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Working or discussion papers circulated publicly or among a group of peers. Certain disciplines, for example, economics, issue working papers in series. (URI: http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_8042)
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Item A Measure of Interregional RedistributionRuggeri, G. C.; Yu, WeiqiuThis paper develops a disaggregated index of interregional distribution generated by federal fiscal activity based on a comparison between relative federal revenues and expenditures assigned to various regions and the pattern of income disparities among regions. To explore the properties of this index, we present three special cases under known degrees of distribution and calculate the indices using the Canadian data for 1996. The local indices are then aggregated to derive a global index qf interregional redistribution. Our results show that the federal fiscal system in 1996 delivered a degree of interregional redistribution 1.8 times what would have been generated under equal per capital expenditures by region and nearly half of the redistribution that equalizes the per capita income via federal expenditures.Item A National Formulary for CanadaHollis, Aidan; Law, Stephen, M.This article analyzes the benefits and costs of replacing Canada's ten different provincial formularies with one single national formulary. The 2002 Romanow Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada recommended that Canada should have a National Drug Agency which would maintain a national formulary, replacing the existing provincial formularies which balkanize drug markets across Canada. This recommendation has been in part incorporated into the "Common Drug Review" in which the provinces (excluding Québec) have agreed to undertake a single evaluation of all new drugs; provinces, however, retain their own formularies and decide which products to list. This balkanized approach to listing and insurance coverage of drugs substantially weakens the bargaining position of the provinces and leads to higher costs.Item Canadian Newsprint in the United States: A Multivariate Conintegration AnalysisJee, Keewan; Yu, WeiqiuIn this paper, Johansen multivariate cointegration tests are adopted to investigate the U.S. demand for Canadian newsprint using monthly data from May 1988 to December 1996 Preliminary data analysis shows that all data are non-stationary which implies that previous results based on simple ordinary least squares are spurious. Johansen multivariate cointegration techniques allow for identifying a long-run relationship as well as a short-run relationship via an error correction model. Among the determinants are the export price of Canadian newsprint to the US., the exchange rate between the two countries, US. personal disposable income, and US. newsprint price.Item Capital Income Taxation, Labour Supply and Work EffortRuggeri, G. C.; Yu, WeiqiuAlthough it is well-known that, in life cycle models of consumption and labour supply, capital income taxation affects the labour supply through the normal income effect, this interaction between capital income taxation and labour market behaviour is usually confined to the voluntary savings of consumers who wish to smooth the pattern of consumption through their lifetime. We show in this paper that the interaction maybe widespread. Three channels through which capital income taxation may affect labour market behaviour are identified: first, capital income taxes may alter the lifetime labour supply when workers are constrained on hours of work; second, they may affect labour supply in the case where consumers target a certain level of lifetime consumption; finally, they may influence work effort in an efficiency wage model.Item Education Policies and Economic GrowthBenos, NikosThis paper studies the general equilibrium implications of various types of education policy. In particular, we examine individual-specific vouchers (ISV), individual-specific transfers (1ST) and public investment on economy-wide human capital (GH). Individual-specific vouchers augment inherited private education spending, while individual-specific transfers are standard cash transfers, which increase private income. Public investment on economy-wide human capital provides economy-wide externalities to individual human capital accumulation. The context is an overlapping generations growth model with second-best policy. In particular, the government chooses its tax policy and the allocation of tax revenues among the three types of education policy, subject to the competitive decentralized equilibrium. Numerical simulations show that it is socially optimal to provide a large voucher on inherited individual education expenditures and spend heavily on economy-wide human capital accumulation. In addition, it is optimal to finance government spending by a low proportional tax on initial human capital and a high lump-sum tax.Item Equity Aspects of Tax PreferencesFougère, Maxime; Ruggeri, Giuseppe; Vincent, CaroleItem Federal Fiscal Balances and Redistribution in Canada, 1992-96Ruggeri, G. C.; Yu, WeiqiuThis article identifies the major methodological issues involved in the calculation of federal fiscal balances by province. Using data from the Provincial Economic Accounts (PEA) and National Income Accounts, we calculate four sets of balances for the period 1992-1996, namely basic balances, primary balances, balanced budget balances with tax increases and balanced budget balances with spending cuts, under different assumptions. For comparison purposes, we also include federal fiscal balances contained in the PEA based on the cash-flow approach. The results show that federal fiscal balances by province vary significantly from one method to another. In particular, the basic balances calculated using our approach yield substantially lower gains to the net beneficiary provinces and lower costs to