Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Economics

Supervisor

James C. MacGee

Abstract

This thesis consists of three chapters employing quantitative open economy models to study international trade transmission, the economic impacts of climate change, and remittance transfers.

The first chapter examines the role of production sharing and trade in the transmission of the 2008-2009 recession. In the model, production sharing is represented by a tradable sector that produces a composite good exclusively for the foreign market. The results suggest that trade transmission can account for 67% of the fall in output in Canada, 24% of the fall in output in Mexico, and about two-thirds of the fall in trade for both countries. The counterfactual experiments find that production sharing can account for about 40% of the fall in international trade, and 12% of the fall in output.

The second chapter quantifies the net economic impact of climate change and climate change policy on the Canadian economy. We find that while a carbon tax that holds the stock of global emissions below the 550 ppm level would yield positive net benefits for the world economy, the impact of such a tax on the Canadian economy would be negative

The third chapter examines the impact of remittance transfers on the allocation of productive factors across sectors in Latin American and Caribbean countries. Key findings are that net recipients of remittance payments experience a reallocation of productive factors from the tradable sector to the non-tradable sector, and that the benefit from remittance inflows is lower for countries which have a relatively less productive non-tradable sector.

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