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The School of Public Policy is Canada’s leading policy school. The School was founded in 2008 by renowned economist Jack Mintz with a vision to drive policy discourse with relevant research, outreach and teaching. Its faculty is composed of scholars with exceptional academic credentials and experienced practitioners in business, government and the non-profit sector.
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Browsing School of Public Policy by Author "Beaulieu, Eugene"
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Item Open Access Adopting Open Banking in Canada: An Analysis of Current Global Frameworks(2020-09-14) Taylor-Kerr, Andrew James; Beaulieu, EugeneFinancial technology or fintech is a rapidly evolving and disruptive development within the financial sector. New technologies arising from fintech innovations are changing how consumers access and utilize financial services while also allowing new fintech firms to compete within the financial sector. As fintech innovations proliferate throughout the financial sector benefits are being seen globally from growing financial inclusion, increased access to capital for small and medium enterprises and improved operational efficiencies for financial firms. Developments from fintech innovations do come with potential drawbacks that regulators are working to address. Fintech has the potential to adversely affect banking sector stability and presents increased cyber-attack risks that adversely affect firms and consumers, requiring regulators to adapt in response to these issues. One regulatory response that has gained traction globally for its ability to harness fintech competition and innovation while maintaining a more secure and stable financial system is that of open banking. Open banking is a regulatory approach that allows consumers to opt in and opt out of sharing their personal financial data with financial firms. Open banking also creates opportunities for more secure transfers of personal financial data by discouraging a data collection practice known as ‘screen-scrapping’, currently utilized by fintech firms, by allowing them to collect personal financial data through more secure application programming interfaces (API). With the permission of the consumer open banking frameworks usually obligate firms to transfer personal financial data via API to another firm who then utilize that data to develop consumer-centric products for customers. Canada, praised globally for the security and stability of its financial system, has been slow in developing an open banking framework and is now at risk of being left behind jurisdictions that have chosen to harness the competition, cyber-security and innovation advantages open banking can bring. To aid Canada in developing an effective open banking framework this capstone examines the regulatory approaches to open banking that have been developed in several jurisdictions including the U.S. and EU. A comparative analysis is conducted to identify what aspects of current regulatory approaches to open banking Canada can utilize in developing its own successful open banking framework. It is concluded that Canada should build on the strengths of its secure and stable financial system to become a ‘fast follower’ in developing an open banking framework that will enable it to attract further fintech investment and transform itself into a global leader in fintech innovation. Based on the comparative analysis of open banking frameworks several jurisdictions have developed the following recommendations are made to ensure Canada’s prospective open banking framework will enable it to become a global fintech leader:Item Embargo Canadian and American Views on Trade and Economic Dislocation(2017-09-14) Klemen, Dylan; Beaulieu, EugenePublic opinion on trade is often negative and subject to flux. Notably, the American public is divided when it comes to supporting trade. This is largely because they believe that trade is responsible for economic dislocation, in particular job losses and lower wages. This is even though economic evidence shows that trade has relatively little impact on these economic factors and is, all things considered, beneficial for countries that pursue it. Accordingly, American mass opinion towards trade follows trends in economic conditions such as the unemployment rate and median income. That is, when these economic measures of well-being worsen, so do American attitudes towards trade. Conversely, when they improve, so do attitudes towards trade. This provides evidence that Americans believe trade is responsible for economic dislocation. Public support for trade is stronger in Canada. This capstone seeks to determine if Canadians, like Americans, hold trade responsible for economic dislocation. To accomplish this, I outline and graphically illustrate Canadian and American opinions on international trade through time. Survey data from the Canadian Opinion Archive (CORA) and Gallup are used to accomplish this. These trends in opinion are compared to economic trends in both countries. Specifically, they are compared to the unemployment rate and median income through time. This methodology can indicate if opinion on trade in both countries follows the trends in these economic measures of well-being. If they do, it would suggest that Canadians believe trade is responsible for economic dislocation like Americans. I find that, like American public