China's Industrialisation and Demand for Energy and Minerals. Understanding China's medium and long-term growth prospects and the implications for both demand and supply of resources are critically important to Australian economic policy and performance, as well as to investment decisions of Australian resource producers, and professional decisions of Australians in a wide range of occupations. Analysis of the medium and long-term demand for resources from China would be beneficial for Australia ....China's Industrialisation and Demand for Energy and Minerals. Understanding China's medium and long-term growth prospects and the implications for both demand and supply of resources are critically important to Australian economic policy and performance, as well as to investment decisions of Australian resource producers, and professional decisions of Australians in a wide range of occupations. Analysis of the medium and long-term demand for resources from China would be beneficial for Australian resource industries. It is also important to Australian budget, education and infrastructure policy. Increasing Chinese demand for resources will be critical in shaping global environmental policies.Read moreRead less
Growth, Trade, and Economic Development in Asia. Future growth in Asia has strong implications for growth, relative wages, skill levels, human capital accumulation and trade in Australia. This project seeks to gain insight into whether the high economic growth rates experienced in Asia will continue into the future and whether low income Asian countries will take off in the future. This information will be used to simulate future demand for skills, relative wages, trade and the incentives to inv ....Growth, Trade, and Economic Development in Asia. Future growth in Asia has strong implications for growth, relative wages, skill levels, human capital accumulation and trade in Australia. This project seeks to gain insight into whether the high economic growth rates experienced in Asia will continue into the future and whether low income Asian countries will take off in the future. This information will be used to simulate future demand for skills, relative wages, trade and the incentives to invest in Australia and give insight into the effects of various policies in Australia on educational decision, skill composition, relative wages, trade and growth.Read moreRead less
The Market for Technology in Australia. Over the last 5 years, formalised markets for technology have accelerated in the US. However, there is no recognised formal market in Australia. Results from our primary data collection and analysis will highlight whether deficiencies in the market for technology are creating obstacles for the commercialisation of Australian technology. This is a particularly important issue for Australia given our relative isolation arising from geographical distance and ....The Market for Technology in Australia. Over the last 5 years, formalised markets for technology have accelerated in the US. However, there is no recognised formal market in Australia. Results from our primary data collection and analysis will highlight whether deficiencies in the market for technology are creating obstacles for the commercialisation of Australian technology. This is a particularly important issue for Australia given our relative isolation arising from geographical distance and lack of attachment to a major trading bloc such as the EU or NAFTA.Read moreRead less
Strategic Contracting with Complementary Assets under Assymetric Information. With the recent tendency for companies to patent any feasible innovations they might make, public policy must focus on the disincentive effects this may have for producers who must combine multiple patents. The project seeks to understand the 'holdout problem' that stems from such situations, and evaluate policy solutions for Australia and Internationally. Expected outcomes include publication in leading Australian and ....Strategic Contracting with Complementary Assets under Assymetric Information. With the recent tendency for companies to patent any feasible innovations they might make, public policy must focus on the disincentive effects this may have for producers who must combine multiple patents. The project seeks to understand the 'holdout problem' that stems from such situations, and evaluate policy solutions for Australia and Internationally. Expected outcomes include publication in leading Australian and International journals, and inputs to the policy debate.Read moreRead less
What are the determinants and effects of school choice? An international comparison between Australia and the UK. The project will provide a clearer picture of the determinants of school choice, most notably the impact of economic phenomena on that choice. For Australia, this will mean we have a better understanding of the competing explanations of the growth of students at private schools over the past three decades: the role of government subsidies; the role of demographic changes; the effec ....What are the determinants and effects of school choice? An international comparison between Australia and the UK. The project will provide a clearer picture of the determinants of school choice, most notably the impact of economic phenomena on that choice. For Australia, this will mean we have a better understanding of the competing explanations of the growth of students at private schools over the past three decades: the role of government subsidies; the role of demographic changes; the effects of increased income inequality; and the role of changes in preferences towards private schools. This information will provide a better evidence base for future policy development in this area.Read moreRead less
