Commission Recommendation Research Articles

Re-examining the Cost-of-Living Index and the Biases of Price Indices

The U.S. CPI is based on the Laspeyres price index, an index type that has an upward Thus, the CPI tends to overstate increases in the cost of living. To address this bias, the Advisory Commission to Study the Consumer Price Index recommended adopting for the CPI a price index, e.g., the Fisher or Tornqvist indices. Under the assumption of homothetic preferences, superlative indices always have smaller substitution biases--hence, are closer to the cost-of-living index (COLI)--than the Laspeyres index, but this assumption implies that: all elasticities equal 1, the true COLI is independent of the utility level (standard of living), and expenditure shares are unaffected by changes in income. These implications are contradicted, however, by all known household budget studies. Therefore, superlative indices are not necessarily closer to the true COLI than the Laspeyres index except in the unrealistic case of homothetic preferences. Under more realistic non-homothetic preferences, expenditure shares vary with and, thus, income is introduced into the superlative indices. This, in turn, could result in biases larger than the Laspeyres substitution bias in the CPI. The Commission did not, however, address this possibility. The Laspeyres index has a larger substitution bias but no bias because it uses fixed expenditure shares. Under plausible conditions, by using a non-homothetic almost ideal demand system (AIDS) model, we carry out empirical simulations that show that the combined substitution and biases of either the Fisher or the Tornqvist index could be either positive or negative--that is, a superlative index could differ even more from the true COLI than is the case for the present CPI. Thus, adjustments resulting from a CPI based on a superlative index could exceed those from using the current CPI, when the combined bias is positive, or could fall below those warranted by the true COLI in the case of negative combined bias. Therefore, the Commission's recommendation for a superlative index CPI formula needs further examination. We propose a theoretically rigorous and practical procedure to determine a COLI free from substitution and bias, using estimated ordinary demand functions without postulating a specific structure of consumer preferences.

THE DUNLOP COMMISSION'S OMISSIONS ON AMERICAN LABOR MARKET POLICY

In 1994 and 1995, a U.S. presidential task force called the “Dunlop Commission” issued reports on the labor market and made various public policy recommendations. The commission's fact‐finding report identified a variety of problems, primarily economic, such as widening wage inequality, lagging productivity, and unemployment. However, the commission's recommendation report limited its focus primarily to collective bargaining labor law and proposed solutions that appeared unlikely to have a significant impact on the problems identified in the first report. The commission's narrow charge, its insistence on maintaining a consensus among its members, and the limited range of views represented by its membership explain these inconsistencies.

Federal Criminal Code Reform: Is It Possible

The criminal code title of the United States code should be completely rewritten. The National Commission on Reform of Federal Criminal Laws, the Brown Commission, announced that conclusion in 1971. It remains equally valid today. The paper explains the continuing inadequacy of the criminal code title and describes the history of the codification effort. It also focuses on whether criminal law codification could be achieved in the future. In the author's opinion, the substantive criminal laws of the United States could be joined together in an efficient enacted code. To do so, however, will require that lessons be drawn from the unsuccessful effort to enact a federal criminal code from 1972 to 1982. For example, multiple criminal code bills, rather than the Brown Commission recommendation above, were debated in Congress. During the entire period, the issue generated more than 24,000 pages of testimony and exhibits in congressional hearings. In 1979 and 1980, over a period of more than 300 days, the House subcommittee held 157 days of hearings, public meetings, additional hearings, and meetings to revise the draft legislation. As a result, it did not report a bill to the full committee until March 11, 1980, a date that was too late for full committee, rules, floor, and conference committee action. All Congress has to do to avoid such delay is to provide in the commission legislation that the rules of section 151 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. section 2191) shall apply to the final report of the commission. The fast track rules provide, inter alia, that if a bill is not reported from committee 45 days after introduction, it shall be automatically discharged.

Pollution from polychlorodibenzo‐p‐dioxins and furans: The case of several foundry plants in the Lombardy region

In 1991 a co‐operation between Public Health Office (U.S.S.L.) n° 18 of Brescia and the Chemical Section Laboratories of U.S.S.L. n° 38 of Milan concerning the possible environmental impact of foundry industrial activities performing metallic scraps recovering, has been undertaken. Soil and surfaces have been classified in conformity with the National Toxicological Consultative Commission (C.C.T.N.) recommendation dated 12/02/1988'; owing to the characteristics of the processed material, besides heavy metals, polychlorodibenzo‐p‐dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorodibenzofurans (PCDFs) and polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs) have been looked for. The particulate matter collected from the filters positioned over the arc furnaces in 14 foundry plants has been characterized and classified, according both to C.C.T.N.1 and to the Interministerial Board regulation dated 27/07/1985 for the first application of the Republic President Decree Law (D.P.R.) n° 915/1982, concerning wastes classification, based, in this case, on these t...

