A MICROCONSISTENT DATA SET FOR CANADA FOR USE IN REGIONAL GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM POLICY ANALYSIS1

This paper describes the sources and methods used in assembling a microconsistent regional data set for Canada for 1981 for use in counterfactual general equilibrium policy analyses focussing on regional impacts of government policies. A microconsistent data set at the regional level requires assembling detailed consistent accounts of production and demand by region, of interregional and international trade flows, and of transactions involving multiple levels of government. For many or most countries, the data requirements associated with regional general equilibrium analysis preclude this form of work. But because of the substantial progress made in recent years in developing provincial data sources in Canada, such as the provincial input-output tables and the provincial economic accounts, the situation in Canada is different. Using these data, it is possible to construct an interregional microconsistent benchmark data set at a suitable level of commodity detail for subsequent model use. This data set has already been used in an initial evaluation of a number of Canadian regional issues (see Trela and Whalley (1985)). The methodology used follows that presented in an earlier paper of ours (St-Hilaire and Whalley (1983)) which described the construction of a 1972 national data set for Canada developed for tax policy analysis.     

Buchbesprechungen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Mapping worldwide mobile networks: Some problems and indicative solutions

Mobile telecommunications is a global and complex industry containing many actors. However, relatively little research has been undertaken into explaining its structure. With this in mind, the objective of this paper is twofold: first, to map the structure of the mobile telecommunications industry and, second, to use this mapping exercise to highlight the data collection issues that are frequently encountered. Through outlining one particular approach to data collection, the paper argues that researchers need to be careful when constructing datasets and wary when relying on those provided by others. By mapping the structure of the mobile industry, the paper highlights a series of key issues in data collection and trends in operator and market structure.     

Coalitions in the Uruguay round

Zusammenfassung Koalitionen in der Uruguay-Runde. - Die Verfasser beschreiben die Koalitionen von Entwicklungsl?ndern w?hrend der laufenden Uruguay-Runde des GATT und bewerten die verschiedenen Optionen für diese L?nder. Sie berichten, da\ die Koalitionen von Entwicklungsl?ndern bisher gemeinsame Vorschl?ge gemacht, aber keinen Austausch von Konzessionen ausgehandelt haben. Koalitionen zwischen einer gr?\eren Gruppe mittelgro\er Industriel?nder und einer kleineren Gruppe von Entwicklungsl?ndern sind für die bisher in der Runde erzielten Fortschritte entscheidend gewesen.

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Resumen Coaliciones en la Ronda de Uruguay. - Los autores describen las coaliciones de países en desarrollo en la actual ronda de negociaciones del GATT, la Ronda de Uruguay, y evalüan las diferentes opciones para esos países. Observan que si bien las coaliciones de países en desarrollo hasta ahora han formulado propuestas comunes, no han negociado un intercambio de concesiones. Las coaliciones entre un grupo mayor de países desarrollados medianos y uno más peque?o de países en desarrollo han sido cruciales para el progreso logrado hasta la fecha en la ronda.

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Résumé Les coalitions du ?Uruguay Round?. - Les auteurs décrivent les coalitions des pays en voie de développement (PVD) pendant le courant ?GATT-Uruguay-Round? et évaluent les options différentes pour ces pays. Ils rapportent que les coalitions des PVD ont déjà fait des propositions communes, mais ils n’ont pas encore négocié les échanges de concessions. Des coalitions entre un groupe assez grand constitué des pays développés de moyenne grandeur et un groupe pas si grand constitué des PVD ont été très importantes pour le progrès qu’on a atteint jusqu’à présent dans le ?Uruguay Round?.

     

Tax Incidence Analysis of Developing Countries: An Alternative View

Misleading conclusions can be drawn from studies of tax incidencethat ignore the special features of developing countries. Incorporatingthese features can sometimes reverse the incidence pattern oftaxes relative to what is often taken to be conventional wisdom.Even where patterns are not reversed, quantitative differencescan be substantial. The "newer" views of incidence have implicationsfor tax restructuring options being considered in several developingcountries. The proposed restructuring may appear to lead onlyto a more regressive tax system because of improper incidenceanalysis.     

Efficiency and distributional implications of global restrictions on labour mobility: calculations and policy implications

This paper sets forth a procedure for calculating the annual efficiency gains from alternative changes in existing international immigration restrictions and evaluates the impact of wage rate changes on nonmigrating labor. Data on US gross national product (GNP)/capita across countries are used to infer differences in the marginal productivity both between countries and across major world trading areas. The method assumes that the worldwide labor supply is fixed, that full employment occurs in all regions, and that differences in labor's marginal product across regions arise because of barriers to inward mobility of labor in high-wage countries. When these barriers are removed, labor is assumed to be reallocated and efficiency gains occur. Results of the calculations suggest large gains from the removal of global immigration controls which, in most cases, exceed existing worldwide GNP generated in the presence of labor mobility restrictions. A large portion of the gain is accounted for by labor migration between the aggregated rich and poor countries. Over 40% of the total potential gain is realized when only 10% of the wage differential is eliminated, suggesting that small changes in global migration restrictions have large marginal effects. Wage rates increase in labor-losing regions and decline in labor-receiving regions, dramatizing the incentives for labor unions in high-wage countries to oppose liberalization of immigration restrictions. These results suggest large potential worldwide efficiency gains from a move toward an international labor market free of immigration controls. This issue may be far more important to the North-South debate than a focus on initiatives such as commodity price stabilization, relaxation of trade protection, or increased aid flows.