001. [\admin\articles\cdnclub.pdf]
Harrison, Kathryn. (1996) “The Regulators’ Dilemma: Regulation of Pulp Mill Effluents in the Canadian Federal State.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 29, 3 (Fall 1996): 469-96.
Hoberg, George. (2000) “Canada and North American Integration,” Canadian Public Policy-Analyse de politiques 27 (August 2000): S35-S50.
Howlett, Michael. (2000) “Beyond Legalism? Policy Ideas, Implementation Styles, and EMulation-Based Convergence in Canadian and US Environmental Policy,” Journal of Public Policy 20, 3: 305-29.
Keating, Michael. (1999) “Challenges to Federalism: Territory, Function, and Power in a Globalizing World,” 8-28 in Robert Young, ed., Stretching the Federation: The Art of the State in Canada. Kingston: Institute of Intergovernmental Relations.
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Levinson, Arik. (2000) “The Missing Pollution Haven Effect: Examining Some Common Explanations.” Environmental and Resource Economics 15, 4 (2000): 343-64.
Maioni, Antonio. (1999) “Decentralization in Health Policy: Comments on the ACCESS Proposals,” 97-121 in Robert Young, ed., Stretching the Federation: The Art of the State in Canada. Kingston: Institute of Intergovernmental Relations.
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Noël, Alain. (1999) “Is Decentralization Conservative? Federalism and the Contemporary Debate on the Canadian Welfare State,” 195-219 in Robert Young, ed., Stretching the Federation: The Art of the State in Canada. Kingston: Institute of Intergovernmental Relations.
Peterson, Paul E. and Mark C. Rom. (1990) Welfare Magnets: A New Case for a National Standard. Washington: The Brookings Institution.
Pierson, Paul. (1995) “Fragmented Welfare States: Federal Institutions and the Development of Social Policy,” Governance 8, 4 (1995): 449-78.
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Ringquist, Evan J. (1993) Environmental Protection at the State Level: Policies and Progress in Controlling Pollution. Armonk, NY: ME Sharpe.
Rocher, Francois. (2000) “Dividing the Spoils: American and Canadian Federalism,” 262-83 in David M. Thomas, ed., Canada and the United States: Differences that Count 2nd ed. Peterborough: Broadview, 2000.
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VanNijnatten, Debora. (2000) “Intergovernmental Institutions and Environmental Policy-Making: A Cross-National Perspective,” 23-48 in K. Harrison and P. Fafard, eds., The Environmental Union. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
VanNijnatten, Debora. (2001a) “Environmental Protection in Canadian Provinces and American States: Variations and Interactions at the Subnational Level” Presented to the Canadian Political Science Association Annual General Meeting, Quebec City.
VanNijnatten, Debora. (2001a) “Negotiating the Canada-United States Ozone Annex: A Case Study in Transboundary Environmental Relations” Global Affairs Institute Transboundary Case Program, Maxwell School for Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University.
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