Ways to Improve the System of Taxation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises: A Commission Recommendation

Ways to Improve the System of Taxation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises: A Commission Recommendation

Michigan panel rebuts chlorine ban proposal

A panel of Michigan scientists, convened to review a U.S.-Canadian commission's recommendation to phase out chlorine and all chlorine-containing compounds as industrial feedstocks, has concluded there is insufficient scientific that short-lived chlorinated compounds produce environmental and health threats. Although the panel opposes sunsetting all uses of chlorine and organochlorines, it supports the binational commission's call for a review of chlorine use and alternatives by industry, government, and the public. The Michigan panel hopes these groups will evaluate and replace specific problematic chlorine-containing compounds over a period of 30 years. As for scientific evidence to ban chlorine, We don't have it yet, says the panel's chairman, Lawrence J. Fischer, director of the Institute for Environmental Toxicology at Michigan State University, East Lansing. In November 1993, Gov. John Engler asked the Michigan Environmental Science Board (MESB) to evaluate the scientific basis for the...

Commission Recommendation on the Taxation of Non-Residents

Commission Recommendation on the Taxation of Non-Residents

Labour and proportional representation

The announcement to Labour's national executive committee broadly satisfied both sides of the party: pro-reformers, although disappointed at Mr Smith's rejection of the case for change, believe the decision to back a plebiscite will eventually result in reform; supporters of FPTP dismiss the proposed ballot as a distraction but have been boosted by Mr Smith's declared stance andrefusal to back the Plant Commission's recommendation for FPTP to be abandoned.

The Defense Industry Initiative: Ethics, self-regulation, and accountability

In 1986, President Reagan created the Packard Commission, a blue-ribbon commission to investigate defense contracting procurement fraud. The Packard Commission's major recommendation was for defense contractors to adopt ethics programs. Out of this recommendation emerged the Defense Industry Initiative (DII). This paper examines this Initiative and focuses on the DII's six principles. In particular, this paper explores the implications the DII has had with respect to (1) pursuing intra-industry cooperation and setting industry-wide standards; (2) monitoring compliance; (3) the paradox inherent to the DII as a facilitator for industry self-regulation; and, (4) why companies have enthusiastically adopted the directive. This paper concludes that the DII falls short of being an effective method of self-regulation because: (1) it does not achieve complete industry-wide cooperation; (2) it does not establish uniform standards of ethical conduct within the industry; (3) it does not hold the signatory companies accountable for creating a strong system of ethical conduct; and, (4) it does not relieve the organizational and market pressures to be unethical.

Sexual Harassment European Commission Recommendation and Code of Practice

Sexual Harassment European Commission Recommendation and Code of Practice Get access MICHAEL RUBENSTEIN MICHAEL RUBENSTEIN Editor, Industrial Relations Law Reports and Co-Editor, Equal Opportunities Review Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Industrial Law Journal, Volume 21, Issue 1, March 1992, Pages 70–74, https://doi.org/10.1093/ilj/21.1.70 Published: 01 March 1992

Coverage of Black Americans in Four Major Newspapers, 1950–1989

Good news and bad news: This study finds increased newspaper coverage of black Americans, but that content remains highly stereotypical, with little attempt to get behind events at underlying causes – a key Kerner Commission recommendation.

Internal control—a question of integrity, ethics, and competence

As an outgrowth of a Treadway Commission recommendation, the Commission's sponsoring organizations initiated a study to provide a common definition of internal control that public companies can use to judge the effectiveness of their internal control systems. This article provides a brief overview of the study's resulting internal control framework, focusing principally on one particular component—the competence, integrity,and ethical values of a company's people.