the net contributor provinces than balances based on the cash-flow approach. Eliminating the interest on the public debt or the federal deficit increases the contributions by the "better off" provinces and reduces the gains to the net beneficiary provinces. We also calculate some indices of redistribution among provinces generated by the federal fisc and find that the degree of redistribution was modest under all methods of calculations.Item Federal Fiscal Policy & Interregional RedistributionRuggeri, Joe; Watson, BarryItem Fiscal Illusion and the Perceived Price of Provincial Government Output in CanadaDickson, Vaughan; Yu, WeiqiuThis paper examines if how governments finance themselves can influence the perceived price of and hence demand for government output. Using a standard model for government output and a panel data set often Canadian provinces for the period 1961 to 1992, we find that tax revenues are perceived more acutely than other major revenues (borrowing, federal transfers, investment income) and some taxes are recognized more than others. We also find learning by taxpayers (declining fiscal illusion) during the period and that lower increases in perceived tax prices lead to more seats for incumbent politicians.Item Is the Low Savings Rate of Households Indicative of Households in Crisis?Myatt, Anthony; Murrell, DavidAnalysts have pointed towards increasing household debt, increasing personal bankruptcies, and a declining household savings rate as indicators of a financial crisis in Canadian households. Our conclusion is that, at this point in time, none of these constitute clear evidence of a problem. In particular household debt is more than offset by increases in household financial assets, and the low savings rate is driven both by short run dynamics and increasing real net worth of households. The high level of bankruptcies could be driven by a liberalisation of bankruptcy laws (1992). We note, however, that real PDI per capita has declined since 1989. This may be producing signs of crisis elsewhere - perhaps in increased poverty rates, or increased inequality amongst households.Item Measures of Obesity for Canada and New BrunswickEdwards, Mike; Ruggeri, Joe; Yu, WeiqiuItem Modelling That Problem Set Which is Team ProductionLevine, A. L.Item Net Benefits for Governments, Students and the Public from Spending on Universities in New BrunswickDickson, Vaughan; Milne, Bill; Murrell, DavidThis paper measures the benefits and costs from spending on New Brunswick universities for four constituencies: the provincial government, the federal and provincial governments together, students and society taken as a whole. These results are used to provide insights into how university costs should be shared between levels of government and between government and students. Among the results is that, even before allowance is made for net outmigration of university graduates, the rate of return is higher for both levels of government taken together than for the provincial government alone. Another result is that the private student rate of return exceeds the social rate. However this difference largely disappears when spending is restricted to the teaching function of the university.Item Item Recent Issues in Equalization Payments as They Pertain to Atlantic CanadaMurrell, DavidOver the past three years a number of issues have cropped up, concerning equalization payments as they pertain to Atlantic Canada. This paper discusses the policy issues using confidential documents from the Department of Finance Canada under the federal Access-to-Information Act. These issues include: Premier John Hamm's Campaign for Fairness and the treatment of off-shore royalties, the imposition of the equalization ceiling in 2000-01, sources of revisions to equalization payments, forecasts of equalization transfers to 2005-06, and the implications of the recent downward revisions in population, in the 2001 Census, on future payments.Item Regional Dimensions of Federal Income Tax CutsFougère, Maxime; Ruggeri, G. C.Item Self-perceived mental health and its gendered and immigration associations(2018) Aspinall, Mary; Gupta, NeeruBackground: Many research designs have analyzed various socioeconomic factors that influence a person’s physical health, such as diabetes. Whether or not these same factors are associated with a person’s mental health have received less attention. Some studies indicate that gender disparities and the migration process may be associated with differential mental health outcomes. Objective: This research examines the relationship between gender, immigrant status, and self-perceived mental health (SPMH) in the Canadian population aged 18 and over. Method: The analysis draws on the latest available Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) public use microdata file, which captured information from a nationally representative sample of 58,574 adults. Multivariate logistic regression was used to explore interactions of gender and immigrant status on SPMH, controlling for a range of socioeconomic variables including education and income. Survey weights were applied to allow for generalization of the results to the Canadian population. Results: The relationships between gender, immigrant status, and SPMH were significant, with females more likely to report good SPMH than men (odds ratio=1.16, p<0.05), and immigrants more likely to report good SPMH than non-immigrants (odds ratio=1.05). Discussion: Results indicate that the “healthy immigrant effect” often reported for diabetes and other physical health measures may also be protective for mental health. Women are more likely to rate their mental health as good. However, our examination did not account for clinical diagnosis of mental illness. More research is needed to inform evidence-based policy and practice guidelines in addressing potential gendered and immigration differences in both measured and perceived mental health.