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Copyright of Forestry Chronicle is the property of Canadian Institute of Forestry and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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]

Focusing on the Canadian legal context, this paper discusses two risks associated with employees: fraud and competition. It suggests four methods of dealing with these risks: implementing a comprehensive background-checking programme; monitoring employees' technology use; making full use of electronic evidence; and implementing appropriate non- competition agreements. This is a revised version of a paper presented to the annual conference of the Treasury Management Association of Canada in Montreal, Quebec on 11th September, 2006. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose that multiculturalism can serve as an effective public policy tool to enhance a nation's competitiveness, in an era characterized by financial crises, globalization, immigration, and changing demographics. Specifically, we articulate how multiculturalism and strategic tolerance of differences can promote socioeconomic mobility for individuals, and act as the 'glue' that binds immigrants and host country nationals together. We also demonstrate how multiculturalism can attract skilled talents necessary for nation building. Immigrants who retain their ties with their countries of origin (home countries) can serve as natural trade links for their countries of residence (host country) and contribute to a reverse 'brain flow' rather than a brain gain/drain for the countries of residence/origin. We conclude by explicating that immigrants can be a source of competitive advantage for countries when a multiculturalism policy is in place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — The purpose of this paper is to provide insights to the relevant past discussions, theories and projects; and sustainable tourism development in the Niagara region. Design/methodology/approach — Each of the key four sections of this paper zooms in to specific areas. Outcomes from elite discussions involving 47 experts are followed by a concise literature review on sustainable tourism. The paper then analyses the concept of economic sustainability and reviews the outcomes from a blueprint for sustainable tourism development. Findings — This paper discusses the economic pillar of sustainable tourism by outlining the negative and positive economic effects of the worldwide travel and tourism industry. In addition to reviewing the relative competitiveness of the world's travel destinations; with a focus on Canada's performance, it outlines strategies for Niagara region to enhance its competitiveness to support sustainable tourism. Originality/value — In the recent years not much research has been carried out on the topic of sustainable tourism specific to the Niagara region. Therefore, this paper should be useful to a range of tourism stakeholders in Niagara region as well as readers involved in regional tourism development in other parts of the world. The versatility of the four authors — an administrator who chaired the Niagara Gateway Project, an academic researcher who has focused on sustainable tourism for a long period, a partner of a leading consulting firm and an applied researcher with significant international experience, makes the paper interesting. [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]

This paper reports on an exploratory study into the extent of diversity management initiatives in organizations in one Canadian city. Diversity management originated in the USA where it is reportedly being embraced by many organizations and where it has become the basis of a large consulting business. Although a diverse workforce and workplace diversity management are often argued to be critical to organizational competitiveness, little is known about how Canadian organizations are reacting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes Canada's merger law, policy, and enforcement activity. The contents of Canada's recently issued Merger Enforcement Guidelines are explained, analyzed, and compared to the U.S. Merger Guidelines. The roles of concentration, market share, entry conditions, and efficiency defenses in Canadian merger cases are assessed. Reference is made to some recent decisions of Canada's Competition Tribunal, a body created as a part of the major competition policy reforms contained in the 1986 Competition Act. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an era of expanding postsecondary markets and heightened student and institutional competition, students' field of study decisions may be becoming an increasingly important point of differentiation in the process of social mobility. Drawing on the two most recent cohorts of the Baccalaureate and Beyond and National Graduates Surveys, this paper examines and compares field of study choices among American and Canadian baccalaureate degree-holders. Consistent with existing research, gender remains an important and consistent predictor of field of study choices. In Canada, the analyses show some evidence that the gender gap for business and management is shrinking, but the engineering and mathematics gap remains significant. In the U.S. the situation was reversed, as the engineering gap shrunk and the business and management gap did not change across cohorts. Moderate family background effects, strong and consistent academic ability effects and growing academic aspiration effects were found across most analyses, lending support to theories that predict family background has direct and indirect effects on higher education choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to better understand how competition based telecommunication policies function as a mediating variable in the distribution of socio-economic consequences of mobile phones using the case of Canada. Many observers characterize the Canadian market as being uncompetitive, and argue that this lack of competition has affected Canadians in terms of access. Thus, even though almost all Canadians have access to land-line services, mobile phone penetration is still relatively low. This could be relevant as mobile services are more likely to include data and other advanced applications. As it is, access is influenced by age, income, and education. Gender is also relevant particularly with the use of more advanced devices and services. The urban and rural divide is of concern particularly where remote communities can benefit from having mobile phones. In addition, the lack of effective competition can negatively affect the competitiveness of domestic businesses relative to foreign competitors. One of the implications of the Canadian policy towards mobile phones is that while its approach was to limit regulation (regulatory forbearance) in order to develop competitive markets, those markets did not necessarily emerge. Regulatory forbearance thus contributed to a particular pattern of distributional consequences. This article argues that competition needs to be aligned with the overall goals of telecommunications policy. To do this, a country needs to define not what degree of competition is required but rather under what circumstances government intervention is needed. It might be satisfactory to have only few players in one national context but not in another. Defining the scope of intervention is perhaps most related to the tasks of identifying benefits and costs of access and how these are distributed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Since the 1970s, governments in many high-income countries have implemented a series of reforms in their health care systems to improve efficiency and effectiveness. Many of these reforms have been of a market-oriented character, involving the deregulation of key services, the creation of competitive markets, and the privatization of health and social care. Some scholars have argued that these “neoliberal” reforms have unseated the historical structural embeddedness of medicine, and in some cases even resulted in the proletarianisation of physicians. Other scholars have challenged this view, maintaining that medical hegemony continues to shape health care provision in most high-income countries. In this paper we examine how policy reforms may have altered medical dominance over maternity care in two comparatively similar countries – Canada and Australia. Our findings indicate that neoliberal reforms in these two countries have not substantially changed the historically hegemonic role medicine has played in maternity care provision. We discuss the implications of this outcome for the increased medicalisation of human reproduction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The growing incidence of conflicts between multinational gold mining companies and host community residents in the developing world is contextualized by discussing the recent proliferation of small, 'junior' companies in the gold mining industry. The geological attributes of the geographical distribution of gold deposits and gold's relative scarcity allow for an industry characterized by many small and intensely competitive firms. This competition plays out as a contest for access to resource and finance rents. Firms seek resource rents by investing in lax policy environments with mineralization that favours low-cost production, and firms seek finance rents by legally incorporating in Canada where equity financing for juniors is highly subsidized and corporate governance is lenient. Integrating studies on materiality, rent-seeking and the role of government incentives provides important insights into the rise of junior gold companies and the role of these firms in mineral conflicts around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]