opinion, Canadian public opinion on trade fluctuates in line with economic conditions. When unemployment goes up and median income goes down, more Canadians begin to oppose trade. When unemployment goes down and median income goes up, more Canadians begin to support trade. This suggests that Canadians may hold trade responsible for economic dislocation, like the American public. With this approach, I hope to contribute to our understanding of Canadian public opinion on trade. No systematic academic work has been done that analyzes if Canadian favorability towards trade is due to the fact that Canadians do not blame trade for economic dislocation to the same extent as the American public. My findings provide evidence that Canadian favorability towards trade is by no means guaranteed. As such, Canadian policymakers should make a proactive case for free trade. In this regard, it is important that they take note of various argumentative strategies that can be used to sell trade to the public effectively. These strategies are explained in this capstone. I believe they can help Canadian policymakers sell trade to the public and help them to explain the economic effects of trade. This, in turn, can help Canada avoid isolationism that threatens gains made through trade.Item Embargo Do Bilateral Investment Treaties Increase Canadian Direct Investment Abroad? An Economic Analysis of Canada's Investment Policy(2015-09) O'Neill, Kelly; Beaulieu, EugeneGlobalization is opening up new markets for trade and investment. Yet, varying regulatory regimes between states and weak institutions threaten the ability of Canadian firms to safely invest abroad. Foreign Protection Investment Agreements (FIPAs) is Canada’s response to this dilemma. These treaties create binding international law that establishes a stable investment environment between two nations, allowing Canadian companies to better integrate globally through what is known as Canadian direct investment abroad (CDIA). But, as Canada aggressively negotiates FIPAs, their influence on CDIA remains unclear. Using a fixed-effects regression to analyze three separate data sets, this paper provides quantitative evidence that FIPAs increase CDIA between Canada and signatory states. The results show an estimated $1.9 to $3.5 billion increase in CDIA across two of the three regressions for every FIPA ratified. Although these results are significant, the estimated increase in CDIA was less than one percent of total CDIA in 2014. Three separate regressions were conducted: 1) The baseline analysis utilizes panel data from 98 countries between 1987 and 2014; 2) The second analysis utilizes panel data from 86 countries between 1995 and 2013; 3) The third analysis excludes countries where Canada has free trade agreements and utilizes panel data from 93 countries between 1987 and 2014. Six independent variables (Gross domestic product, gross domestic product growth rate, gross domestic product per capita, inflation, exports as a percentage of gross domestic product, and the existence of a FIPA), were included to determined if they influence levels of CDIA. Then, the implications that these results have on Canada’s foreign investment policy framework is discussed. Two distinct issues were found with the current language of FIPAs that may hinder their effectiveness, and thus explain the regression results. First, governments are wary of ratifying FIPAs because of vague interpretations of what constitutes “fair and equitable treatment.” Second, the process surrounding tribunals lack specificity, which may create unwarranted claims against states. The recommendation to remedy these issues is: 1) Canada’s future FIPA approach should be modeled off the Canadian-European Union Trade Agreement (CETA) investment chapter, which adds new provisions to protect a states right to regulate and specifically outlines the arbitration process. In addition, since a single FIPA only marginally increases CDIA, it is recommended that: 2) Canada pursue negotiations to ratify multilateral agreements on investment (MAI) that could standardize investment law across regions, open up multiple markets to Canadian firms and simplify the process; 3) Canada identifies outdated FIPAs and renegotiates terms to bring them up to the investment standards laid out in CETA.Item Embargo An Essay on Bilateral Relations and Trade Between Canada and China(2016-09) Yang, Yang; Beaulieu, EugeneChina is the second largest economy in the world and Canada’s second largest trading partner. According to the government of Canada, the two countries generally maintain a co-operative relationship. However, Canada’s economic co-operation with China is still limited; the share of Canadian exports to mainland China was only 1.08 per cent in 2014 and 4.11 per cent in 2015, while China supplied 12.26 per cent of total Canadian imports in 2015. Since 2012, Canada‘s exports to China have declined. Also, foreign investment between Canada and China is limited and experienced a downward trend from 2013-2015. There is a huge potential for Canada to expand its market share in China. Based on facts and accredited sources, this thesis intends to study whether Canada should further enhance its political and economic ties with China, and to identify what the opportunities, challenges and barriers are to Canada-China bilateral trade. The research here mainly covers foreign investment and the most promising trade sectors with high economic