Abstract:
The relative openness of the economies of the Atlantic provinces vis-a-vis the rest of Canada has important implications for the design of economic policy in Canada and in its constituent parts. This paper reports on the quantification of the relative openness of the economies of the Atlantic provinces by means of the Chenery-Moses interregional input-output model. Federal government policies such as those executed by the Atlantic Development Board and the Area Development Agency for purposes of developing industry in the Maritimes are briefly evaluated in light of the results derived on the structure of economic activity in the Atlantic economies. Transportation subsidization policies in effect under the Maritime Freight Rates Act, passed in 1927, are also briefly evaluated.
