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In the Footsteps of Mackintosh and Innis: Tracking Canada's Economic Centre of Gravity since the Great Depression

Author

Listed:
  • Sébastien Breau
  • Brian Toy
  • Mark Brown
  • Ryan Macdonald
  • Oliver T. Coomes

Abstract

In this article, we track the historical movement in Canada's economic centre of gravity (ECG) since the early 20th century. A simple weighted mean centre approach is applied to a novel data set containing long-run estimates of household income at the provincial level. The analysis reveals that from 1926 to 2013, Canada's ECG shifted westward by a net distance of 204 kilometres. Concomitant with this broad geographical shift, we identify six distinct historical moments during which major spatial realignments occurred, including a significant west-to-east move during the Great Depression years and two important east-to-west shifts during the energy-driven resource booms of the 1970s and post-2000 period. Time series modeling confirms that the ups and downs of resource commodity prices are indeed strongly associated with historical movements of the ECG in Canada.

Suggested Citation

  • Sébastien Breau & Brian Toy & Mark Brown & Ryan Macdonald & Oliver T. Coomes, 2018. "In the Footsteps of Mackintosh and Innis: Tracking Canada's Economic Centre of Gravity since the Great Depression," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 44(4), pages 356-367, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpp:issued:v:44:y:2018:i:4:p:356-367
    DOI: 10.3138/cpp.2018-015
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    Cited by:

    1. Binbin Du & Qiaoya Zheng & Xue Bai & Longyu Shi & Xian Shen, 2020. "Research on Evolution Pattern and Spatial Correlation between Economic Development and Environmental Pollution Centers of Gravity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-14, September.

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