Recent Publications
2021 ~ “Does Economic Inequality Breed Murder? An Empirical Investigation of the Relationship between Economic Inequality and Homicide Rates in Canadian Provinces and CMAs,”co-authored with Rob Petrunia, Empirical Economics (forthcoming).
2021 ~ Global Storm: The Effects of the COVID‐19 Pandemic and Responses around the World. Fraser Institute. <http://www.fraserinstitute.org>.
2021 ~ “Non‐Official Language Concordance in Urban Canadian Medical Practice: Implications for Care during the COVID‐19 Pandemic,” co-authored with Ruolz Ariste, Healthcare Policy, 16, 4, 84-96. (50)
2021 ~ “Bacillus Calmette-Guerin Vaccine and Bladder Cancer Incidence: Scoping Literature Review and Preliminary Analysis,” co-authored with Ismail, A., Kotb, A., Elmansy, H., Gonzalez, K., Prowse, O., Trigo, S., Sharour, W. Italian Journal of Urology and Andrology. March, 93, 1, 1-8. (49)
2021 ~ “Long Run Canadian Wealth Inequality in International Context,” co-authored with Jim Davies, Review of Income and Wealth, Series 67, no. 1, March, 134-164. (48)
2020 ~ “Spend Less, Get More? Explaining Health Spending and Outcome Differences Between Canada and Italy” co-authored with Tom Barbiero. Review of Economic Analysis. 12, 4, 403-408. (47) https://openjournals.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/rofea/article/view/1898
2020 ~ “The Shifting Scully Curve: International Evidence from 1871 to 2016,” co-authored with Fraser Summerfield, Applied Economics, 52, 39, 4263-4283. (46)
2020 ~ “Government Size and Economic Growth: An Overview,” in Achieving the Four-Day Work Week: Essays on Improving Productivity Growth in Canada. Fraser Institute.
2020 ~ “Economic Growth: An International Overview of Theory and Data,” in The Costs of Slow Economic Growth, S. Globerman contributing editor, Fraser Institute.
2019 ~ “Demographics, Technological Change, Participation Rates and Canada’s Future Labour Shortage,” in S. Globerman, ed., Technology, Automation and Employment: Will this Time be Different? Fraser Institute.
2019 ~ “Mobility, Economic Opportunity and Wealth Accumulation During the Wheat Boom Era, 1870 to 1930,” co-authored with H. Emery, in L’Argent Des Familles, pp. 103-122, Laval University Press.
2018 ~ The Evolution and Determinants of Wealth Inequality in the North Atlantic Anglosphere, 1668-2013: Push and Pull, Palgrave MacMillan. July.
2018 ~ “Economic Growth and the Public Sector: A Comparison of Canada and Italy, 1870-2013,” co-authored with Thomas Barbiero, Review of Economic Analysis, 10, 221-243. (45)
2018 ~ Fiscal Policy-Transition Briefing: Restoring Ontario's long-term fiscal sustainability.School of Public Policy and Governance. University of Toronto. Ontario 360. April.
2018 “The Decline of Manufacturing in Canada: Resource Curse, Productivity Malaise or Natural Evolution?” co-authored with R. Petrunia in W.H. Greene et al.,(eds) Productivity and Inequality, Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics, pp. 183-202.*
2017 “Does Egalitarianism Come at a Price? Inequality and Economic Performance in Late Nineteenth Century Ontario,” Social Science History, 41,4,615-644.
2017 “Value for Money: An Evaluation of Health Spending in Canada,” co-authored with Ruolz Ariste, International Journal of Health Economics and Management, 17, 3, 289-310.
2017 Household Debt and Government Debt in Canada. Fraser Institute.
2017 “Major Changes to the Federal Personal Income Tax: 1917-2017” in Zero to 50 in 100 Years: The History and Development of Canada’s Personal Income Tax, eds. W. Watson and J. Clemens. The Fraser Institute, pp.11-16.
2017 A Federal Fiscal History: Canada, 1867-2017. Fraser Institute.
2016 Hold the Applause: Why Provincial Restraint on Healthcare Spending Might Not Last, co-authored with Colin Busby, C.D. Howe Institute, Commentary No. 455.
2016 “Wealth Distribution and the Canadian Middle Class: Historical Evidence and Policy Implications,”Canadian Public Policy
2016 Comparing recent economic performance in Canada and the United States: A provincial and state level analysis, co-authored with J. Emes, C. Lammam, and B. Eisen,The Fraser Institute.
2015 “The evolution of financial intermediation: Evidence from 19th-century Ontario Microdata.” Co-authored with Angela Redish, Canadian Journal of Economics, 48, 3, August, 2015.
2015 “All equal in the sight of God: economic inequality and religion in the early twentieth century,” European Review of Economic History, 1-23, doi: 10.1093/ereh/hev009. (40)
2015 "An Analysis of Public and Private Sector Employment Trends in Canada, 1990-2013,” The Fraser Institute.
2014 “Common provincial determinants and cost drivers,” co-authored with J.C.H. Emery, in Bending the Cost Curve in Health Care: Canada’s Provinces in International Perspective, eds. G.P. Marchildon and L. Di Matteo. The Johnson-Shoyama Series on Public Policy, University of Toronto Press.
