Constance Smith

About

I am a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Economics at the University of Alberta. I have an Honours BA from McGill University and a Master's and PhD from Queen's University in Kingston. My previous appointments include Economist at the Bank of Canada; Visiting Fellow at the School of Economics and at the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia; and Visiting Fellow at the School of Economics and Finance, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

Research

My research interests include pension plan sustainability, the benefits of fiscal rules, and the effectiveness of natural resource stabilization funds. The SSHRC Initiative on the New Economy program helped fund my work on the impact of the exchange rate on imports, productivity and investment.  

Selected Publications

• "Managing Uncertainty: The Search for a Golden Discount-Rate Rule for Defined-Benefit Pensions." C.D. Howe Institute Commentary No. 530, Retirement, Saving and Income, January 2019.
• "Does a Discount Rate Rule Ensure a Pension Plan Can Pay Promised Benefits without Excessive Asset Accumulation?" with S. Landon, 2018. Working Paper 2018-1, University of Alberta, Department of Economics.
• "Quality Expectations, Reputation and Price," with S. Landon, Chapter 1 in The Handbook of the Economics of Wine, Volume 2: Reputation, Regulation and Market Organization, edited by Orley Ashenfelter, Olivier Gergaud, Karl Storchmann, and William Ziemba, 2018. Reprinted from the Southern Economic Journal. (Working paper version.)
• "Does the Design of a Fiscal Rule Matter for Welfare?" with S. Landon, Vol 63, 226-237, June 2017, Economic Modelling. (Working paper version.) 
• "Quality Expectations, Reputation and Price," with S. Landon, The Economics of Reputation, International Library of Critical Writings in Economics, Chapter 20, edited by Jill. J. McCluskey and Jason Winfree, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017. Reprinted from the Southern Economic Journal,1998, 64(3), 628-647. (Working paper version.)
• "Rule-Based Resource Revenue Stabilization Funds: A Welfare Comparison," with S. Landon, The Energy Journal, 2015, Vol 36, No 2, 117-143. Executive summary.
• "Government Revenue Stabilization Funds: Do They Make Us Better Off?" with S. Landon, Canadian Public Policy, 2013, Vol. XXXIX, No. 1, 71-99. Working paper.
• "External Balance Adjustment: An Intra-National and International Comparison," Journal of International Money and Finance, 2011, No. 30, 1195-1213.
• "Energy Prices and Alberta Government Revenue Volatility" C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, Fiscal and Tax Competitiveness, No 313, November 2010.
• "Investment and the Exchange Rate: Short Run and Long Run Aggregate and Sector-Level Estimates," with S. Landon, Journal of International Money and Finance, 2009, Vol, 28, 813-835. (Working paper version.)
• "Taxation and Bond Market Investment Strategies: Evidence from the Market for Government of Canada Bonds" with S Landon, Canadian Tax Journal, 2008, 56:2, 337-366.
• "Government Debt Spillovers in a Monetary Union," with S. Landon, North American Journal of Economics and Finance, 2007, 18:2,135-154. (Working paper version.)
• "The Exchange Rate and Machinery and Equipment Imports: Identifying the Impact of Import Source and Export Destination Country Currency Valuation Changes," with S. Landon, 2007, The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, 2007, 18, 3-21. (Working Paper version.)
• "Seasonality in Canadian Bond Returns: The Role of International Factors," with S. Landon, The Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, 2006, 23:4 352-368.
• "Exchange Rates and Investment Good Prices: A Cross-Industry Comparison," with S. Landon. The Journal of International Money and Finance, 2006, 25, 247-256.
• "The Exchange Rate and Wages: How They Affect Capital Investment," with S. Landon. Prepared for the partnership program between the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Initiative on the New Economy, and the Conference Board of Canada, The Canada Project, 2006
• "Decentralized Government and Regional Income Insurance," Annals of Regional Science, 2004, 38:1, 173-187.
• "The Risk Premium, Exchange Rate Expectations, and the Forward Exchange Rate: Estimates for the Yen-Dollar Rate," with S. Landon, Review of International Economics, 2003, 11:1, 144-158. (Working paper version.)
• "Dollarization and Its Alternatives: Currency Arrangements under NAFTA," in Edward J. Chambers and Peter H Smith, Editors, NAFTA in the New Millennium, 2002.
• "Government Debt Spillovers and Creditworthiness in a Federation," with S. Landon, The Canadian Journal of Economics, 33:3, 634-661.
• "Exchange Rate Variation, Commodity Price Variation, and the Implications for International Trade," Journal of International Money and Finance, 1999, 18:3. 
• "Quality Expectations, Reputation and Price,"Southern Economic Journal, with S. Landon, 1998, 64(3), 628-647. (Working paper version.)
• "The Use of Quality and Reputation Indicators by Consumers: The Case of Bordeaux Wine," Journal of Consumer Policy, 1997, 20(3), 289-323.
• "Government Debt and International Portfolio Diversification," Canadian Journal of Economics, 1996, 29:2, 294-413.
• "Substitution, Income and Intertemporal Effects in a Currency Substitution Model," Review of International Economics, 1995, 3(1), 53-59. 
• "Domestic Taxation and International Portfolio Choice," Economics Letters, 1995, 47, 211-217.
• "Stock Markets and the Exchange Rate: A Multi-Country Approach," The Journal of Macroeconomics, 1992, 14(4), 607-629.
• "Tariff Retaliation and Output under a Flexible Exchange Rate," The Bulletin of Economics Research, 1993, 45(1), 51-58.
• "Equities and the UK Exchange Rate," Applied Economics, 1992, 24, 327-335.
• "Output Effects of a Tariff Under Flexible Exchange Rates," The Journal of International Economics, 1988, 24, 359-371.