Policy analysis frequently requires estimates of aggregate (or mean) consumer elasticities. However, estimates are often made incorrectly, based on elasticity calculations at mean income. We provide in this paper an overall integrated analytical framework that encompasses these biases and...

It has long been recognized that taxing a commodity that generates negative externalities can be used to reduce the consumption of that commodity. A variant involves the imposition of revenue neutrality but that may alter the tax rate required to meet a consumption reduction target. We explore...

We consider optional TOU (time-of-use) pricing for residential consumers as an alternative to a single TOU or flat rate structure offered by a publicly regulated electricity supplier. A general equilibrium model is developed and used to explore and quantify the effects of optional pricing on...

A pilot study was undertaken in Newfoundland and Labrador to determine whether provision of a real-time feedback device is sufficient to provide residential customers with the information needed to reduce their electricity consumption. A panel based econometric methodology, which controlled for...

Population aging is a problem common to many countries: an increasing proportion of retired people, a decreasing proportion of working age, and resultant downward pressure on national product per capita. We explore longer-run aspects of immigration as a policy instrument in this context. We...

[OBJECTIVE] The paper explores the population effects of male preference stopping rules and of alternative combinations of fertility rates and male-biased birth sex ratios. [METHODS] The "laboratory" is a closed, stable population with five age groups and a dynamic process represented by a...

[Background:] Surveys of chronic health conditions provide information about prevalence but not about the incidence and the process of change within the population. [Objective:] We show how the "age dynamics" of chronic conditions - the probabilities of contracting the conditions at different...

The paper considers age-sex patterns of fluctuation of employment, unemployment, labour force participation, hours worked per employee, and hours worked per capita. The patterns are extracted (by regression) from annual data for the period 1976-2011 and expressed in the form of...

We explore the implications of male preference stopping rules for a stable population, and more generally the aggregate implications of higher male/female birth ratios. We begin by specifying nine alternative family stopping rules, derive their probability functions, and simulate the long-run...

Since the concept of retirement is prominent in both popular thinking and academic studies it would be helpful if the notion were analytically sound, could be measured with precision, and would make possible comparisons of patterns of retirement over time and among different populations. This...