Quantitive Tools for Microeconomic Policy Analysis
The conference proceedings, 'Quantitative Tools for Microeconomic Policy Analysis', were published on 6 October 2005. The conference, organised by the Productivity Commission, was held in Canberra on 17-18 November 2004.Policy modelling has played an important role in the work of the Productivity Commission and its predecessors over the years. Reform can be disruptive and costly to some. Gaining some assurance that the beneficial impacts will justify such costs is critical to developing and selling proposals for policy change. Quantitative models cannot replicate reality, but they can provide us with a better understanding of the ramifications of policy changes. Over time, increased access to and understanding of sophisticated quantitative modelling have improved the basis for policy decisions.The objective of the conference was to provide an opportunity for the dissemination of new, data-related, modelling approaches, relevant to contemporary policy discussion. The invited audience was not confined to modellers, but also included policy analysts and advisors from government, universities and the private sector.The paper, 'Quantitative Modelling at the Productivity Commission' by Dr. Philipa Dee, was commissioned as a background paper for the conference and is available from the Commission's website