The branch plant economy is a term used to describe the phenomonon of U.S. companies building factories (branch plants) in Canada, primarily to sell products in the Canadian market. In the period between the U.S. Cival War (early 1860's) and the first World War, U.S. companies began to look to Canada as a new market. Canadian tariffs on imported products led U.S. comapnies to build factories in Canada, in effect bypassing the tariffs.
Concerns in Canada over branch plants include that Canada's manufacturing base my be too reliant on outside expertise & resources. and that it may lead to proportionately less Research and Development spending in Canada. The recent North American Free Trade Agreement may render the future of the concept moot as tariffs between the U.S. and Canada are eliminated (although still not on all products).
Branchplants have long dominated employment opportunities in rural America (Glasmeier, Kays, and Thompson (1995)), and contributed steady, high wage, high benefit employment opportunities for rural workers.
Branchplants have traditionally located in rural areas because of low labor costs and favorable business climates.
Branchplants have higher wages and higher productivity than non-branch plants in the Region, and there is some evidence the difference is increasing.
Branches typically dimorphic as spreading and pendent branches, but some species lack branches or branches are not clearly differentiated, pendent branches typically more slender than spreading branches and with a tendency to adhere to and cover the stem.
Plants moderate-sized and lax to somewhat compact, +/- stiff-stemmed; moderate-sized to large, forming lawns or low, loose hummocks; green, yellow-brown to golden-brown and often tinged with brown to purplish brown; capitulum +/- flat in lax open-grown forms to +/- rounded and compact in open grown forms.
Branch leaves ovate to ovate elliptical, 1.5--2 x 0.9--1.6 mm; hyaline cells on convex surface with elliptic to more often round pores along the commissures, comb-lamellae can be present, but often absent or restricted to leaf bases; chlorophyllous cells broadly triangular in transverse section and well-enclosed on the convex surface; end wall not thickened.
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