This paper examines how recent econometric policy evaluation research on monetary policy rules can be applied in a practical policymaking environment. According to this research, good policy rules typically call for changes in the federal funds rate in response to changes in the price level or changes in real income. An objective of the paper is to preserve the concept of such a policy rule in ...

This paper models a legislature in which the same agenda setter serves for two periods, showing how he can exploit a legislature (completely) in the first period by promising future benefits to legislators who support him. In equilibrium, a large majority of legislators vote for the firstperiod proposal because they thereby maintain the chance of belonging to the minimum winning coalition in th...

Data protection laws offer such broad exemptions for research that research ethics boards and data custodians lack sufficient guidance as to when it may be acceptable to release data to researchers without consent. The result: idiosyncratic institutional policies that create major challenges for researchers conducting multi-centred studies. The 2005 CIHR Best Practices for Protecting Privacy in...

The prevention of adolescent smoking has focused on peer influences to the relative neglect of parental influences. Parents socialize their children about many behaviors including smoking, and parental rules about their child's smoking have been related to lower levels of adolescent smoking. Moreover, among adults, indoor smoking restrictions have been associated with decreased smoking. Accordi...