Agricultural Implement Tariffs, the National Policy, and Income Distribution in the Wheat Economy

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.Agricultural implement tariffs, the national policy, and income distribution in the wheat economy. The paper deals with the effects of the national policy tariffs on farm implements on the level and distribution of Prairie income in the development phase of the wheat economy. A simple model of Prairie agriculture is developed and used to simulate hypothetical income shares in the absence of the tariff. A comparison of these with actual values indicates the extent of income redistribution occasioned by this feature of the national policy. The conclusions are that functional income distribution within the Prairies was significantly affected, with the brunt of the burden borne by landowners, but that interregional income transfers were inconsequential.Les droits de douane sur l'equipement de ferme, la 'politique nationale,' et la distribution du revenu dans l'conomie du ble. La majorite des ecrits sur la 'politique nationale' portent sur les questions generales relatives a l'efficacite de cette politique comme strategie de developpement. Cet article est limite aux droits de douane sur l'equipement de ferme. Il porte sur les effets de ces derniers sur le niveau et la repartition du revenu de la region des Prairies, quand l'economie du ble en etait 'a sa phase initiale de developpement. L'auteur elabore un modele simple de l'economie agricole des Prairies; il l'utilise pour simuler, de fagon hypoth6tique, la production et la repartition du revenu dans tine situation sans droits de douane. Par la suite, les parts hypothetiques du revenu sont comparees aux valeurs observees pour evaluer l'importance de la redistribution 'a l'interieur de la region et avec les autres regions, comme consequence de la politique tarifaire.L'article conduit a la conclusion centrale suivante: les droits de douane sur les facteurs de capital materiel ont modifie de facon significative la distribution fonctionnelle du revenu dans les Prairies. Le revenu de rente a ete plus faible tandis que les revenus du capital et du travail ont ete plus eleves. Avec les meilleures 'valeurs hypothetiques' des parametres, la reduction des rentes a varie entre $12.09 par ferme en 1941 quand les droits etaient faibles, 'a $56.18 par ferme en 1921; en pourcentage, la reduction a varie de 1.5 'a 14.8. Cette constatation confirme le point de vue que l'effet principal du tarif de la 'politique nationale' a ete une reduction des rentes et des valeurs du sol dans les Prairies.

Trade policy and industrial development: iron and steel in a small open economy, 1870−1913

“…The transformative expansion of many Atlantic economies during the last decades of the nineteenth century has prompted efforts to understand the causes and consequences of differential performance across nations and industries during this period (O'Rourke and Williamson 1999). The macroeconomic effects associated with declining ocean freight rates (Harley 1980(Harley , 1988(Harley , 1989, expanding railway networks (Fogel 1964;Hawke and Higgins 1981;Lewis 1981;Norrie 1974), resource exploitation (Donald 1915;Prentice 2010;Wright 1990) and changing trade policies (Irwin 2000a, b;Lehmann and O'Rourke 2011;Schularick and Solomou 2011;Taussig 1931) have been extensively documented. Because iron and steel industries were large and influential technological leaders, they have been used to probe specific aspects or examples of market expansion and technological advance stemming from these changes (Allen 1977;Burn 1961;Davis and Irwin 2008;Evans and Ryden 2005;Inwood 1987;Temin 1964;Warren 1970Warren , 1973.…”

Learning to balance wheat G × E × M interactions in response to a changing climate—The case for ultra‐early planting systems

“…This was in part due to the poor growing conditions that defined the era, but additionally the abundance of labor brought on significant differences in immigration policies between the countries at the time (Lew & Cater, 2018). The availability of labor resulted in lower wage expectations in Canada; when combined with the relatively higher cost of tractors and equipment in Canada (due to Canada/US tariffs), the speed of technology adoption in the region was reduced despite evident efficiency gains (Keay, 2000; Lew & Cater, 2018; Norrie, 1974; Wylie, 1989).…”

Protection, Real Wages, Real Incomes, and Foreign Ownership

“…10 The reader might object to the assumption that the tariff protects consumption goods but not capital goods -especially in view of the importance given to Canada's tariff on agricultural implements. See, for example, Norrie (1974). One possibility would be to assume that final goods receiving protection serve both as consumption and as capital goods.…”

“…First, it has been argued that the protection of labour intensive secondary manufacturing industries has raised real wages above the level that would prevail under free trade, and encouraged more rapid population growth through immigration (see Barber, 1955 andDales, 1966). Second, the tariff has been interpreted as a scheme for developing and redistributing real income towards Ontario and Quebec at the expense of the West (see Norrie, 1978). Third, it has been argued that tariffs are partly responsible for the substantial degree of direct foreign investment in the manufacturing sector, and the development of a branch-plant economy (see Eastman andStykolt, 1967 andHorst, 1972).…”