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Le capital public au Canada : évolution historique et externalités

Author

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  • Tarek M. Harchaoui

    (Statistique Canada)

Abstract

Despite the importance of public capital in Canada's economic development, the effect of its externalities on the economic performance of the private sector has, surprisingly, barely been recognized by the economic literature. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap. Using a integrated framework based on the duality theory, a sectorial approach and different kinds of public capital, this paper addresses the effect of central (federal) government and non federal government (all other levels) contributions of public capital on the various economic performance indicators, such as productivity, and on the demand for private-sector factors of production. The results suggest that the productive effects of both types of public capital are substantial, albeit variable from one industry to another. In particular, public capital results in large private sector cost savings in each industry and significantly affects the demand for private-sector inputs, thus suggesting the presence of a technological bias. The productivity growth breakdown into the effects of input prices, market demand, technological progress, and public capital services shows that, even if the latter group are not the major source of growth, they nonetheless represent an essential ingredient. Malgré l’importance du capital public dans le développement historique du Canada, l’examen de ses externalités sur la performance économique du secteur privé n’a curieusement pas suscité l’intérêt qu’il mérite de la part de la littérature économique. Un des propos de ce travail est de combler cette lacune dans une perspective de synthèse : l’approche est i) duale, ii) par industrie et iii) permet de déterminer les contributions respectives du capital associé au gouvernement central (fédéral) et tout autre palier de gouvernement (non fédéral) sur différents indicateurs de performance économique, telle la productivité, mais aussi sur la demande des facteurs de production privés. Les résultats suggèrent que les deux types de capital public génèrent des effets productifs substantiels mais variables d’une industrie à l’autre. En particulier, les capitaux publics permettent des économies de coûts privés importants dans chaque industrie et affectent significativement la demande des facteurs de production privés, indiquant ainsi la présence d’un biais technologique. La décomposition de la croissance de la productivité entre les effets-prix des facteurs de production, la demande de marché, le progrès technique et les services des capitaux publics révèle que même si ces derniers ne représentent pas la principale source de croissance, ils en sont une composante essentielle.

Suggested Citation

  • Tarek M. Harchaoui, 1997. "Le capital public au Canada : évolution historique et externalités," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 73(1), pages 395-421.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:actuec:v:73:y:1997:i:1:p:395-421
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Don Drummond & Evan Capeluck & Matthew Calver, 2015. "The Key Challenge for Canadian Public Policy: Generating Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth," CSLS Research Reports 2015-11, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    3. Macdonald, Ryan, 2008. "An Examination of Public Capital's Role in Production," Economic Analysis (EA) Research Paper Series 2008050e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.

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