complementarities, including agriculture, clean technology and natural resources. The findings indicate that it is mutually beneficial for Canada and China to deepen their economic ties.Item Embargo Express Entry as a Hybird Model of Economic Immigration Policy: Lessons from Australia's SkillSelect(2016-09) Jones, Sian; Beaulieu, EugeneCompetition for skilled immigrants is increasing as OECD countries experience ageing demographics and increased competition from countries out of which skilled individuals would have traditionally emigrated. Under these conditions, the importance of establishing effective selection criteria for selecting candidates for immigration has increased and settlement countries are beginning to converge around a similar hybrid immigration model. The move to a hybrid demand-supply immigration model by settlement countries assumes that that the selection criteria are effective predictors for positive labour market outcomes for immigrants. However, despite policy changes to improve the labour market outcomes for immigrants through better selection criteria, outcomes have consistently been poorer than for the Canadian-born population. Canada’s recent implementation of its Express Entry Expression of Interest process marks the culmination of its shift in economic immigration policy to a hybrid demand-supply model. The heavily weighted selection criteria of an arranged offer of employment or a provincial nomination now outweighs the impact of the score in the points based system for assessing human capital that most immigrants are likely to achieve. Its weighting reflects those factors that are considered most effective at ensuring positive labour market outcomes for immigrants while also meeting employer demand for specific skills shortages. As Express Entry was partly modelled on Australia’s SkillSelect (implemented in 2012) this paper uses a comparative case study to examine the selection criteria and policy levers of SkillSelect and the associated labour market outcomes of immigrants. Using data from two cohorts of the Continuous Survey of Australia’s Migrants (CSAM) from 2011 and 2013, it uses a tabular difference-in-difference analysis to estimate the effect of the policy on employment rates and median earnings. The findings show that there appears to be a positive effect on rates of highly-skilled employment among immigrants subject to SkillSelect selection criteria. Although these findings require considerably more analysis, they do suggest some important policy implications for Canada. Australia collects detailed survey data about migrants that includes the individual’s visa class, data that has been used to assess the success of the SkillSelect selection criteria. For Canada to take full advantage of the flexibility and responsiveness built into Express Entry it also needs regularly conduct surveys that relates an immigrant’s immigration stream to their labour market outcomes. Measuring the economic success of immigrants and distinguishing between the immigration stream under which they entered would allow for a meaningful evaluation of the effectiveness of the Express Entry selection criteria.Item Open Access Incentives, Opportunities, and Unintended Consequencse: An Economic Perspective on the African Charter and Canada's Foreign Policy Objective(2016-09) Terrazzano, Gianfranco; Beaulieu, EugeneThere is a major link between underdevelopment and the risk of conflict. Canada’s largest and most immediate security threats comes from organizations in fragile regions. These regions suffer from weak governments, dismal economies, and violent conflict. In Sub-Saharan Africa, weak governments, underdevelopment, and conflict seem to go hand-in-hand. As such, this region has a long history of instability and violent conflict, and has become a breeding grown for radical terrorist organizations. Global Affairs currently has “ten countries of focus” in Sub-Saharan Africa, and is working towards promoting economic and human development, promoting peace and security, and promoting democracy, governance, human rights and the rule of law. There are two main issues that this capstone looks to address. First, this capstone examines the effectiveness of four policies – aid, trade, military intervention, and the promotion of democratic regime change – used by Canada and the international community in fragile regions. While examining the democracy-economic development-conflict nexus, this capstone also analyzes whether Canada’s efforts to spread democratic institutions and encourage democratic regime change have helped accomplish policy objectives. Along with contributing to the debate on the effectiveness of certain policies, this capstone contributes insight on whether democracy is a cause of progress or arises as a consequence of progress. There are four main policy implications addressed in this capstone. First, there is little evidence to suggest that democracy causes economic growth and reduces the likelihood of conflict in fragile states. In fact, there is substantial evidence to suggest the contrary. Second, there is evidence suggesting that economic growth and prosperity improves democratic institutions and reduces the likelihood of conflict. It appears that democracy does not initiate growth but emerges from economic growth. As democracies mature, the institutions then foster further prosperity. Third, if Canada wishes to use democratic institutions as a policy tool, efforts should be focused on the