'Fixed points': extending and deepening our understanding of mathematical and computational aspects of game theory. This work will extend and deepen our understanding of mathematical and computational aspects of game theory. It will produce computer code embodying new methods of solving systems of nonlinear equations, which is useful in many areas of applied research in economics, in other disciplines such as chemistry, and potentially in the analysis of business operations. The project will a ....'Fixed points': extending and deepening our understanding of mathematical and computational aspects of game theory. This work will extend and deepen our understanding of mathematical and computational aspects of game theory. It will produce computer code embodying new methods of solving systems of nonlinear equations, which is useful in many areas of applied research in economics, in other disciplines such as chemistry, and potentially in the analysis of business operations. The project will also deepen our understanding of the underlying mathematics of such systems, and of other mathematical foundations of economic research. One application will be a new measure of the relative power resulting from voting rules. Such measures assist the design of democratic institutions by allowing the designer to assess the fairness of the outcomes they produce.Read moreRead less
Productivity Measurement, Drivers and Trends: A New Analytical Framework. Significant problems exist in the measurement of productivity and hence its understanding, impeding informed policy formulation. This project aims to advance new concepts and methods for productivity measurement that have the potential to improve policy and national welfare, with special attention to: productivity in the mining industry, which has been a particular problem for Australia; the increased holding of precaution ....Productivity Measurement, Drivers and Trends: A New Analytical Framework. Significant problems exist in the measurement of productivity and hence its understanding, impeding informed policy formulation. This project aims to advance new concepts and methods for productivity measurement that have the potential to improve policy and national welfare, with special attention to: productivity in the mining industry, which has been a particular problem for Australia; the increased holding of precautionary cash balances by firms during financial crises, representing underutilised resources; examination of firm productivity dynamics, without assuming the possibility of disappearing technology capability that is used in standard models; and a more realistic approach to capitalisation of research and development and other intangible investments.Read moreRead less
Balancing the risk of harm with productivity in the mercurial firm: economic theory and applications to Australian policy. Australia has had at least one significant chemical spill per month for the last 30 years. While the Longford disaster fades from the news, James Hardy's asbestos problem fills its place. This project will develop a general conceptual framework in which to analyse the economics of risky firms. The framework will be used to evaluate Australian, International, and alternative ....Balancing the risk of harm with productivity in the mercurial firm: economic theory and applications to Australian policy. Australia has had at least one significant chemical spill per month for the last 30 years. While the Longford disaster fades from the news, James Hardy's asbestos problem fills its place. This project will develop a general conceptual framework in which to analyse the economics of risky firms. The framework will be used to evaluate Australian, International, and alternative policies. The end benefit to Australia will be an improvement in policy toward firms that cause accidents.Read moreRead less
A robust approach to designing mechanisms for budget constrained agents. This project aims to study the design of robust implementable allocation mechanisms for agents who face financial constraints. Financial constraints are important for housing markets, big business auctions and government procurement. Yet their effect on the performance of allocation policies is not well understood. The project intends to develop a general and tractable framework of allocation mechanisms that are implementab ....A robust approach to designing mechanisms for budget constrained agents. This project aims to study the design of robust implementable allocation mechanisms for agents who face financial constraints. Financial constraints are important for housing markets, big business auctions and government procurement. Yet their effect on the performance of allocation policies is not well understood. The project intends to develop a general and tractable framework of allocation mechanisms that are implementable without deficits. The project will adapt this framework to the study of revenue-maximising multi-object auctions with complementarities, and to house allocation problems and related situations where efficiency and priority assignments are important considerations. The project expects to provide policy insights and implications relevant to the Australian housing market.Read moreRead less
Banking System Competition and the Macro-economy. Australia has one of the most concentrated banking sectors in the world, generating concerns regarding its efficiency. This project aims to develop unified frameworks to understand and evaluate quantitatively how the structure of the banking industry affects the macro-economy and provide policy recommendations for establishing a healthy and efficient banking industry. This project expects to improve understanding of the welfare trade-off between ....Banking System Competition and the Macro-economy. Australia has one of the most concentrated banking sectors in the world, generating concerns regarding its efficiency. This project aims to develop unified frameworks to understand and evaluate quantitatively how the structure of the banking industry affects the macro-economy and provide policy recommendations for establishing a healthy and efficient banking industry. This project expects to improve understanding of the welfare trade-off between bank competition and economic well-being to enable policymakers to better determine the optimal concentration of banking sector in Australia. This will enhance the productivity and international competitiveness of Australia’s financial system and the broader economy.Read moreRead less
