The Carnegie-Rochester Conference on Public Policy is designed to foster research and discussion of major policy issues by economists from academia and various policymaking organizations. Economists in universities are often unfamiliar with the constraining effect of institutional arrangements in the shaping of policy issues whereas economists in government are often less aware of current research developments and their implications. The principal objectives of the conference series are (i) to stimulate policy relevance in theoretical and empirical research in economic sciences, (ii) to encourage interchange of scientific ideas among analysts with different approaches, and (iii) to generate greater understanding by academic economists of practitioners' environments. The proposal will argue that the conferences have been outstandingly productive along these lines in the past and it will outline recent adjustments in procedures that have been designed to assure that they will continue to be productive in the future. The conferences are held semi-annually at the University of Rochester and Carnegie Mellon University. About 50 participants plus faculty and graduate students from the host institution are invited to each conference. Participants from U.S. and foreign central banks and U.S. and international agencies attend regularly, and special care is taken to involve promising young scholars. The papers are formal discussions and are edited and published so as to broaden the impact of the conference.