least well off countries. Democratic regime change, however, does not appear to be an effective policy tool in low-income countries. Economic growth must be emphasized before democratic regime change is emphasized. Finally, when constructing foreign policies, policymakers must account for the various incentives and opportunities faced by numerous actors, and consider the likelihood that unintended consequences may emerge from intervention.Item Embargo The International Economics of Corruption: International Trade as a Development Policy Mechanism to Reduce Corruption(2015-09) McCann, Brian; Beaulieu, EugenePublic sector corruption is an issue of international concern that negatively effects both developed and developing countries. Corruption most negatively effects developing countries through the negative impact it has on these countries’ economies. Countries that experience the highest corruption also experience the lowest GDPs and economic development. The corruption experienced by developing nations affects developed countries by increasing the costs of commerce in these economies. The OECD’s criminal enforcement approach to corruption represents an important component of a comprehensive international policy against corruption but does not adequately address the issue on its own. The OECD’s Anti-Bribery Convention suffers from key limitations that undermine its potential effectiveness in reducing corruption. First, the Convention is unevenly enforced. A minority of the signatories represent a majority of the enforcement action. Also, the Convention does not address where corruption occurs (often in foreign developing nations) and its root causes. Relying on this type of approach does not address the issues that cause corruption in developing nations and may continue to allow it to fester. Therefore, complementary international policy is needed to effectively address the demand-side of corruption. The international community may effectively address demand-side corruption in developing countries by engaging corruption-prone countries more in international trade. Findings in this paper support the notion that countries that are the most economically developed experience less corruption. These countries are also the highest trading nations. The OECD nations have been partner to a disproportionately greater share of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) and Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) than developing countries. If the most developed nations of the international community create more RTAs and FTAs with developing nations, this has the potential to raise incomes and create corruption-reducing institutional change.Item Embargo Joining the labour force: Colombia's challenges reintegrating the ex-combatants of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP)(2017-09-14) Guzmán Vanegas, Karen; Beaulieu, EugeneFollowing years of continuing armed conflict since 1964, a historic peace agreement was signed in 2016 between the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP). Consequently, this means that great challenges lie ahead for the Colombian government in ensuring that the peace process is successful. Specifically, in this process, the government must redirect its efforts to ensuring the socio-economic reintegration of FARC-EP's former combatants. Without the Colombian government's full commitment to this process, there is likely to be a resurgence of violence, affecting the already battered national economy—to the detriment of the country's social and political stability. Most of the literature on the process of Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) suggests that former combatants could become a potential threat unless exceptional efforts are made during their transition to civilian life. In this regard, policy makers in post-conflict scenarios and DDR practices have advocated for a wide-ranging approach that involves providing the following services: (i) identifying the needs and profiles of ex-combatants, (ii) providing housing, (iii) ensuring psychological counselling during the transition stage, and (iv) sensitizing recipient communities.1 Governments must also focus their efforts on attaining financial independence for former combatants by providing them with vocational training, and linking them to income-generating alternatives that meet the interests of former combatants and the government's budget constraints.2 The most recent data on the FARC-EP's combatants suggests that a total of 10,015 individuals (mostly illiterate and from rural areas) will be subject to the government's assistance. 3 Thus, it is recommended that the Government of Colombia should adopt a two-front policy. First, the government should aim to train former combatants in a particular trade that enables their later incorporation into community-based schemes that are mainly situated in agricultural practices. Second, the government must set forth the conditions, [ii] and provide the financial and technical support for the establishment of such schemes. By executing such a comprehensive policy, the Colombian government will provide the means for FARC-EP members to restart their lives with a viable means of supporting themselves throughout the post-conflict timeframe.Item Open Access Overfishing in Canada and the United States: A Comparative Study of Policy and Legislation(2015-09) Hutter, Joseph; Beaulieu, EugeneThe purpose of this Capstone project was to first