Industrial and regional profit rates are reported for the Canadian manufacturing sector between 1961 and 1984. Analysis of variance results indicate that both industrial and regional variations in profit rates are significant and that a ranking of industries in terms of average profitability is relatively stable over space. The persistence of profit rate differences is examined with an autoregression model. No pronounced tendency is found for profit rates to converge to industrial or regional averages, lending little support to equilibrium arguments. Sectoral barriers to the equalization of profit rates are shown to be significant, while spatial barriers appear insignificant.
