Inequality of opportunity in Australia. This project aims to develop econometric approaches for identifying opportunity gaps in Australia and other developed countries. Inequality of opportunity arises when the birth lottery or external factors in later life, rather than personal efforts, determine a person’s chances of economic success. A high level of inequality of opportunity holds people back from realising their potential and from contributing productively to society. The project will focus ....Inequality of opportunity in Australia. This project aims to develop econometric approaches for identifying opportunity gaps in Australia and other developed countries. Inequality of opportunity arises when the birth lottery or external factors in later life, rather than personal efforts, determine a person’s chances of economic success. A high level of inequality of opportunity holds people back from realising their potential and from contributing productively to society. The project will focus on the effect of inequality of opportunity on income, health and education with special emphasis placed on Indigenous and migrant populations. The findings should help formulate cost-efficient policy interventions aimed at levelling the economic playing field.Read moreRead less
Literacy and Numeracy, Schooling, Neighbourhoods and Labour Market Success. Our research will assess the role of literacy and numeracy in explaining the educational attainment and labour markets outcomes of young Australians, after accounting for background characteristics and school and neighbourhood effects. By exploiting differences in Australian jurisdictions? school structures, it will enable, for the first time, the direct estimation of the effect of schooling on literacy and numeracy. T ....Literacy and Numeracy, Schooling, Neighbourhoods and Labour Market Success. Our research will assess the role of literacy and numeracy in explaining the educational attainment and labour markets outcomes of young Australians, after accounting for background characteristics and school and neighbourhood effects. By exploiting differences in Australian jurisdictions? school structures, it will enable, for the first time, the direct estimation of the effect of schooling on literacy and numeracy. This will clarify the role of literacy and numeracy in subsequent decisions to acquire more human capital through education. This will enable more precise estimates of the contribution of literacy and numeracy to subsequent labour market outcomes achieved by young Australians.Read moreRead less
New Insights on Modelling Time Trends with Panel Data: Theory and Practice. This project aims to tackle important challenges in time trend modelling by taking advantage of panel data structures. This project expects to propose flexible models in time trend modelling to retrieve reliable inference. The expected outcomes include innovative econometric models and methods that have a wide range of applications, and are particularly suited for empirical problems within large and complex systems. This ....New Insights on Modelling Time Trends with Panel Data: Theory and Practice. This project aims to tackle important challenges in time trend modelling by taking advantage of panel data structures. This project expects to propose flexible models in time trend modelling to retrieve reliable inference. The expected outcomes include innovative econometric models and methods that have a wide range of applications, and are particularly suited for empirical problems within large and complex systems. This will provide significant benefits to all fields in which data displays any form of trending behaviour. The proposed model is used to evaluate the economic consequences of climate change and global housing market contagion, which provide strong evidence-based insights to the environmental and economic policies in Australia.Read moreRead less
Work-related Training in Australia. The proposal will improve our understanding of the relationship between work-related training and wage formation, wage growth and inequality in Australia. It will contribute to a better-informed public debate about how to make Australia a knowledge-based economy and will ultimately improve economic policies that are relevant to skills acquisition. This has the potential to have a significant impact on the economic well-being and quality of life of many individ ....Work-related Training in Australia. The proposal will improve our understanding of the relationship between work-related training and wage formation, wage growth and inequality in Australia. It will contribute to a better-informed public debate about how to make Australia a knowledge-based economy and will ultimately improve economic policies that are relevant to skills acquisition. This has the potential to have a significant impact on the economic well-being and quality of life of many individuals and households in the economy, thereby contributing to the National Research Priorities, especially 'Strengthening Australia's Social and Economic Fabric'. Read moreRead less
Living on the Margin: The Relationship between Mental Health and Work in Australia. This project will assess the relationship between Australians' mental health and their work, for example, employment status, work conditions and hours. The study is the first to exploit the detailed timing of mental health and employment transitions to identify whether poor labour market outcomes lead to poor mental health or whether the reverse is true. New Australian data will be used to understand whether the ....Living on the Margin: The Relationship between Mental Health and Work in Australia. This project will assess the relationship between Australians' mental health and their work, for example, employment status, work conditions and hours. The study is the first to exploit the detailed timing of mental health and employment transitions to identify whether poor labour market outcomes lead to poor mental health or whether the reverse is true. New Australian data will be used to understand whether the link between mental health and work adds to the economic vulnerability of families and those at risk of homelessness. The results will advance our understanding of the way that mental health affects overall economic well-being and will inform current policy initiatives to promote economic participation and good mental health.Read moreRead less
