Policy Boards and Policy Smoothing

S-Tier
Journal: Quarterly Journal of Economics
Year: 2000
Volume: 115
Issue: 1
Pages: 305-339

Score contribution per author:

8.043 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Partisan politics and random election outcomes generate policy uncertainty and partisan business cycles. To reduce policy uncertainty, society must design the policy-making environment to overcome electoral uncertainty and partisanship. I show that delegating policy to an independent policy board with discretionary powers will produce substantial policy smoothing and lower policy uncertainty relative to a simple model in which elected officials set policy. Board members are chosen in a partisan, noncooperative environment; yet in the benchmark model, policy variability is eliminated, and the cooperative bargaining solution is replicated.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:oup:qjecon:v:115:y:2000:i:1:p:305-339.
Journal Field
General
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-29