The evolution of Australian enterprises, 1990 to 2007 : An empirical analysis of the relationship between turbulence among firms, productivity, growth and exports. This project will examine determinants and effects of enterprise entry and exit on growth, export and productivity in Australian industry using innovative panel enterprise data sets which have been collated and linked from existing ABS surveys, administrative data and accounting data. Currently, there is only one short longitudinal en ....The evolution of Australian enterprises, 1990 to 2007 : An empirical analysis of the relationship between turbulence among firms, productivity, growth and exports. This project will examine determinants and effects of enterprise entry and exit on growth, export and productivity in Australian industry using innovative panel enterprise data sets which have been collated and linked from existing ABS surveys, administrative data and accounting data. Currently, there is only one short longitudinal enterprise data set in Australia. Further data sets are required if policy makers are to understand patterns and causes of growth and business survival in Australia. Understanding provided from these studies should significantly improve our undertanding of how businesses perform.Read moreRead less
Economy-wide consequences of regulation and privatisation policy regimes. The spread of regulation across the majority of the economy necessitates that regulatory policy and approaches account for affects on GDP, employment, innovation and the growth rate. This project will offer policy institutions, including the ACCC, the Productivity Commission and the Treasury, an analysis of these effects and develop new computer models suited to future use to explore economy-wide implications. This need ....Economy-wide consequences of regulation and privatisation policy regimes. The spread of regulation across the majority of the economy necessitates that regulatory policy and approaches account for affects on GDP, employment, innovation and the growth rate. This project will offer policy institutions, including the ACCC, the Productivity Commission and the Treasury, an analysis of these effects and develop new computer models suited to future use to explore economy-wide implications. This need arises even in sectoral regulatory agencies, however, most particularly where service industries, such as telecommunications, are dominated by one or a few firms whose performance has major effects on the costs and innovativeness of firms in other sectors.Read moreRead less
Modelling the APEC Digital Divide. Study of private sector motivation for the uptake of ICT is helpful in formulating regulatory and commercial responses to foster growth of competitive information-using and information-producing industries. The project will help clarify the relative benefits of production and use of ICT. Additionally, in an APEC context, analysis of the digital divide will inform policy appropriate to enhancing Australia's contribution to the region. The general purpose infor ....Modelling the APEC Digital Divide. Study of private sector motivation for the uptake of ICT is helpful in formulating regulatory and commercial responses to foster growth of competitive information-using and information-producing industries. The project will help clarify the relative benefits of production and use of ICT. Additionally, in an APEC context, analysis of the digital divide will inform policy appropriate to enhancing Australia's contribution to the region. The general purpose information technology of the Internet network is fast evolving into the enabling technology of choice for innovation and creative applications of a platform for communication and electronic transactions.Read moreRead less
Scarcity of Ideas and Design of Optimal Incentive Schemes for Innovation. Since innovation is the driving force behind economic growth, enhancing its innovative capacity is an important consideration for Australia. From an economics point of view, this requires the design of optimal incentive schemes in the institutional structures which are central to promoting innovation. The proposed research aims to achieve exactly this by developing a definition of innovativeness and analyzing its implicati ....Scarcity of Ideas and Design of Optimal Incentive Schemes for Innovation. Since innovation is the driving force behind economic growth, enhancing its innovative capacity is an important consideration for Australia. From an economics point of view, this requires the design of optimal incentive schemes in the institutional structures which are central to promoting innovation. The proposed research aims to achieve exactly this by developing a definition of innovativeness and analyzing its implications. Its results will contribute to the policy discussions on innovation in Australia and will enhance the academic interactions between Australian and international universities.Read moreRead less
The Consistency of Price Regulation of Infrastructure Businesses across Australian Jurisdictions. The spread of regulation across the majority of the economy necessitates that regulatory policy should be consistent across jurisdictions and industries. This project would offer policy and regulatory institutions quantitative analysis of the consistency of regulatory decisions across Australia. This research would develop a new database that would maintain and supply details on regulatory decision ....The Consistency of Price Regulation of Infrastructure Businesses across Australian Jurisdictions. The spread of regulation across the majority of the economy necessitates that regulatory policy should be consistent across jurisdictions and industries. This project would offer policy and regulatory institutions quantitative analysis of the consistency of regulatory decisions across Australia. This research would develop a new database that would maintain and supply details on regulatory decisions across jurisdictions and industries. This project would enable the new Australian Centre of Regulatory Economics (ACORE) to supply independent database and quantitative analysis from an open, fully documented, scholarly environment to Australia's policy and regulatory agencies and its regulated firms.Read moreRead less