Harry Johnson Prize

The Canadian Economics Association awards the Harry G. Johnson Prize each year to the author or authors of the paper judged to be the best paper published in the Canadian Journal of Economics in the preceding calendar year.  The Prize is awarded at the annual meetings of the Canadian Economics Association and is selected by a committee of three, who normally serve for three years each in overlapping terms. The prize was incepted in 1977 and has a cash value of $2,000.

The Prize is named in honour of distinguished Canadian economist Harry G. Johnson who died in 1977 at the age of 57. Harry Johnson was born in Toronto and obtained his B.A. degree in Political Economy from the University of Toronto in 1943. He then obtained his first academic appointment, as Acting Professor at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, where he stayed for one year. He served with the Canadian army in the latter stages of WWII, then returned to the University of Toronto in 1946 to do an M.A. degree. Johnson moved on to Harvard for his Ph.D. studies in economics, and subsequently held several distinguished academic appointments, most notably at the University of Chicago and at the London School of Economics. He also took the time to hold many visiting appointments in Canada over the years.

Harry Johnson produced a remarkably large quantity of highly influential research publications, particularly but not exclusively in international finance, international trade theory, and macroeconomics. In addition, he was a larger than life figure who is remembered for the enormous impact he had on the structure of economics graduate programs in Britain, the USA, and Canada, and also for his impact on the evolution of economics journals. Although he never held a permanent professorial appointment in Canada, he somehow managed to be the most academically influential and respected "Canadian" economist of the 1960s and early 1970s.

Previous Winners

2022: Olivier Fortin-Gagnon, Maxime Leroux, Dalibor Stevanovic, and Stéphane Surprenant: "A large Canadian database for macroeconomic analysis" published in November  2022 (Volume 55, Number 4, pages 1799-1833).

2021: Donn. L. Feir and Christopher Auld : "Indian Residential Schools, Height, and Body Mass Post-1930” and Federico Ravenna and Marcus Mølbak Ingholt : "The impact of inflation targeting: Testing the good luck hypothesis” - vol. 54(1), pages 126-163, February 2021.

2020: Gaetano Basso, Giovanni Peri and Ahmed S. Rahman : "Computerization and immigration: Theory and evidence from the United States" - vol. 53(4), pages 1457-1494, November 2020.

2019: Lauren E. Jones, Kevin Milligan and Mark Stabile: "Child cash benefits and family expenditures: Evidence from the National Child Benefit" - vol. 52(4), pages 1433-1463, November 2019.

2018: Joel Rodrigue and Kunio Tsuyuhara: "On-the-Job-Search, Wage Dispersion and Trade Liberalization" - vol. 51(2), pages 452-482, May 2018.

2017: Gino Cateau: "Price-level versus Inflation Targeting under Model Uncertainty" - vol. 50(2), pages 522-540, May 2017.

2016: Lukas Albrecht and Trevor Tombe: "Internal trade, productivity and interconnected industries: A quantitative analysis" - ol. 49(1), pages 237-263, February 2016

2015: Nicolas-Guillaume Martineau and Gregor W. Smith: "Identifying fiscal policy (in)effectiveness from the differential counter-cyclicality of government spending in the interwar period" - vol. 48(4), pages 1291-1320, November 2015.

2014: Philippe Belley, Marc Frenette and Lance Lochner: "Post-secondary attendance by parental income in the U.S. and Canada: Do financial aid policies explain the differences?" - vol. 47(2), pages 664-696, May 2014.

2013: Kris Inwood and Ian Keay: "Trade Policy and Industrial Development: Iron and Steel in a Small Open Economy 1870-1913" - vol. 46(4), pages 1265-1294, November 2013.

2012: Matilde Bombardini, Christopher J. Kurz and Peter M. Morrow: "Ricardian Trade and the Impact of Domestic Competition on Export Performance" - vol. 45(2), pages 585-612, May 2012.

2011: Wen-Hao Chen and Jean-Yves Duclos: "Testing for poverty dominance: an application to Canada" - vol. 44(3), pages 781-803, August 2011.

2010: Matthieu Crozet and Pamina Koenig: "Structural Gravity Equations with Intensive and Extensive Margins" - vol. 43(1), pages 41-62, February 2010.

2009: Nezih Guner and John Knowles: " Why Is the Rate of Single-Parenthood Lower in Canada than in the U.S.? A Dynamic Equilibrium Analysis of Welfare Policies" - vol. 42(1), pages 56-89, February 2009.

2008: Kevin Milligan and Marie Rekkas: "Campaign spending limits, incumbent spending, and election outcomes" - vol. 41(4), pages 1351-1374, November 2008.

2007: Véronique Flambard, Pierre Lasserre and Pierre Mohnen: "Snow removal auctions in Montreal: costs, informational rents, and procurement management" - vol. 40(1), pages 245-277, February 2007.

2006: Benjamin H. Liebman and Kara M. Reynolds: "The Returns from Rent-Seeking: Campaign Contributions, Firm Subsidies, and the Byrd Amendment" - vol. 39(4), pages 1345-1369, November 2006.

2005: M. Christopher Auld: "Causal effect of early initiation on adolescent smoking patterns" - vol. 38(3), pages 709-734, August 2005.

