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Purpose -- Exploration of the policy reforms necessary to strengthen Canada's competitiveness among world trading economies. The paper aims to compare Canada's competitiveness with two economic partners, the USA and the UK, and two emerging economies, China and India. Design/methodology/approach -- Data from the annual Global Competitiveness Reports (GCRs) were used to compare Canada with the other countries. Findings -- Canada requires a national strategy to create a generation of Canadian innovators, entrepreneurs and executives with a global mindset. Research limitations/implications -- Although Canada has many global trading partners, the paper compares Canadian competitiveness with only two economic partners and two emerging economics. Also, only data from the GCRs are used. Other measures of competitiveness need to be taken into consideration to better understand Canada's global and business competitiveness. Originality/value -- This paper provides new insights into Canada's lack of global competitiveness. The main reasons for this lack of competitiveness are analysed and recommendations are provided for Canadian policy makers to enhance competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper examines the factors that influenced developments in industry and manufacturing in Canada from the 17th to the 20th century. Although Canada''s abundance of natural resources led to the development of primary industries in the 17th and 18th centuries, the manufacturing industry was not significant until the early 19th century. Four representative manufacturing industries are discussed to illustrate the overall trend in the chronological evolution of Canadian manufacturing in the 19th and 20th centuries. The role and impact of factors such as transportation, electricity, foreign investment, particularly by U.S. entrepreneurs, and government support for industry is reviewed to understand their impact on manufacturing as it has evolved to the present. It appears that these were indeed influential and thus are factors that other countries in a less developed stage of their manufacturing evolution may look to for directions. Our analysis also shows that Canadian manufacturing which began by producing simple items in small volumes due to geographical diversity and the absence of a large market, moved into the mass manufacturing age only in the 20th century. But in the 21st century due to competition from low labour cost countries Canada has moved back to customized manufacturing though in sophisticated goods such as aircraft manufacturing and biotech. While there are bright spots in Canadian manufacturing, recent studies also show that work needs to be done to produce more value added products and ensure Canadian manufacturing competitiveness in the global market place. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose – The aim of this study is to develop and empirically test a theoretical model of competition between anchor and non-anchor stores in a shopping mall. In doing so, the goals are to extend the literature on retail co-location to account for effects of anchor stores' quality levels, and to explain an observed pattern of choices of anchor-store quality levels made by mall developers. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses a game-theoretic approach to model the actions of mall developers, stores, and consumers in a competitive framework, then verifies the equilibrium predictions of this model using an empirical approach and a data set including all major malls in the US and Canada. Findings – The key finding of both the analytical and empirical models is that there exists a positive and concave (i.e. reverse U-shaped) relationship between anchor quality and mall size, i.e. that the highest-quality malls are typically found in the middle range of mall sizes. Research limitations/implications – This study introduces a relatively basic framework that could be expanded to incorporate a more flexible variety of contract types between mall developers and tenants, as well as additional sources of consumer utility associated with a single visit to a mall. Practical implications – This study provides mall developers with a basis for understanding the impact of anchor quality on competition between stores in a mall. Originality/value – This study addresses a gap in both the analytical and empirical literature on determinants of mall traffic and profit, specifically pertaining to how these variables are affected by anchor stores and their quality levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

U.S. and Canadian policies concerning medical technology acquisition and diffusion are compared. Healthcare resources are allocated primarily through insurance incentives in the U.S. and through budget controls in Canada. Techno- logical acquisitions, a small component of healthcare expenditures, are influenced by industry competition in the U.S., and by U.S. marketing in Canada. Healthcare utilization, a large component of expenditures, has caused similar resource allocation issues in both countries. Both countries are becoming more similar in their healthcare policies. Canada is becoming more privatized in financing healthcare services, and the U.S. is moving toward more conservative medicine. Both countries face similar challenges in technological acquisition and diffusion. Care must be taken that administrative hurdles do not alter the stream of returns to technology so that the R&D of beneficial technologies will be encouraged. Also, evaluation methods must objectively measure the economic costs and benefits of technological services so that technologies that yield net benefits to society will be promoted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]