Microeconometric Analysis of Socioeconomic Inequity in Mental Healthcare. The project aims to describe the extent of socioeconomic inequity in Australian mental healthcare use, identify the causal pathways that drive inequities, and conduct economic evaluations of programs aimed at increasing healthcare access. Microeconometric methods will be used to analyse large, longitudinal datasets that have not previously been used for this purpose. The project expects to provide a greater understanding o ....Microeconometric Analysis of Socioeconomic Inequity in Mental Healthcare. The project aims to describe the extent of socioeconomic inequity in Australian mental healthcare use, identify the causal pathways that drive inequities, and conduct economic evaluations of programs aimed at increasing healthcare access. Microeconometric methods will be used to analyse large, longitudinal datasets that have not previously been used for this purpose. The project expects to provide a greater understanding of the barriers that people face in accessing treatment and how to overcome them. Such understanding is currently missing from academic literatures and policy inquiries. Ultimately, the research should aid in the design of cost-effective policies that improve health outcomes and that reduce inequities in treatment access.Read moreRead less
A cohort analysis of the demand for meat and the impact of food scares. Australia is the largest beef exporter in the world. In 1999, there were 22.7 million beef cattle, producing 2 million tonnes with a gross value of $4.4 million. To date, Australia has been unaffected by the growing number of major health scares currently plaguing many European and South American countries. Equivalent scares in Australia would be devastating and hence research into the impact of scares on the behaviour of co ....A cohort analysis of the demand for meat and the impact of food scares. Australia is the largest beef exporter in the world. In 1999, there were 22.7 million beef cattle, producing 2 million tonnes with a gross value of $4.4 million. To date, Australia has been unaffected by the growing number of major health scares currently plaguing many European and South American countries. Equivalent scares in Australia would be devastating and hence research into the impact of scares on the behaviour of consumers is of paramount importance. It is the purpose of this research project to quantify the effects of such health/product scares on the demand for meat.
Read moreRead less
Identification and inference in nonparametric models. This project will develop reliable methods for identification, estimation and inference of nonparametric models for the evaluation of economic policies on outcome variables of interest. This econometric methodology will allow a better understanding of the quantitative effects of an economic policy which will result in better informed policy decisions. The results will have applications to labour market policies, health care policies and educa ....Identification and inference in nonparametric models. This project will develop reliable methods for identification, estimation and inference of nonparametric models for the evaluation of economic policies on outcome variables of interest. This econometric methodology will allow a better understanding of the quantitative effects of an economic policy which will result in better informed policy decisions. The results will have applications to labour market policies, health care policies and education policies among others. The project will also provide national benefits in terms of building up the local stock of researchers trained in the area of identification and estimation of nonparametric models; it will further improve the international reputation that Australia has in econometric theory.Read moreRead less
Non-cognitive skills and human capital investments: the importance of individuals' sense of control. This project investigates whether people's sense of control over their lives influences their decision to get an education, do job training, migrate, or adopt a healthy lifestyle. The results are important in helping policymakers to understand why some individuals work harder than others to ensure good outcomes for themselves.
Understanding and Improving Teacher Quality. The quality of Australia's schooling system is a key determinant of skills in the economy, affecting economic growth, unemployment and inequality. With 3 percent of GDP currently devoted to primary and secondary education, improving educational productivity could lead to enormous gains. International evidence suggests that a promising approach to improving our education system is to boost teacher quality, yet we currently know little about the differe ....Understanding and Improving Teacher Quality. The quality of Australia's schooling system is a key determinant of skills in the economy, affecting economic growth, unemployment and inequality. With 3 percent of GDP currently devoted to primary and secondary education, improving educational productivity could lead to enormous gains. International evidence suggests that a promising approach to improving our education system is to boost teacher quality, yet we currently know little about the differences between the best and worst teachers. With large numbers of teachers due to retire in the next decade, now is an ideal time to learn more about teacher quality, and implement policies to ensure that the calibre of the teaching profession is as good as it can be.Read moreRead less