2004: Mukesh Eswaran and Ashok Kotwal: "A theory of gender differences in parental altruism" - vol. 37(4), pages 918-950, November 2004.

2003: B. Curtis Eaton and Mukesh Eswaran: "The evolution of preferences and competition: a rationalization of Veblen's theory of invidious comparisons" - vol. 36(4), pages 832-859, November 2003.

2002: Robin Boadway, Nicolas Marceau and Steeve Mongrain: "Joint Tax Evasion" - vol. 35(3), pages 417-435, August 2002.

2001: Mark Stabile: "Private Insurance Subsidies and Public Health Care Markets: Evidence from Canada" - vol. 34(4), pages 921-942, November 2001.

2000: Paul Beaudry and David A. Green: "Cohort Patterns in Canadian Earnings: Assessing the Role of Skill Premia in Inequality Trends" - vol. 33(4), pages 907-936, November 2000.

1999: Ann M. Carlos and Frank D. Lewis: "Property rights, competition, and depletion in the eighteenth-century Canadian fur trade: the role of the European market" - vol. 32(3), pages 705-728, May 1999.

1998: Christopher Ferrall, Allan W. Gregory and William G. Tholl: "Endogenous works hours and practice patterns of Canadian physicians" - vol. 31(1), pages 1-27, February 1998.

1997: Noel Gaston and Daniel Trefler: "The labour market consequences of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement" - vol. 30(1), pages 18-41, February 1997.

1996: J.C. Herbert Emery and Kenneth J. McKenzie: "Damned if You Do, Damned if You Don't: an Option Value Approach to Evaluating the Subsidy of the CPR Mainline" - vol. 29(2), pages 255-270, May 1996.

1995: Alan G. Green and David A. Green: "Canadian Immigration Policy: the Effectiveness of the Point System and Other Instruments" - vol. 28(4b), pages 1006-1041, November 1995.

1994: Peter S. Burton: "Support for a Characteristics Approach: Evidence from the Market for the Insecticides" - vol. 27(1), pages 1-19, February 1994.

1993: Aileen J. Thompson: "The Anticipated Sectoral Adjustment to the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement: An Event Study Analysis" - vol. 26(2), pages 253-271, May 1993.

1992: Larry Karp and David M. Newbery: "Dynamically Consistent Oil Import Tariffs" - vol. 25(1), pages 1-21, February 1992.

1991: Ross D. Milbourne, Douglas D. Purvis and W. David Scoones: "Unemployment Insurance and Unemployment Dynamics" - vol. 24(4), pages 804-826, November 1991.

1990: Joseph G. Altonji and John C. Ham: "Intertemporal Substitution, Exogeneity, and Surprises; Estimating Life Cycle Models for Canada" - vol. 23(1), pages 1-43, February 1990.

1989: A.L. Robb and J.B. Burbidge: "Consumption, Income, and Retirement" - vol. 22(3), pages 522-542, August 1989.

1988: John McMillan and Peter Morgan: "Dispersion, Price Flexibility, and Repeated Purchasing" - vol. 21(4), pages 883-902, November 1988.

1987: Randall Wright and Janine Loberg: "Unemployment Insurance, Taxes, and Unemployment" - vol. 20(1), pages 36-54, February 1987.

1986: B. Espen Eckbo: "Mergers and the Market for Corporate Control: the Canadian Evidence" - vol. 19(2), pages 236-260, May 1986.

1985: Richard Harris: "Why Voluntary Export Restraints are "Voluntary?" - vol. 18(4), pages 799-809, November 1985.

1984: Gene M. Grossman: "International Competition and the Unionized Sector" - vol. 17(3), pages 541-556, August 1984.

1983: Michael Peters and Ralph A. Winter: "Market Equilibrium and the Resolution of Uncertainty" - vol. 16(3), pages 381-390, August 1983.

1982: Richard Arnott: "The Structure of Multi-Period Employment Contracts with Incomplete Insurance Markets" - vol. 15(1), pages 51-76, February 1982.

1981: James A. Brander and Barbara J. Spencer: "Tariffs and the Extraction of Foreign Monopoly Rents Under Potential Entry" - vol. 14(3), pages 371-389, August 1981.

1980: David F. Burgess: "Protection, Real Wages, Real Incomes, and Foreign Ownership" - vol. 13(4), pages 594-614, November 1980.

1979: Gordon R. Munro: "The Optimal Management of Transboundary Renewable Resources" - vol. 12(3), pages 355-376, August 1979.

1978: Robin Boadway and John Treddenick: "A General Equilibrium Computation of the Effects of the Canadian Tariff Structure", vol. 11(3), pages 424-446, August 1978. 
and
Ulrich R. Kohli : "A Gross National Product Function and the Derived Demand for Imports and the Supply of Exports", vol. 11(2), pages 167-182, May 1978.

1977: Keith Acheson: "Revenue vs. Protection: the Pricing of Wine by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario", vol. 10(2), pages 246-262, May 1977. 
and
Wilfred J. Ethier : "The Theory of Effective Protection in General Equilibrium: Effective-Rate Analogues of Nominal Rates", vol. 10(2), pages 233-245, May 1977.