IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cpp/issued/v24y1998i1p71-89.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is There Convergence in Provincial Spending Priorities?

Author

Listed:
  • Michael M. Atkinson
  • Gerald Bierling

Abstract

This article examines the question of whether the provinces are becoming increasingly similar in their total spending and in the level of spending devoted to particular functional areas. Using various measures of spending, we begin by briefly tracing the pattern of provincial spending between 1971 and 1994. We then show, using Dispersion Indexes, that in some areas there has been a persistent movement toward similar levels of spending and similar spending priorities, while in other areas a divergent or indeterminate pattern has been established. Of some importance is the fact that particular provinces are outliers or influential cases and as such have the capacity to influence significantly the degree of convergence observed. In addition, the 24-year period is not one unbroken pattern. In some cases the provinces reverse their initial convergent direction and become increasingly different from one another. We suggest some reasons for these patterns, including the role of federal-provincial fiscal relations and the impact of changing economic conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael M. Atkinson & Gerald Bierling, 1998. "Is There Convergence in Provincial Spending Priorities?," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 24(1), pages 71-89, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpp:issued:v:24:y:1998:i:1:p:71-89
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0317-0861%28199803%2924%3A1%3C71%3AITCIPS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-J
    Download Restriction: only available to JSTOR subscribers
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John F. Helliwell, 1996. "Convergence and Migration among Provinces," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 29(s1), pages 324-330, April.
    2. Bennett, Colin J., 1991. "What Is Policy Convergence and What Causes It?," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(2), pages 215-233, April.
    3. Overbye, Einar, 1994. "Convergence in Policy Outcomes: Social Security Systems in Perspective," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(2), pages 147-174, April.
    4. Collier, David & Messick, Richard E., 1975. "Prerequisites Versus Diffusion: Testing Alternative Explanations of Social Security Adoption," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 69(4), pages 1299-1315, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Barbara Wake Carroll & Ruth J. E. Jones, 2000. "The Road to Innovation, Convergence or Inertia: Devolution in Housing Policy in Canada," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 26(3), pages 277-293, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jean-Philippe Bonardi & Santiago Urbiztondo & Bertrand V. Quelin, 2009. "The political economy of international regulatory convergence in public utilities," International Journal of Management and Network Economics, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 1(2), pages 232-256.
    2. J D Smith & H R Glick, 1995. "The Right to Die: A Cross-National Analysis of Agenda Setting and Innovation," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 13(4), pages 479-501, December.
    3. Kern, Kristine & Jörgens, Helge & Jänicke, Martin, 2001. "The diffusion of environmental policy innovations: A contribution to the globalisation of environment policy," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Standard-setting and Environment FS II 01-302, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    4. Strunz, Sebastian & Gawel, Erik & Lehmann, Paul & Söderholm, Patrik, 2018. "Policy convergence as a multifaceted concept: the case of renewable energy policies in the European Union," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(3), pages 361-387, September.
    5. May-Britt Stumbaum, 2015. "The diffusion of norms in security-related fields: views from China, India and the EU," Asia Europe Journal, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 331-347, September.
    6. Sosay, Gül & Zenginobuz, Unal, 2005. "Independent regulatory agencies in emerging economies," MPRA Paper 380, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Van Vliet, Olaf & Kaeding, Michael, 2007. "Globalisation, European Integration and Social Protection – Patterns of Change or Continuity?," MPRA Paper 20808, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Elizabeth Caucutt & Thomas Cooley & Nezih Guner, 2013. "The farm, the city, and the emergence of social security," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 1-32, March.
    9. Strunz, Sebastian & Gawel, Erik & Lehmann, Paul & Söderholm, Patrik, 2015. "Policy convergence: A conceptual framework based on lessons from renewable energy policies in the EU," UFZ Discussion Papers 14/2015, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Division of Social Sciences (ÖKUS).
    10. Linda White & Adrienne Davidson & Heather Millar & Milena Pandy & Juliana Yi, 2015. "Policy logics, framing strategies, and policy change: lessons from universal pre-k policy debates in California and Florida," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 48(4), pages 395-413, December.
    11. Elizabeth Wakerly & Byron Scott & James Nason, 2006. "Common trends and common cycles in Canada: who knew so much has been going on?," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 39(1), pages 320-347, February.
    12. Marsden, Greg & Stead, Dominic, 2011. "Policy transfer and learning in the field of transport: A review of concepts and evidence," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 492-500, May.
    13. Rennings, Klaus & Beise, Marian, 2003. "Lead Markets of Environmental Innovations: A Framework for Innovation and Environmental Economics," ZEW Discussion Papers 03-01, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    14. Mathieu Rousselin, 2012. "The EU as a Multilateral Rule Exporter - The Global Transfer of European Rules via International Organizations," KFG Working Papers p0048, Free University Berlin.
    15. Basher, Syed A. & Fachin, Stefano, 2008. "The long-term decline of internal migration in Canada – Ontario as a case study," MPRA Paper 6685, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Philip Haynes & Jonathan Haynes, 2016. "Convergence and Heterogeneity in Euro Based Economies: Stability and Dynamics," Economies, MDPI, vol. 4(3), pages 1-16, August.
    17. Serge Coulombe, 2000. "New Evidence of Convergence Across Canadian Provinces: The Role of Urbanization," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(8), pages 713-725.
    18. Tim Legrand & Diane Stone, 2021. "Governing global policy: what IPE can learn from public policy? [Review article: What is policy convergence and what causes it?]," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 40(4), pages 484-501.
    19. Evan Capeluck, 2014. "Convergence Across Provincial Economies in Canada: Trends, Drivers, and Implications," CSLS Research Reports 2014-03, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    20. Flavia Donadelli & Bruno Q. Cunha & Mauricio I. Dussauge‐Laguna, 2020. "‘Post‐NPM’ by force or fiat? A comparison of administrative reform trajectories in Brazil and Mexico1," Public Administration & Development, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 40(5), pages 255-266, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cpp:issued:v:24:y:1998:i:1:p:71-89. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Iver Chong (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.utpjournals.press/loi/cpp .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.