A Synthesis of Agency and Managerial Power Theories and Its Applications to Corporate Governance, Management Compensation, and Firm Performance. The existing models of corporate governance in economics and finance based on agency theory do not successfully portray all modern corporations. Thus the importance of a new and rigorous way to study corporate governance can be hardly exaggerated. This project will provide a synthesized theory of corporate governance and is expected to produce highest- ....A Synthesis of Agency and Managerial Power Theories and Its Applications to Corporate Governance, Management Compensation, and Firm Performance. The existing models of corporate governance in economics and finance based on agency theory do not successfully portray all modern corporations. Thus the importance of a new and rigorous way to study corporate governance can be hardly exaggerated. This project will provide a synthesized theory of corporate governance and is expected to produce highest-quality research publishable in top-tier journals. This will, among others, enhance Australia's standing as a knowledge nation. This project is also expected to contribute to the discussions on how to improve corporate governance and regulation of management compensation both in Australia and abroad. Read moreRead less
Measurement and Sources of Productivity Growth under Imperfect Competition. The relative growth performance of countries using net output will free comparisons from the contentious and differing adjustments made by many statistical agencies in an attempt to take account of quality change in capital goods. Thus, Australia will have a better understanding of its relative performance in terms of growth, and thus be better positioned to make informed policy decisions. In addition, whether producti ....Measurement and Sources of Productivity Growth under Imperfect Competition. The relative growth performance of countries using net output will free comparisons from the contentious and differing adjustments made by many statistical agencies in an attempt to take account of quality change in capital goods. Thus, Australia will have a better understanding of its relative performance in terms of growth, and thus be better positioned to make informed policy decisions. In addition, whether productivity growth is mainly driven by technical progress or returns to scale, and the size of monopolistic markups, has a large bearing on how we view the performance of an economy and its potential for future growth.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100964
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$371,000.00
Summary
Understanding and designing persuasion mechanisms. The objective of this project is to understand and design persuasion mechanisms. Persuasion is about conveying information, influencing beliefs and manipulating actions. Educational campaigns and media censorship regulations are examples of persuasion mechanisms. Existing techniques from the economics of persuasion only permit analysis of specific and limited settings. This project aims to apply the classical mechanism design approach in a novel ....Understanding and designing persuasion mechanisms. The objective of this project is to understand and design persuasion mechanisms. Persuasion is about conveying information, influencing beliefs and manipulating actions. Educational campaigns and media censorship regulations are examples of persuasion mechanisms. Existing techniques from the economics of persuasion only permit analysis of specific and limited settings. This project aims to apply the classical mechanism design approach in a novel way to model persuasion in rich and realistic settings, thus providing insights into real-world situations. It is anticipated that this will allow us to answer questions such as ‘Should an educational campaign target different consumers with different information?’ and ‘When should a government censor extreme media outlets?'.Read moreRead less
Can Electronic Point-of-Sale (POS) Data Improve the Australian Consumer Price Index? This project will investigate how new sources of data can be used to improve the accuracy of price indexes that are used in policy formation, such as the consumer price index. The adoption of bar-code labelling for products has provided statistical agencies with an information-rich source of 'scanner data' on prices and quantities of purchased goods. In collaboration with the Australian Bureau of Statistics, thi ....Can Electronic Point-of-Sale (POS) Data Improve the Australian Consumer Price Index? This project will investigate how new sources of data can be used to improve the accuracy of price indexes that are used in policy formation, such as the consumer price index. The adoption of bar-code labelling for products has provided statistical agencies with an information-rich source of 'scanner data' on prices and quantities of purchased goods. In collaboration with the Australian Bureau of Statistics, this project will develop mathematical and statistical methods for exploiting this new data source. The findings will contribute to the improvement of price indexes, and subsequently the many government policies that depend on these indexes.Read moreRead less
The Development of English Economic Vocabulary to 1776: the Formation of a Disciplinary Language. The language of economic science is fundamental to all social theory - and indeed, to how modern societies perceive themselves. Where does that vocabulary - both the language and the concepts carried by that language - come from? How did it develop? The aim of this research project is to clarify the answers to these two questions, up to the time at which political economy or economics became a matur ....The Development of English Economic Vocabulary to 1776: the Formation of a Disciplinary Language. The language of economic science is fundamental to all social theory - and indeed, to how modern societies perceive themselves. Where does that vocabulary - both the language and the concepts carried by that language - come from? How did it develop? The aim of this research project is to clarify the answers to these two questions, up to the time at which political economy or economics became a mature intellectual system - in Adam Smith's 1776 "Wealth of Nations". This will be the first such systematic and comprehensive book-length study of the formation of this disciplinary language ever attempted.Read moreRead less