2014 "Police and Crime Rates in Canada: A Comparison of Resources and Outcomes", September, The Fraser Institute.
2014 “Natural Resource Exports and Development in Settler Economies during the First Great Globalization Era: Northwestern Ontario and South Australia, 1905-1915 – co-authored with J.C. Herbert Emery and Martin P. Shanahan, in Smart Globalization: The Canadian Business and Economic History Experience, eds. A. Smith and D. Anastakis, University of Toronto Press.
2014 "An Economic and Fiscal Comparison of Alberta and Other North American Energy Producing Provinces and States", co-authored with Jason Clemens and Joel Emes, July, The Fraser Institute.
2014 "Can Canada Prosper without a Prosperous Ontario?" Co-authored with Jason Clemens and Milagros Palacios, April, The Fraser Institute.
2013 "Measuring Government in the Twenty-first Century: An International Overview of the Size and Efficiency of Spending." The Fraser Institute. December.
2013 “Physician Numbers as a Driver of Provincial Government Health Spending in Canadian Health Policy,” Health Policy, March, 115, 18-35.
2013 “Canada’s Public Health Care System: Sustainable if Necessary,” Journal of Care Services Management, March, Vol. 7, Issue 1, 3-16.
2013 “Women, Wealth and Economic Change: An Assessment of the Impact of Women’s Property Law in Wentworth County, Ontario, 1872-1927” Explorations in Economic History, 50, 2, 285-307.
2013 “Ontario and Greece: A Comparative Study of Public Debt,” in The State of Ontario’s Indebtedness, Warning Signs to Act, eds. J. Clemens and N. Veldhuis. Vancouver: The Fraser Institute, pp.35-56.
2012 “Land and Inequality in Canada, 1870-1930,” Scandinavian Economic History Review, 60:3, 309-334.
2011 “Wealth and Gender in Ontario, 1870-1930” in Green D. R., Owens, A., Maltby, J. and Rutterford, J. (eds) Men, Women and Money: Perspectives on Gender, Wealth and Investment, 1850–1930, Oxford University Press, Oxford (March).
2010 “The Sustainability of Public Health Expenditures: Evidence from the Canadian Federation,”European Journal of Health Economics, 11,6,569-584.(35)
2009 “Policy Choice or Economic fundamentals: What Drives the Public-Private Health Expenditure Balance in Canada,” Health Economics, Policy and Law, 4,1, 29-53.(34)
2009 Growing Heartlandia, Frontier Centre for Public Policy, Policy Series No. 60, May.
2009 The Fiscal Sustainability of Alberta’s Public Health System, co-authored with Rosanna Di Matteo, The School of Public Policy. University of Calgary, SPP Research Papers, Volume 2, Issue 2, April.
2008 “Wealth accumulation motives: evidence from the probate records of Ontario, 1892 and 1902,”Cliometrica, 2, 143-171.
2007 “The Effect of Religious Denomination on Wealth: Who Were the Truly Blessed? Social Science History, 31,3, 299-341.
2007 “Assessing the effect of pharmaceutical patent term length on research and development and drug expenditures with Canadian evidence,” co-authored with P. Grootendorst, Healthcare Policy – Politiques de Santé, Vol.2, No.3, 63-84.
2006 “Is it better to live in a basement, an attic or to get your own place? Analyzing the Costs and Benefits of Institutional Change for Northwestern Ontario,” co-authored with J.C.H. Emery and R. English, Canadian Public Policy, 32(2), 173-196.
2006 “Wealth and Inequality on Ontario's Northwestern Frontier: Evidence from Probate,” Histoire sociale-Social History, XXXVIII:75,79-104.
2005 “Does PSA Testing contribute to Prostate Cancer Mortality Decline? Estimating the Broader Economic Influences on Prostate Cancer Mortality Rates,” co-authored with Rosanna Di Matteo,European Journal of Health Economics, 6,4, 298-308.
2005 "The macro determinants of health expenditure in the United States and Canada: assessing the impact of income, age distribution and time," Health Policy , 71, 1, 23-42.
2004 "Boom and bust, 1885-1920: Regional Wealth Evidence from Probate Records," Australian Economic History Review , 44(1), 52-78.
2004 "What drives Provincial Health Expenditure?" Canadian Tax Journal , 52, 4, 1102-1120.
2003 "The Income elasticity of Health Care Spending: A Comparison of Parametric and Non-Parametric Approaches," European Journal of Health Economics , March, 4, 20-29.
2002 "Wealth and the demand for life insurance: evidence from Ontario, 1892" co-authored with J.C. Herbert Emery, Explorations in Economic History , 39, 4, 446-469.
2002 "Federal Patent Extension, Provincial Policies and Drug Expenditures, 1975-2000," co-authored with Paul Grootendorst, Canadian Tax Journal , 50, 6, 1913-1948.
2001 "Patterns of Inequality in Late 19th Century Ontario: Evidence from Census-Linked Probate Data" Social Science History , 25, 3, 347-380.
2001 "Public Home Care Expenditures in Canada," co-authored with Rosanna Di Matteo, Canadian Public Policy , Vol. XXVII, No. 3, 313-333.