Leveraging Remittances with Microfinance: A Cross-country Study. This study recognises the high and growing significance of overseas migrant remittances as contributors to GDP and household livelihoods in many countries. It responds to current policy interest in remittances as a development resource, as well as security concerns related to informal funds transfers. This groundbreaking study will work with microfinance providers in six Asia-Pacific countries (Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Philippines, S ....Leveraging Remittances with Microfinance: A Cross-country Study. This study recognises the high and growing significance of overseas migrant remittances as contributors to GDP and household livelihoods in many countries. It responds to current policy interest in remittances as a development resource, as well as security concerns related to informal funds transfers. This groundbreaking study will work with microfinance providers in six Asia-Pacific countries (Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Samoa, Fiji and Tonga) to investigate the impacts of remittance-linked financial services on household well-being and economic development. The study will identify how existing and new services can best promote development and poverty reduction in migrant-sending areas.Read moreRead less
A New framework to improve human-robot interaction in financial markets. This project aims to investigate the interaction of humans with robots (automated, algorithmic traders) in financial markets. It will build a novel environment based on controlled experiments within the context of financial markets. It is expected to discover how market participants choose to engage robots, and when and why robots are disengaged. The project will also investigate how the use of robots affects price behavio ....A New framework to improve human-robot interaction in financial markets. This project aims to investigate the interaction of humans with robots (automated, algorithmic traders) in financial markets. It will build a novel environment based on controlled experiments within the context of financial markets. It is expected to discover how market participants choose to engage robots, and when and why robots are disengaged. The project will also investigate how the use of robots affects price behaviour, and efficiency of allocation. This will provide significant benefits, such as enhancing Australia’s capacity for the scientific study of financial markets and for developing financial technology using an experimental method.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
Big data: implications for competition, privacy and regulation. This project aims to provide economic analyses of the costs and benefits of business strategies driven by consumer data, while considering consumers’ privacy concerns. This is highly relevant and timely given the vast amount of consumer data collected, shared and used in the digital era. Expected outcomes include better understanding of how data may lead to market power and how to safeguard against abuse of market power and privacy ....Big data: implications for competition, privacy and regulation. This project aims to provide economic analyses of the costs and benefits of business strategies driven by consumer data, while considering consumers’ privacy concerns. This is highly relevant and timely given the vast amount of consumer data collected, shared and used in the digital era. Expected outcomes include better understanding of how data may lead to market power and how to safeguard against abuse of market power and privacy breach. This project should make significant contributions to the nascent academic research and policy discussions in this area. This should also place Australia at the forefront of international scientific community and policy circle on the regulation of data-driven business strategies and privacy regulation. Read moreRead less
Resource Inflows, Intrahousehold Resource Allocation and their Impact on Expenditure Patterns, Child Health and Household Composition. This project will examine the impact of resource inflows in the household and intrahousehold distribution on different household outcomes like expenditure patterns, child health and household composition. The project will examine the interaction between private and public transfers. It will develop new tests to examine whether income accruing from different sourc ....Resource Inflows, Intrahousehold Resource Allocation and their Impact on Expenditure Patterns, Child Health and Household Composition. This project will examine the impact of resource inflows in the household and intrahousehold distribution on different household outcomes like expenditure patterns, child health and household composition. The project will examine the interaction between private and public transfers. It will develop new tests to examine whether income accruing from different sources and accruing to different individuals are pooled so that the identity of the recipient or the source of the resource does not matter. The results of this project will also help to answer the important policy question of whether aid should be targeted to specific individuals within the household.Read moreRead less
Economic stress, non-cognitive skill development and life outcomes. This project aims to identify policies in which the fostering of non-cognitive skills (NCS) can break the persistence of economic disadvantage. The project seeks to investigate the mechanisms behind differential development, intergenerational transmission of NCS between "rich and poor," how exposure to economic stress inhibits NCS development and the role of schooling in boosting NCS of disadvantaged children. Expected outcomes ....Economic stress, non-cognitive skill development and life outcomes. This project aims to identify policies in which the fostering of non-cognitive skills (NCS) can break the persistence of economic disadvantage. The project seeks to investigate the mechanisms behind differential development, intergenerational transmission of NCS between "rich and poor," how exposure to economic stress inhibits NCS development and the role of schooling in boosting NCS of disadvantaged children. Expected outcomes include evidence-based policy advice on how human capital investments in NCS can be beneficial for health, educational and labour market success, and how NCS can survive despite economic stress. Intended benefits include new cost-effective policies to reduce inequality and maximise the welfare of society.Read moreRead less
The great divergence, long-run growth and unified theories of economic growth. This project investigates why income has been close to subsistence levels for most of human history, and in particular, the factors that were responsible for take-off in Europe two centuries ago and then later in other countries. It is expected that both major and minor technological innovations have played a critical role in take-off.
Growth, IQ, diseases, and the great demographic transition. This project investigates firstly whether poor health and malnutrition among young children was a cause of severe cognitive impairment in the pre-industrialised West and in developing countries today, and secondly whether this has been a major factor behind the large disparities in income and growth over the 150 years since industrialisation.
Time Delay, Externalities and Attitudes Toward Taxation. Public attitudes toward a policy have a significant impact on its effectiveness. The aim of this project is to investigate the determinants of public attitudes for incentive-based institutions, particularly taxes, by highlighting the importance of considering the intertemporal properties of taxation: when costs and benefits of taxation occur at different times. This project is designed to be a controlled study of how and why public attitud ....Time Delay, Externalities and Attitudes Toward Taxation. Public attitudes toward a policy have a significant impact on its effectiveness. The aim of this project is to investigate the determinants of public attitudes for incentive-based institutions, particularly taxes, by highlighting the importance of considering the intertemporal properties of taxation: when costs and benefits of taxation occur at different times. This project is designed to be a controlled study of how and why public attitudes towards taxation are influenced by the temporal structure of the externalities that the taxes are meant to control. The anticipated goal is to inform the design of institutions that the public will accept and, more generally, improve the understanding of intertemporal decision-making in environments with delayed externalities.Read moreRead less
Uncertain Intellectual Property Rights and Start-Up Commercialisation Strategy. This project will consider a perviously unexploited fact about the patent process: that there is a lag between patent application and patent granting during which important trade in ideas (e.g., licensing or other cooperative agreements) can take place. At both theoretical and empirical, we will attempt to understand the drivers of pre-patent licensing and its impact on Coasian bargaining. The aim is to better unders ....Uncertain Intellectual Property Rights and Start-Up Commercialisation Strategy. This project will consider a perviously unexploited fact about the patent process: that there is a lag between patent application and patent granting during which important trade in ideas (e.g., licensing or other cooperative agreements) can take place. At both theoretical and empirical, we will attempt to understand the drivers of pre-patent licensing and its impact on Coasian bargaining. The aim is to better understand the effects of uncertain property rights on the efficient operation of markets for ideas.Read moreRead less