The Economic Implications of the Separatist Movement in the Province of Quebec

The political turmoil which was present in the Province of Quebec in the late 1970\u27s, was a result of a separatist movement. This study attempts to measure whether the political movement affected the economic well-being of the region. Location theory was examined in order to understand the factors which determine the location of economic activity. Export base theory helped to e xplain what makes a region grow or contract.An econometric model was built using the fundamentals of these theories. The model is a crosssection/ time series. It measures unemployment rates and population for the ten provinces, and they are proxies for economic activity. This model is operationalized by a regression analysis. The results of the regression were partially successful. The independent variable D80 was extremely important since it islolated the year 1980 and was a measure of the economic impact suffered by Quebec, as a result of the political turmoil. This variable was significant for both the unemployment rate and population models. This study concludes that the economic well-being of the Province was affected by the political movement of the 1970\u27s