Stretching the public purse: budgetary responses to COVID-19 in Canada
Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management
ISSN: 1096-3367
Article publication date: 1 September 2020
Issue publication date: 24 November 2020
Abstract
Purpose
This paper summarizes the emergency measures taken by Canada in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and discusses the key political, economic, and social factors that influenced the design of these measures.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper collects the announcement of emergency measures in the Canadian provincial and federal governments between March 18 and May 30, 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and categorizes them by type of emergency response.
Findings
Canada has a diversified response of emergency measures mediated by its various provinces. This suggests that Canada may be more robust to biological and economic threats than nations that have less policy diversity.
Originality/value
Canada's diversity of emergency measures allows for several different avenues for future research, including countercyclical spending by subnational polities, organizational diversity's effect on resilience, the effect of tax breaks versus direct or indirect payments, effectiveness of public-private partnerships, and the effect of transparency on citizen satisfaction.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the Guest Editors and two anonymous reviewers who provided valuable guidance for the development of this paper through the revision process. Charles Cho would also like to thank Emily Nield for her outstanding research assistance and acknowledges the financial support provided by the Erivan K. Haub Chair in Business and Sustainability at the Schulich School of Business.
Citation
Cho, C.H. and Kurpierz, J. (2020), "Stretching the public purse: budgetary responses to COVID-19 in Canada", Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, Vol. 32 No. 5, pp. 771-783. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBAFM-05-2020-0070
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited