Innis: The Alchemy of Fur and Wheat

Rotstein, Abraham

doi:10.3138/jcs.12.5.6

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Demand was subject to abrupt shifts due to the whims of fashion such as the desire for beaver hats, which, in turn, caused major fluctuations in prices. Though the variation in the supply and the price paid for furs is not clearly understood (Rich, 1960, p. 23; Rotstein, 1977; Ray and Freeman, 1978), it is thought that fluctuation was at least in part due to political and environmental issues in addition to the demand issues.…”

Section: The Chronological Development Of Manufacturing In Canadamentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors affecting the evolution of manufacturing in Canada: An historical perspective

Balakrishnan

Eliasson

Sweet

2006

J of Ops Management

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This paper examines the factors that influenced developments in industry and manufacturing in Canada from the 17th to the 20th century. Although Canada's abundance of natural resources led to the development of primary industries in the 17th and 18th centuries, the manufacturing industry was not significant until the early 19th century. Four representative manufacturing industries are discussed to illustrate the overall trend in the chronological evolution of Canadian manufacturing in the 19th and 20th centuries. The role and impact of factors such as transportation, electricity, foreign investment, particularly by U.S. entrepreneurs, and government support for industry is reviewed to understand their impact on manufacturing as it has evolved to the present. It appears that these were indeed influential and thus are factors that other countries in a less developed stage of their manufacturing evolution may look to for directions.Our analysis also shows that Canadian manufacturing which began by producing simple items in small volumes due to geographical diversity and the absence of a large market, moved into the mass manufacturing age only in the 20th century. But in the 21st century due to competition from low labour cost countries Canada has moved back to customized manufacturing though in sophisticated goods such as aircraft manufacturing and biotech. While there are bright spots in Canadian manufacturing, recent studies also show that work needs to be done to produce more value added products and ensure Canadian manufacturing competitiveness in the global market place. #

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Section: The Chronological Development Of Manufacturing In Canadamentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors affecting the evolution of manufacturing in Canada: An historical perspective

Balakrishnan

Eliasson

Sweet

2006

J of Ops Management

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“…Market exchanges also vary considerably. In the perfectly competitive, ‘ideal’ or ‘open’ market model of neoclassical economic theory, arm's‐length (independent) competition within and between a (large) ‘supply crowd’ and ‘demand crowd’ creates a fair price that balances demand and supply (Rotstein 1977, 9). On the other hand, the exchanges or flows of goods and services within private sector firms do not conform to true or open markets as they are neither voluntary nor arm's length, demand and supply crowds are absent, and property rights remain controlled by the same legally defined entities, the parent corporations.…”

Section: Markets Transaction Costs and Embeddednessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Domestic timber auctions and flexibly specialized forestry in Japan

Reiffenstein

Hayter

2006

Canadian Geographies / Géographies canadiennes

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In Japan, a well‐established, widespread system of local timber market auctions, featuring the exchange of privately owned logs, is increasingly threatened by imports organized according to mass production principles. This article assesses the evolution, rationale, and functions of Japan's timber auctions that were primarily created in post‐war Japan to provide key roles linking small‐scale (private) forest owners to flexibly specialized value chains that are consummated in Japanese homes. The conceptual point of departure for the analysis is flexible specialization theory's interpretation of industrialization as a contest between mass production and small‐scale production. We extend this discussion by giving analytical priority to markets as an institution distinct from firms and by interpreting markets from the perspectives of transaction costs and embeddedness, concepts normally deemed antagonistic to one another. Empirically, four case studies of timber auctions located in central and southern Japan are analyzed based on personal interviews with auction managers and participants within the context of broader trends in forestry. Three auctions feature ‘silent’ bidding and one involves open bidding. While the auctions exhibit varying characteristics, they continue to be the fulcrum of localized forestry systems, even as they are threatened by declining prices driven by imported wood and by restructurings within the Japanese solid wood sector. The continued resiliency of the flexible specialization model, and the auctions that are at its core, has important implications for forestry throughout Japan.

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“…From its colonial origins, resource or staple exports have defined Canada's global trading role and have exercised a significant influence over Canada's institutions and internal structures (Clement, 1989;Innis, 1967;Mackintosh, 1967;Rotstein, 1977;Watkins, 1963). After Confederation, Canadian economic policy emphasized exploiting natural resources for export, principally by subsidizing infrastructure, establishing a low resource-rent regime, and facilitating entry by foreign capital (Aitken, 1961).…”

Section: Canada's Resource Trade: Towards Continentalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

International Trade Relations and Regional Industrial Adjustment: The Implications of the 1982–86 Canadian-US Softwood Lumber Dispute for British Columbia

Hayter

1992

Environ Plan A

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To contribute towards a better understanding of the evolving relationships between international trade relations and regional industrial adjustment the author examines the implications of the Canada-US softwood lumber dispute that occurred during the 1980s for the softwood lumber industry of British Columbia. Conceptually, these implications are discussed within a progressively more focused series of trade-relations contexts based on principles of political economy and which are represented by the concepts of complex interdependence, continentalism, and bargaining. Empirically, it is found that the dispute led to an unanticipated and undesirable outcome for the lumber industry of British Columbia. Paradoxically, the dispute provides further encouragement for the lumber industry to diversify its operations, a trend which can be considered beneficial.

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Innis: The Alchemy of Fur and Wheat

Cited by 10 publications

References 12 publications

Factors affecting the evolution of manufacturing in Canada: An historical perspective

Factors affecting the evolution of manufacturing in Canada: An historical perspective

Domestic timber auctions and flexibly specialized forestry in Japan

International Trade Relations and Regional Industrial Adjustment: The Implications of the 1982–86 Canadian-US Softwood Lumber Dispute for British Columbia

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