Rejecting Criminal Liability for Life-Shortening Palliative Care

It is possible that a physician who administers life-shortening palliative care, even to a terminally ill patient with the patient's consent, commits murder. The Law Reform Commission of Canada, as part of its proposals on recodifying criminal law, has recommended that criminal liability not attach to the administration of life-shortening palliative care "appropriate in the circumstances". The author submits that while the aim of the Commission's recommendation is good, the phrase "appropriate in the circumstances" should be replaced with more specific criteria for determining when life-shortening palliative care may be administered. Failure to do so would leave physicians in almost as uncertain a situation as is presently the case, preventing them from administering such care without fear of criminal liability.

Coverage of Black Americans in Four Major Newspapers, 1950–1989

Good news and bad news: This study finds increased newspaper coverage of black Americans, but that content remains highly stereotypical, with little attempt to get behind events at underlying causes – a key Kerner Commission recommendation.

Press Coverage of Blacks and the Black Community: the Minority Legislator's Perspective

This mail survey of black elected officials in state legislatures looked at black elected officials' views on white Press coverage of the black community, evaluation of the black elected officials' own relationships with the white Press, and ways that these black elected officials think that the white Press can improve coverage of news about blacks and the black community. Coverage of the black community was seen generally as insensitive, incomplete and inappropriate. The black elected officials endorse increased hiring of black reporters and editors and several other steps aimed at improving black news coverage. Discrimination in coverage was seen as extending beyond crime news, to include education news, business and industry, and news of the professions. These black elected officials felt the white Press favored white officeholders, and the sense of being discriminated against is greatest among black legislators from larger communities. The study concludes that the Kerner Commission recommendation for ...

Local administration in Botswana

AbstractSince Botswana became independent in 1966 a steady process of decentralization has been undertaken by a Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) government confident in its own legitimacy and committed officially to a policy of rural development. In 1978 the President appointed a Local Government Structure Commission to test the suitability of the existing structure and to advise on the relationship between the four main institutions at district level–the District Administration, the District Council, the Land Board and the Tribal Administration. In its 1979 Report the Commission recommended that each institution should retain its separate identity, with its powers balanced by those of the others. This article reviews the working of each institution, and concludes that the Commission's recommendation was justified. It notes, however, that the balance between the four institutions has been tilted to an extent in favour of the District Administration. It shows that the District Councils have displayed an improved capacity for plan implementation, but need more skilled technical personnel and a better quality of elected councillor; that the Land Boards are no longer subordinate to the District Councils in administrative matters, but are hampered by a shortage of transport and finance; and that Tribal Administration staff still work under very poor conditions, though their salaries and pensionable status are much improved.

The MX debate: Evaluating the arguments

(1985). The MX debate: Evaluating the arguments. Defense Analysis: Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 255-268.

FORESTRY'S GREAT ESCAPE

Summary Few will be surprised at the Government's rejection of the Countryside Commission's recent recommendation that the larger upland afforestation schemes be subject to planning control. And yet the calls for afforestation controls which grew within the rural amenity lobby through the sixties and seventies attracted Conservative support and Labour opposition. That pattern changed in the early eighties when Labour adopted, in advance of any national environmental organisation, a policy of agricultural controls. The politically more important agricultural issue now dominates and today Labour advocates planning control of agriculture and afforestation, whilst the Tories reject controls of agriculture and afforestation. Arguably, the foresters' (and the farmers') best strategy now is to use what time remains under Tory administrations to so develop an effective co-operative system that the calls for control disappear.

CDC Diabetes Control Programs--overview of diabetes patient education.

In 1974, Congress established the National Commission on Diabetes which recommended that the Centers for Disease Control implement the health care and educational com ponent of a Long Range Plan. In 1977, at the Commission's recom mendation, the CDC established Dia betes Control Programs in 20 states. The wide variety of interventions and special studies conducted by these states include patient and professional education projects as well as activities related to primary care, complications, and others such as insulin pump sur veillance and hypertension. This paper focuses on project activities, implementation, evaluation of educa tion interventions, and preliminary results of these programs.

Safety Incentives in Workmen's Compensation Insurance

The workmen's compensation insurance premiums of most employers are adjusted, by the use of an experience-rating formula, to reflect the firm's accident record. This paper presents, by firm size, the elasticities of the most commonly used formula with respect to accident frequency and severity. The analysis shows that financial incentives for safety are negligible for small firms, and thus it fails to support the recent National Commission's recommendation that experience rating be extended to still smaller firms. It is also shown that quite large increases in benefit levels would do virtually nothing to increase those incentives.