Working on the railway: a case study in capital-state relations
Article Abstract:
The growing literature on corporate strategies for dealing with government focuses primarily on the organization and articulation of business interests. The processes through which the negotiations are pursued, and the factors which shape their outcomes, have drawn less attention. This paper examines the political relationship between the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Co. (Cominco) and Ottawa, which culminated in the signing of the Great Slave Lake Railway Agreement in 1961. In it the Government of Canada agreed to spend almost $100 million to finance a railway and related infrastructure in support of a lead-zinc mine development at Pine Point, NWT. The decision-making process is considered from both the capital-state and intrastate perspectives. While in the end Cominco was able to shift the major share of the railway costs into the public realm, this was far from a simple process. Overall, the case sheds light on the dynamics of bargaining between the corporation and the state, while also illustrating the difficulties of achieving policy coherence in a complex administration setting. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)
Publication Name: Canadian Public Administration
Subject: Government
ISSN: 0008-4840
Year: 1987
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Business Influence on Government: a Comparison of Public and Private Sector Perceptions
Article Abstract:
The relation of government and business has become of greater interest to researchers. More empirical research on the attitudes and beliefs of managers from both sectors is needed in Canada. This research is based on a survey of nearly two hundred federal employees and a slightly lesser number of business persons. Findings show the two groups to be alike so far as age, social class, academic background and personal attributes are concerned. Governmental management personnel generally had greater work experience in other areas; they also accorded more worth to the operation of business and government links. For business managers, only the upper level were interested in the connection. At provincial and municipal levels, more contact was desired with politicians. Generally, findings do not lend themselves to the gap theory between the two elements. The alienation of business management is largely due to perceptions of business influence on government decisions. Sample and questionnaire specifics are displayed in tables.
Publication Name: Canadian Public Administration
Subject: Government
ISSN: 0008-4840
Year: 1984
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An interpretive understanding of the non-fulfilment of business-government relations
Article Abstract:
In the winter 1983 issue of Canadian Public Administration Murray and McMillan developed a "conceptual map" of the overall relationship between business and government in Canada. They organized the current literature into five schools of thought, each of which supported a different set of explanations for the present state of business-government relations in this country. This article presents partial results of a 1984 survey of 243 chief executive officers and senior federal public officials as evidence in support of the "Interpretive School of Thought." It is argued that subjective interpretations of reality significantly affect the outcome of the interactive-consultative process between business and government. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)
Publication Name: Canadian Public Administration
Subject: Government
ISSN: 0008-4840
Year: 1987
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