explore the causes of overfishing, then to explore how the issue is both viewed and dealt with in terms of policy and legislation in two highly comparable jurisdictions: Canada and the United States. The research draws to attention that there is a distinct lack of effective coastal commercial fisheries management in Canada and when compared to the United States, the degree of mismanagement becomes even more apparent. It is discovered that despite the magnitude of the collapse of the Atlantic cod fishery in Newfoundland, Canada has still yet to develop sufficient policy and legislation to effectively combat the ongoing issue of overfishing in coastal Canadian waters. This is sharply contrasted by U.S. fisheries management under the federal Magnuson-‐ Stevens Act that by nearly all accounts has been monumental in the country’s progress in controlling overfishing. Researching the causes of overfishing and comparing fisheries policy and legislation in both countries gleans the conclusion that not only can overfishing issues be solved through strong federal fisheries management, but the United States is currently doing so through effective legislation that Canada desperately requires. Furthermore, it is recommended that Canada should achieve stronger federal fisheries management through the legislative measure of amending the federal Fisheries Act to not only recognize overfishing but to include rebuilding plans for overfished stocks. The recommended rebuilding plans are inspired by the stock rebuilding measures laid out in the United States’ federal Magnuson-‐Stevens Act.Item Open Access The True Costs of Trade Wars: An Analysis of the US-China Trade War(2019) Hides, Taylor; Beaulieu, EugeneFor the past year, the on-going US-China trade war has dominated headlines and caused increasing unrest in the global community. The tensions have escalated to a point where by the end of 2019, it is likely that the US and China will have tariffs covering nearly 100 per cent of imports from each other. Along with such expansive protectionist policies will come significant impacts on the US, China, and the rest of the world. There have been numerous studies over the years on the trade wars and their effectiveness as a protectionist measure. In general, studies have found that all countries lose in terms of welfare from a global trade war, not just those directly involved. Due to these results and deepening global integration, large-scale trade conflicts have been extremely rare, until the current conflict. The US has justified their initiation of the conflict with four central reasons, those being concern over the bilateral trade deficit with China, China’s incomplete free market transition, currency manipulation by China, and concerns over the World Trade Organization’s ability to address these concerns. These four concerns have varying degrees of legitimacy, with China’s stalled market transition being the most valid, as it is significant for both the US and the larger global trading community. On the other hand, concerns over a bilateral trade deficit and the specific accusation of currency manipulation present little to no legitimacy as a reason to justify a trade war. Backed with these four central reasons, legitimate or not, the US led the way into the trade war with the goals to reduce the bilateral deficit and to suppress China’s anticompetitive behaviour. While endeavouring to alter the bilateral deficit will only decrease US overall welfare, attempting to suppress anticompetitive behaviour is a worthy goal. However, doing so through tariffs has proved both costly and ineffective thus far. US President Donald Trump has claimed that his tariff policies will have no impact on US consumers and that the tariff will be exclusively paid by foreign entities. Despite the President’s assertions, the claims appear to be false. To illustrate this point, this analysis conducted a case study to model the impact of the tariff policy on the US steel industry. The study indicated that US steel users will lose around US$6 billion in welfare, resulting a net loss of over US$900 million. In addition to any domestic costs, the trade war will have severe impacts on the larger global trading community. These impacts can be broadly categorized into global economic, diplomatic, and system impacts. All evidence points to the international community being negatively impacted by the trade war. Most notably, global value chain disruption, breakdown of global connections, increasing uncertainty and rising tension between nations are likely outcomes of the protectionist policies. The most long lasting and damaging outcome of the US-China trade war may be the impact that it has on the WTO, as the conflict is adding to existing concerns over the effectiveness of the organization. The trade war is facilitating further breakdown of the norms and rules of the multilateral system as well as deteriorating the reputation of the US and China within it. When all costs and consequences are considered, it is easy to see that trade wars are in fact not good and not easy to win, as has been claimed by the US president.Item Embargo What is best for Canada? An Analysis of the Regulation of E-commerce through Multilateral Trade Agreements(2017-09-14) Whittaker, Brittney; Beaulieu, EugeneThe use of the internet has grown drastically worldwide since the late 1990s. Increasingly the internet is being used to engage in electronic commerce (e-commerce), especially trade