THE EFFECT OF THE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT ON CANADA'S ENERGY RESOURCES

The inclusion of energy in the Free Trade Agreement (fta) illustrates perhaps better than any other provision in the agreement that the basic objective of this treaty was not the elimination of tariffs between Canada and the U.S.A. but the creation of a new economic order for Canada, which would limit the power of the nation-state to intervene in the economy. By the time the FTA came into effect at the beginning of 1989, Canada and the U.S.A. had already established virtually a free-trade relationship in energy commodities. The previously existing National Energy Program had been dismantled by the federal Conservative government by June of 1985 and this was followed by a process of thoroughgoing deregulation in all spheres of energy under federal jurisdiction. With the coming into force of the FTA, the newly deregulated Canadian energy economy became an irrevocable and permanent feature of Canada's energy relations with the United States.     

REGIONAL INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURES AND ECONOMIC PROSPECTS IN THE FORMER USSR

The value of output, employment, and capital stock for each industrial sector for each oblast-level spatial unit in the former USSR, as well as differences in regional industrial structures are presented on the basis of a unique set of unpublished Goskomstat data. Particular emphasis is placed on asessing the regions' relative raw materials endowments, especially with respect to energy resources, and on the degree of diversification, or lack of same, within their industrial structures. The extremely uneven distribution of industrial capacity is examined in light of its role in determining the near- and longer-term economic prospects for the various republics and regions.     

PRICE UNCERTAINTY AND PRODUCTION-LOCATION DECISIONS UNDER FREE ENTRY OLIGOPOLY*

ABSTRACT. This paper departs from earlier work on location theory under uncertainty by considering an oligopoly case where the symmetric Cournot-Nash equilibrium of imperfectly competitive and identical firms are examined. It will be shown that once a Cournot competitive equilibrium is introduced, the demand function plays a central role in the choice of location, and the effects of changes in fixed costs, mean product price and price variability on the firm's optimum location and output are independent of absolute and/or relative risk aversion. These striking results are in sharp contrast with the well-known results obtained in previous contributions to the location literature.     

CANADA'S ELASTIC SPACE: A PORTRAYAL OF ROUTE AND COST DISTANCES

Five types of physical and cost distances between fourteen Canadian cities are studied using a non-Euclidean mapping method based on a generalized Minkowskian distance function formula. Overall, these distances are shown to be anisotropic and non-linearly related to geographic distances. Except for the rail-cost distances, the price structure appears to be fairly consistent. A comparison with maps derived by multidimensional scaling also shows that the generalized Minkowski representations are significantly more accurate than Euclidean separations but lack their immediate interpretability. Cinq types de distance physique et distance coǔt reliant quatorze villes canadiennes sont étudiés en utilisant une méthode de cartographie non-euclidienne dérivée à partir d'une fonction minkowskienne généralisée. On montre que les distances sont anisotropiques et dans une relation non-linéaire avec les distances géographiques. Excepté pour les distances ferroviaires, les prix sont logiquement structurés. Une comparaison avec des cartes construites à partir d'un échelonnage multidimensionel démontre que les représentations minkowskiennes généralisées sont plus précises mais aussi plus difficiles à interpréter que les cartes euclidiennes.     

THE VALAAM ARCHIPELAGO: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

The authors describe a complex of social, economic, and environmental problems on the Valaam Archipelago, associated with pollution of Lake Ladoga, heavy tourist pressure, and deteriorating residential/economic infrastructure for the small permanent population. The islands are known as the site of the architecturally and historically unique Monastery of the Transfiguration, situated on the main island of Valaam—now in disrepair from negligence, heavy visitor pressure, and use as residential quarters for all but a few permanent island residents. The option of resettling this population to the mainland is weighed against its comprehensive development as a historical and tourist center. translated by H. L. Haslett, Leamington Spa, UK from: Izvestiya Vsesoyuznogo Geograficheskogo Obshchestva, 1991, No. 1, pp. 98-103.     

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE - PAST ACHIEVEMENTS AND FUTURE PROSPECTS

This paper is the text of the inaugural lecture given by the author in the Ashmolean Museum Lecture Theatre on 23 October 1990 following his appointment in October 1989 to the Edward Hall Chair of Archaeological Science, at the University of Oxford