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Denton Frank, Professor Emeritus

Frank Denton

Professor Emeritus

Emeritus Faculty
Department of Economics

Biography

Frank Trevor Denton is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Economics at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. His published work includes contributions to applied econometrics, population economics, labour economics, health economics, energy economics, and demography.

Honours

Elected Fellow, Royal Society of Canada, 1984
Elected Fellow, American Statistical Association, 1979
Elected Member, International Statistical Institute, 1982
LL.D. (Hon.) McMaster University, 2008

Career

Frank Trevor Denton’s first professional position, 1953 to 1954, was with the Government of Ontario’s Bureau of Statistics and Research, in Toronto. From 1954 to 1959, and again from 1961 to 1968, he held various positions with the Dominion Bureau of Statistics (later renamed Statistics Canada), the final one being Director, Research and Econometrics Staff. (In 1959 he had taken a job as an economist with Philips Electronics Industries Limited, in Toronto, but left it in 1960 to work for the Special Committee of the Senate on Manpower and Employment, before returning to the Bureau in 1961.) During the period 1964 to 1968, concurrently with his appointment at the Bureau, he served also as research consultant to the Economic Council of Canada. He moved to McMaster University in 1968 as Professor in the Department of Economics and was Director of the Program (later Research Institute) for Quantitative Studies in Economics and Population from 1981 to 1996. He became Professor Emeritus in 1996.

Research Interests: Applied Econometrics, Population Economics, Health Economics, Consumer Economics, Energy Economics

Education

  • B.A. University of Toronto 1952
  • M.A. University of Toronto 1954

Research

Selected Journal Articles

(For a larger selection of publications see Wikipedia article “Frank Denton.”)

Frank T. Denton, 1963. “Some Techniques for Analysing a Set of Time Series Subject to a Linear Restriction,” Journal of the American Statistical Association, vol. 58(302), pp. 513-518.

Frank T. Denton and John Kuiper, 1965. “The Effect of Measurement Errors on Parameter Estimates and Forecasts: A Case Study Based on the Canadian Preliminary National Accounts,” Review of Economics and Statistics, vol. XLVII(2), pp. 198-206.

Frank T. Denton, 1971. “Adjustment of Monthly or Quarterly Series to Annual Totals: An Approach Based on Quadratic Minimization,” Journal of the American Statistical Association, vol. 66(333), pp. 99-102.

Frank T. Denton and Ernest H. Oksanen, 1972. “A Multi-Country Analysis of the Effects of Data Revisions on an Econometric Model,”Journal of the American Statistical Association, vol. 67(338), pp. 286-291.

Frank T. Denton and Byron G. Spencer, 1973. “A Simulation Analysis of the Effects of Population Change on a Neo-classical Economy,” Journal of Political Economy, vol. 81(2, part 1), pp. 356-375.

Frank T. Denton, 1973. “A Simulation Model of Month-to-Month Labour Force Movement in Canada,” International Economic Review, vol. 14(2), pp. 293-311.

Frank T. Denton and Byron G. Spencer, 1974. “Some Aspects of Economic Adjustments through Migration Flows,” Economic Journal, vol. 84(336), pp. 868-885.

Frank T. Denton and Byron G. Spencer, 1976. “Household and Population Effects on Aggregate Consumption,” Review of Economics and Statistics, vol. LVIII(1), pp. 86-95.

Frank T. Denton, 1978. “Single-Equation Estimators and Aggregate Restrictions When Equations Have the Same Sets of Regressors,” Journal of Econometrics, vol. 8(2), pp. 173-179.

Frank T. Denton, 1985. “Data Mining as an Industry,” Review of Economics and Statistics, vol. LXVII(1), pp. 124-127.

Frank T. Denton, 1985. “The Effect of Professional Advice on the Stability of a Speculative Market,” Journal of Political Economy, vol. 93(5), pp. 977-993.

Frank T. Denton, 1987. “The Power Function of a Published Hypothesis Test,” Economics Letters, vol. 25(2), pp. 101-104.

