Smoking is widely known to affect health adversely. The consequent cost to the publicly funded Canadian health-care system is a matter of considerable policy interest. We consider two core elements of health care: hospitals and physicians. This study, unlike previous Canadian studies, uses the...

Economic disparity between the Atlantic Provinces and the rest of Canada persists. The possibilities of reduced federal government transfers and Quebec separation further threaten the region. Maritime Union, a proposal that has a long history, has resurfaced in a modern form: economic union of...

This paper compares the public indebtedness of the Canadian provinces and the US states (including a share of the federal debt) over the 2000-2007 period. It presents rankings of the most indebted subnational jurisdictions based on five public debt concepts. Among the provinces, Quebec (with the...

The spillover effects from a firm's research and development (R&D) activities provide a rationale for R&D tax incentives. This paper provides a framework for incorporating the external rate of return on R&D, the tax sensitivity of R&D spending, and the government's marginal cost of public funds...