across borders. As this is a relatively new policy area with such a huge emergence, governments globally are attempting to regulate it while taking different approaches. However, it is becoming more clear that there needs to be some level of international coordination to ensure that the ecommerce market remains The use of the internet has grown drastically worldwide since the late 1990s. Increasingly the internet is being used to engage in electronic commerce (e-commerce), especially trade across borders. As this is a relatively new policy area with such a huge emergence, governments globally are attempting to regulate it while taking different approaches. However, it is becoming more clear that there needs to be some level of international coordination to ensure that the ecommerce market remains open and can grow without barriers. Currently Canada has numerous e-commerce policies and regulations that are out of date and not reflective of the modern crossborder nature of e-commerce. Additionally, Canada is not taking advantage of trade agreements to address e-commerce issues faced by Canadian consumers and businesses. As Canada begins NAFTA re-negotiations now is an important time to determine what provisions should be included in future trade deals, as well as create strong domestic policies. Based on the qualitative analysis completed in this capstone there is a three pronged approach that should be adopted by Canadian policymakers. Firstly, Canadian domestic trade policy should be updated, using the policies from the European Union and the United States as references, to better reflect the current e-commerce trade environment. These updated policies should subsequently be reflected in trade agreements. Secondly, multilateral trade agreements should be utilized to better promote Canadian e-commerce priorities, specifically consumer protection and security. Finally, within trade agreements Canada should call for more commitment and adherence to already existing framework from international bodies. Multilateral trade agreements provide the ideal platform to address global e-commerce issues, and Canada is well positioned to be at the forefront of these discussions. open and can grow without barriers. Currently Canada has numerous e-commerce policies and regulations that are out of date and not reflective of the modern crossborder nature of e-commerce. Additionally, Canada is not taking advantage of trade agreements to address e-commerce issues faced by Canadian consumers and businesses. As Canada begins NAFTA re-negotiations now is an important time to determine what provisions should be included in future trade deals, as well as create strong domestic policies. Based on the qualitative analysis completed in this capstone there is a three pronged approach that should be adopted by Canadian policymakers. Firstly, Canadian domestic trade policy should be updated, using the policies from the European Union and the United States as references, to better reflect the current e-commerce trade environment. These updated policies should subsequently be reflected in trade agreements. Secondly, multilateral trade agreements should be utilized to better promote Canadian e-commerce priorities, specifically consumer protection and security. Finally, within trade agreements Canada should call for more commitment and adherence to already existing framework from international bodies. Multilateral trade agreements provide the ideal platform to address global e-commerce issues, and Canada is well positioned to be at the forefront of these discussions.Item Open Access Where Do We Go From Here? A Quantitative Analysis of Alberta's Foreign Office Network(2015-09) Garner-Knapp, Lindsey; Beaulieu, EugeneThe raison d’être for Alberta’s foreign office network is to find new opportunities and build partnerships internationally. The Government of Alberta, like other provinces, maintains foreign offices as part of a set of strategies to help firms navigate the intricate international market, promote Alberta industry capabilities and expertise to potential investors, proved timely policy and trade information back to the Ministry of International and Intergovernmental Relations, and endorse Alberta as a world-leader in environmental standards globally. The joint effort of these strategies suggest that these offices are aimed at fostering sustainable economic growth for the province, so how well is the government doing at meeting that goal? Alberta’s new NDP government has briefly made reference to a commitment to diversifying and expanding the Alberta economy, but has not yet revealed their foreign strategy or a mandate direction for the Ministry of IIR, so there is an opportunity to review Alberta 45 year paradiplomatic strategy. At present, the Government of Alberta supports eleven foreign offices in eight countries under the Ministry of IIR with an annual budget of $10.932 million annually. Alberta currently maintains international office: Alberta China Office; Alberta Shanghai Office; Alberta Hong Kong Office; Alberta Taiwan Office; Alberta Japan Office; Alberta Korea Office; Alberta Singapore Office; Alberta India Office; Alberta United Kingdom Office; Alberta Mexico Office; and Alberta Washington Office. Alberta tax payers are footing the bill, and in an ideal world are receiving some (economic) benefit from them. The million dollar question then is do these offices actually create benefits and greater exports for the province?