Frank T. Denton and Byron G. Spencer, 1989. “Macro-Effects of Changes in Household Preferences for Children: Simulated History and Future Time Paths,” Journal of Population Economics, vol. 2(3), pp. 165-188.

Frank T. Denton and Byron G. Spencer, 1992. “Resampling a Time Series Process: A Method of Estimating the Probabilities Associated with Alternative Plans for Protecting Pensions Against Inflation,” Journal of Applied Econometrics, vol. 6(3), pp. 303-314. Also, “Erratum,” vol. 7(2), 1992 (to correct journal printing errors).

Frank T. Denton, Christine H. Feaver, and Byron G. Spencer, 1998. “Student Enrollment and Faculty Renewal: The Response of a Tenure-Based University to Demographic and Budgetary Shocks,” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, vol. 34(1), pp. 101-127.

Frank T. Denton, Dean C. Mountain, and Byron G. Spencer, 1999. “Age, Trend, and Cohort Effects in a Macro Model of Canadian Expenditure Patterns,” Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, vol. 17(4), pp. 430-443.

Frank T. Denton, Amiram Gafni, and Byron G. Spencer, 2002. “Exploring the Effects of Population Change on the Costs of Physician Services,” Journal of Health Economics, vol. 21(5), pp. 781-803.   

Frank T. Denton, Christine H. Feaver, and Byron G. Spencer, 2005. “Time Series Analysis and Stochastic Forecasting: An Econometric Study of Mortality and Life Expectancy,” Journal of Population Economics, vol. 18(2), pp. 203-227.

 Frank T. Denton, Dean C. Mountain, and Byron G. Spencer, 2006. “Errors of Aggregation and Errors of Specification in a Consumer Demand Model: A Theoretical Note,” Canadian Journal of Economics, vol. 39(4), pp. 1398-1407.

Frank T. Denton, Dean C. Mountain, and Byron G. Spencer, 2006. “Age, Retirement, and Expenditure Patterns: An Econometric Study of Older Households,” Atlantic Economic Journal, vol. 34, pp. 189-218.

Frank T. Denton and Dean C. Mountain, 2011. “Taxing a Commodity with and without Revenue Neutrality: An Exploration Using a Calibrated Consumer Equilibrium Model,” Atlantic Economic Journal, vol. 39(3), pp. 261-271.

Frank T. Denton and Byron G. Spencer, 2011.”Age of Pension Eligibility, Gains in Life Expectancy, and Social Policy,” Canadian Public Policy, vol. 37(2), pp. 183-200.

Frank T. Denton and Dean C. Mountain, 2014. “The Implications of Mean Scaling for the Calculation of Aggregate Consumer Expenditure Elasticities,” Journal of Economic Inequality, vol. 11(3), pp. 297-314.

Frank T. Denton and Byron G. Spencer, 2015. “Modelling the Age Dynamics of Chronic Health Conditions: Life-Table-Consistent Transition Probabilities and Their Application,” Canadian Journal on Aging, vol. 34(2), pp. 176-193.

Frank T. Denton and Dean C. Mountain, 2015. “Biases in Consumer Elasticities Based on Micro and Aggregate Data: An Integrated Framework and Empirical Evaluation,” Empirical Economics, vol. 50(2), pp. 531-560.

Frank T. Denton and Byron G. Spencer, 2015. "A Simulation Analysis of the Longer-Term Effects of Immigration on per Capita Income in an Aging Population," International Journal of Population Studies, vol. 1(1), pp. 75-93.

Frank T. Denton and Byron G. Spencer, 2017. "Immigration and the Rate of Population Mixing: Explorations with a Stylized Model," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, vol. 7(13), pp. 1-15.

Frank T. Denton and Byron G. Spencer, 2018. "What Rates of Productivity Growth Would be Required to Offset the Effects of Population Aging? A Study of Twenty Industrialized Countries," Canadian Studies in Population, vol. 45(3-4), pp. 113-131.

Frank T. Denton and Byron G. Spencer. "The Effects of Population Aging on GDP per Capita in the Canadian Provinces: Could Productivity Growth Provide an Offset?", forthcoming in Canadian Public Policy.