State-contingent analysis of productivity, efficiency and innovation. Productivity growth is a fundamental precondition for sustainable improvements in living standards. The main drivers of productivity growth are technological innovation and improvements in the efficiency of resource use. Effective public policy in this area requires identification of these components. This project develops improved productivity measurement methods that are applicable in economic environments characterised b ....State-contingent analysis of productivity, efficiency and innovation. Productivity growth is a fundamental precondition for sustainable improvements in living standards. The main drivers of productivity growth are technological innovation and improvements in the efficiency of resource use. Effective public policy in this area requires identification of these components. This project develops improved productivity measurement methods that are applicable in economic environments characterised by production and/or demand uncertainty. The methods will be used to obtain improved estimates of rates of innovation and changes in the relative efficiency of selected Australian enterprises. The empirical results will inform National Competition Policy and the process of microeconomic reform.Read moreRead less
Evaluating Research Policy in Australian Broadacre Agriculture - Accounting for Interactions between the Beef, Sheep Meat, Wool, and Grains Industries. This project studies the returns from R&D investments in Australia's broadacre agricultural industries and equity in the funding of these investments. The contribution is to explicitly recognise the interaction across cattle, sheep and cropping enterprises, while past analyses have been single industry approach. Econometric models of multi-output ....Evaluating Research Policy in Australian Broadacre Agriculture - Accounting for Interactions between the Beef, Sheep Meat, Wool, and Grains Industries. This project studies the returns from R&D investments in Australia's broadacre agricultural industries and equity in the funding of these investments. The contribution is to explicitly recognise the interaction across cattle, sheep and cropping enterprises, while past analyses have been single industry approach. Econometric models of multi-output profit function for Australian broadacre agriculture and demand systems involving these products are estimated. A multi-industry equilibrium displacement model is developed to simulate the incidence of both costs and returns of agricultural R&D, with cross-industry interaction recognised. The project is likely to contribute to the way agricultural research is administered and funded in Australia.Read moreRead less
Globalization, WTO and sustainable development: new challenges, opportunities and implications for Australia. Australia is benefiting greatly from opening its economy and encouraging the same in its trading partners, particularly through the World Trade Organization (WTO). A major new challenge is to ensure that the WTO continues to enhance economic welfare by responding to recent criticisms levelled at it by anti-globalization groups. This project will analyse those groups' claims about the eff ....Globalization, WTO and sustainable development: new challenges, opportunities and implications for Australia. Australia is benefiting greatly from opening its economy and encouraging the same in its trading partners, particularly through the World Trade Organization (WTO). A major new challenge is to ensure that the WTO continues to enhance economic welfare by responding to recent criticisms levelled at it by anti-globalization groups. This project will analyse those groups' claims about the effects of trade and investment policy reforms, and of WTO rules and other contributors to globalization, by going beyond the traditional economic effects to examine effects on income distribution, poverty alleviation, the environment, labour, and food safety and security.Read moreRead less