Economic growth,industrialization, and the environment

In this paper, I argue the compositional shift from agricultural to industrial production – industrialization – is a central determinant of changes in environmental quality as economies develop. I develop a simple two-sector model of neoclassical growth and the environment in a small open economy to examine how industrialization affects the environment. The model is estimated using sulfur emissions data for 157 countries over the period 1970–2000. The results show the process of industrialization is a significant determinant of observed changes in emissions: a 1% increase in industry's share of total output is associated with an 11.8% increase in the level of emissions per capita.     

Tariff Structure,Trade Expansion,and Canadian Protectionism, 1870–1910

Canada's trade policy at the end of the 19th century is commonly viewed as protectionist and extremely costly. In this paper, we employ the Anderson‐Neary Trade Restrictiveness Index to re‐examine this view. Based on product‐level customs data, we show that Canadian trade policy between 1870 and 1910 was more restrictive than previously understood, but created smaller welfare losses than previously believed. These results are primarily driven by high tariffs on inelastic, non‐competing import goods. Although Canada's tariff structure becomes more restrictive over the period, our findings indicate it was not as protectionist or as costly as once thought.