Contrasting Development of the Hydro-Electric Industry in the Montreal and Toronto Regions, 1900-1930

Abstract

This paper employs four dichotomized variables (monopolistic or competitive industrial organization; united or divided municipal jurisdiction; harmony or friction in intergovernmental relations; abundant or scarce natural resources) to compare the development of the hydro-electric industries in the Toronto and Montreal regions and concludes that differences in these structural conditions facilitated public ownership in the former case and inhibited it in the latter.