NBER Reporter articles from December 1998

NBER Reporter archives from December 1998

Health economics.(pricing, usage and effects of use of cigarettes, alcoholic beverages and cocaine)
December 22, 1998... In the five years since my last report on the NBER's Program on Health Economics, members of the program have focused on the economics of substance use and abuse and on the determinants of pregnancy resolutions and their relation to infant and...

Inflation targeting.
December 22, 1998... Undoubtedly the most interesting development in monetary policy in recent years is the widespread adoption by central banks of a policy framework called "inflation targeting." As the name suggests, this approach is characterized by the...

The empirics of currency and banking crises.(a non-theoretical study of financial crises)
December 22, 1998... Currency and banking crises are potholes on the road to financial liberalization. It is relatively rare for them to cause a vehicle to break an axle - to bring the process of growth and liberalization to an utter and extended halt - but the...

Exchange rates and prices.
December 22, 1998... In the early 1970s, when the industrialized countries abandoned the fixed exchange rates of the Bretton Woods system, many economists were surprised by the high volatility of exchange rates under the new regime of more flexible rates. Dornbusch...

Historical perspectives on U.S. trade policy.
December 22, 1998... In the wake of the contentious debate over the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Clinton administration's failure to obtain fast-track negotiating authority from the Congress, there are growing fears that domestic political support...

Equity flows, banks, and Asia.(evaluation of the worldwide capital market)
December 22, 1998... After World War II, capital markets in different countries were almost completely segmented from each other. Individual investors generally could not buy securities in other countries because they could not acquire the correct currency. Since...

Capital account convertibility and capital controls in emerging market countries.
December 22, 1998... On November 6, 1998, a group of leading researchers and practitioners in international finance gathered in Cambridge to discuss capital controls in emerging markets. The backdrop to the meeting, chaired by NBER President Martin Feldstein, is of...

Formulation of monetary policy.(conference held on December 4 to 5, 1998)
December 22, 1998... An NBER-Universities Research Conference on "Formulation of Monetary Policy," organized by Mark Gertler of NBER and New York University and Frederic S. Mishkin of NBER and Columbia University, was held in Cambridge on December 4-5. The program...

Economic fluctuations and growth.(conference held on October 23, 1998)
December 22, 1998... The NBER's Program on Economic Fluctuations and Growth met on October 23 in Chicago. Organizers Lawrence Christiano of NBER and Northwestem University and Marjorie Flavin of NBER and the University of California, San Diego, put together this...

Health care.(conference held on October 23, 1998)
December 22, 1998... The NBER's Program on Health Care met on October 23 in Cambridge, The day's program, organized by Daniel Kessler and Frank A. Wolak of NBER and Stanford University, was: Elliot Fisher and Elaine Silverman, Dartmouth College, and Jonathan...

Japan project meeting.(conference held on October 29 to 30, 1998)
December 22, 1998... Members and guests of the NBER's Japan Project gathered in Tokyo on October 29-30. Organizers Fumio Hayashi of NBER and Tokyo University, Takatoshi Ito of NBER and Hitotsubashi University, and Anil K Kashyap of NBER and the University of...

Behavioral finance.(conference held on October 29, 1998)
December 22, 1998... Members of the NBER's Behavioral Finance Project Meeting met in Chicago on October 29. Robert J. Shiller, NBER and Yale University, and Richard H. Thaler, NBER and the University of Chicago, organized this program: Josef Lakonishok, NBER...

Asset pricing.(conference held on October 30, 1998)
December 22, 1998... The NBER's Program on Asset Pricing, directed by John Y. Campbell, held its fall meeting in Chicago on October 30. George M. Constantinides NBER and the University of Chicago, organized the meeting at which the following papers were discussed:...

Labor studies.(conference held on October 23, 1998)
December 22, 1998... Program Director Richard B. Freeman and Lawrence F. Katz, both of NBER and Harvard University, organized a meeting of the NBER's Program on Labor Studies which took place in Cambridge on November 6, The following papers were presented: ...

Program on children.(conference held on November 7, 1998)
December 22, 1998... The NBER's Program on Children, directed by Jonathan Gruber of NBER and MIT, met in Cambridge on November 7. They discussed the following papers: Steven D. Levitt, NBER and University of Chicago, "Juvenile Crime and Punishment" (NBER...

Public economics.(conference held on November 12 to 13, 1998)
December 22, 1998... The NBER's Program on Public Economics, organized by James M. Poterba of MIT, met in Cambridge on November 12-13. The program was: Richard J. Arnott, NBER and Boston College, "Neutral Property Taxation" Discussant: Harvey S. Rosen,...

Corporate finance program meeting.(conference held on November 20, 1998)
December 22, 1998... Members of the NBER's Program on Corporate Finance met on November 20 in Cambridge. At the meeting, organized by Program Director Raghuram Rajan of the following papers were discussed" Randall S. Krozner, NBER and University of Chicago, "Is...

Market microstructure.(conference held on December 4, 1998)
December 22, 1998... Members and guests of the NBER's Market Microstructure Project met on December 4 in Cambridge. Their agenda, organized by Bruce Lehmann of University of California, San Diego, and Andrew W. Lo of NBER and MIT, was to discuss these papers: ...