Tijerina co-authors Border Policy Research Institute report

Stefano Tijerina, Maine Business School lecturer in management and Chris Kobrak Research Fellow in Canadian Business History, is featured as a co-author in a recent report from the Border Policy Research Institute at Western Washington University. “Border Barometer” measures the impacts of Canada-U.S. border restrictions. The Border Policy Research Institute (BPRI) at Western Washington University is a multidisciplinary institute that undertakes research that informs policymakers on matters related to the Canada–U.S. border, particularly in the British Columbia–Washington State region. The Barometer is a collaboration between researchers from BPRI, the Cross-Border Institute at the University of Windsor, SUNY Buffalo, the University of Lethbridge, the Bureau of Business & Economic Research at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, Saint Michael’s College, the University of Maine, and McKinley Research Group. Tijerina was the researcher for the state of Maine, adding key highlights from our borders with Quebec and New Brunswick.

The most recent partial closure of the border crossings by the Canadian government, resulting from the threats of the COVID-19 pandemic, once again revealed the critical interdependence of this particular borderland region, Tijerina wrote in his report. “Maine, over time, has become somewhat isolated from the rest of the U.S. and thus more dependent on Canada. Recent quantitative data reveals part of the story, but the real impact may be more accurately measured by qualitative data that shows the intimate relationship between the Provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick and the state of Maine.”