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The Engine or the Caboose? Resource Industries and Twentieth-Century Canadian Economic Performance

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  • Keay, Ian

Abstract

The Canadian economy, already wealthy, diverse, and relatively industrial at the dawn of the twentieth century, had not yet outgrown its reliance on resource-intensive production. Empirical evidence indicates that the exploitation of Canada's natural resource endowment made direct and indirect contributions to the size and efficiency of the twentieth-century domestic economy. I conclude that the concentration of capital and labor in resource industries did not constrain the rate of change of Canadian real GNP per capita between 1900 and 1999, and it appears to have had a substantial positive impact on the level of real GNP per capita.

Suggested Citation

  • Keay, Ian, 2007. "The Engine or the Caboose? Resource Industries and Twentieth-Century Canadian Economic Performance," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 67(1), pages 1-32, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:67:y:2007:i:01:p:1-32_00
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Ian Keay, 2010. "The Impact Of Commodity Price Volatility On Resource Intensive Economies," Working Paper 1274, Economics Department, Queen's University.
    2. David Greasley & Les Oxley, 2010. "Clio And The Economist: Making Historians Count," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 755-774, December.
    3. Nuno Torres & Óscar Afonso & Isabel Soares, 2013. "A survey of literature on the resource curse: critical analysis of the main explanations, empirical tests and resource proxies," CEF.UP Working Papers 1302, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    4. Ian Keay & Cherie Metcalf, 2011. "Property Rights, Resource Access, and Long‐Run Growth," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 8(4), pages 792-829, December.
    5. Boyce, John R. & Herbert Emery, J.C., 2011. "Is a negative correlation between resource abundance and growth sufficient evidence that there is a "resource curse"?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 1-13, March.
    6. Graham Davis, 2011. "The resource drag," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 155-176, June.
    7. Gillian C. Hamilton & Ian Keay & Frank D. Lewis, 2017. "Contributions to Canadian economic history: The last 30 years," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 50(5), pages 1632-1657, December.
    8. Meissner, Christopher M., 2014. "Growth from Globalization? A View from the Very Long Run," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 8, pages 1033-1069, Elsevier.
    9. Angela Redish, 2019. "Treaty of Paris vs. Treaty of Niagara: Rethinking Canadian economic history in the 21st century," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 52(4), pages 1325-1348, November.
    10. Ian Keay, 2008. "Resource Intensive Production And Aggregate Economic Performance," Working Paper 1176, Economics Department, Queen's University.
    11. David Greasley & Jakob B. Madsen, 2010. "Curse and Boon: Natural Resources and Long‐Run Growth in Currently Rich Economies," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 86(274), pages 311-328, September.
    12. Rosés, Joan R. & Minns, Chris, 2018. "Power to the Periphery? The failure of Regional Convergence in Canada, 1890-2006," CEPR Discussion Papers 12803, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    13. Ian Keay, 2007. "Resource Rents and their Impact on Institutional and Economic Development," Working Paper 1143, Economics Department, Queen's University.
    14. Nancy Olewiler, 2017. "Canada’s dependence on natural capital wealth: Was Innis wrong?," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 50(4), pages 927-964, November.

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