Public Infrastructure in Canada, 1961-2002.

CANADA; UNITED States

Work by Aschauer (1989) triggered a debate in the United States on the role played by public capital in determining productivity and growth; more recently, infrastructure has become an issue in the Canadian public policy debate. This paper sheds some light on this debate by addressing three questions: (i) How large is the stock of public infrastructure in Canada? (ii) What are the main components of that infrastructure? (iii) How has that infrastructure evolved over the last 40 years? The paper also examines the impact of public infrastructure on Canada's standard of living and on the performance of the business sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Le travail effectué par Aschauer (1989) a déclenché aux États-Unis un débat sur le rôle joué par le capital public dans la détermination de Ia productivité et de la croissance économique; plus récemment, l'infrastructure est devenue un sujet de discussion au Canada dans le débat portant sur les politiques publiques. Notre article éclaire quelque peu ce débat en traitant de trois questions: (i) Quelle est l'étendue du stock d'infrastructure publique au Canada? (ii) Quels sont les principales composantes de cette infrastructure? (iii) Comment cette infrastructure a-t-elle évolué au cours des quarante dernières années? Notre article examine aussi l'impact de l'infrastructure publique sur le niveau de vie des Canadiens et sur la performance du secteur des entreprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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