Insecure Work and the Mental Health of Workers and their Families. This project aims to explore the relationship between insecure work and mental health by applying advanced econometric methods to large survey and administrative datasets, and newly collected survey data. This project expects to provide causal policy-relevant estimates of how insecure work is affecting the wellbeing of workers and their families, and for whom the effects are most harmful. It also expects to inform on how poor men ....Insecure Work and the Mental Health of Workers and their Families. This project aims to explore the relationship between insecure work and mental health by applying advanced econometric methods to large survey and administrative datasets, and newly collected survey data. This project expects to provide causal policy-relevant estimates of how insecure work is affecting the wellbeing of workers and their families, and for whom the effects are most harmful. It also expects to inform on how poor mental health influences the types of jobs that people enter into. This should provide significant benefits, including evidence needed to improve existing workplace and employment programs, and evidence ensuring that assistance is efficiently targeted to those workers and industries with the greatest need.Read moreRead less
The impact of crime on the mental wellbeing of communities. Considering not only the direct impact of crime on the victims but also the indirect consequences of living in a community with a higher crime rate may in fact lead to a more accurate analysis of the size of the consequences of criminal activities on the society. Further, it may also be the case that the negative externality of crime on non-victims is much larger for some crimes than for others. If this were the case, it could have impl ....The impact of crime on the mental wellbeing of communities. Considering not only the direct impact of crime on the victims but also the indirect consequences of living in a community with a higher crime rate may in fact lead to a more accurate analysis of the size of the consequences of criminal activities on the society. Further, it may also be the case that the negative externality of crime on non-victims is much larger for some crimes than for others. If this were the case, it could have implications for the way in which police resources are presently distributed across different crimes. Better understanding the total societal cost of crime - to both victims and non-victims - could therefore help improve public policy. 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
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180100438
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$402,996.00
Summary
Children's time investments, cognitive development and health. This project aims to understand time investment decisions of children and adolescents. There is a need for more robust evidence on the combination of time investments that improve early cognitive skills and well being. Using advanced econometric techniques and longitudinal data, this project expects to generate new knowledge on how children and adolescents spend their time, and how such time investments affect their health and cognit ....Children's time investments, cognitive development and health. This project aims to understand time investment decisions of children and adolescents. There is a need for more robust evidence on the combination of time investments that improve early cognitive skills and well being. Using advanced econometric techniques and longitudinal data, this project expects to generate new knowledge on how children and adolescents spend their time, and how such time investments affect their health and cognitive development. Expected outcomes of this project include a greater understanding of the early determinants of health and economic inequalities. This will contribute to the development of effective policies for improving educational outcomes, preventing harmful behaviours and promoting health and well being.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
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.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140100463
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$380,364.00
Summary
Exceptional upward mobility against all odds: Non-cognitive skills and early-childhood disadvantage. Children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds who exceed their parents' social achievements are pioneers. The aims of this project are to introduce this exceptional upward mobility as an alternative measure of economic success and to study its distribution and determinants. The main hypothesis is that these pioneers, apart from being intelligent, have a set of non-cognitive skills that mak ....Exceptional upward mobility against all odds: Non-cognitive skills and early-childhood disadvantage. Children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds who exceed their parents' social achievements are pioneers. The aims of this project are to introduce this exceptional upward mobility as an alternative measure of economic success and to study its distribution and determinants. The main hypothesis is that these pioneers, apart from being intelligent, have a set of non-cognitive skills that make them successful. This will be the first study to analyse these individuals and the personality-related determinants of their life trajectories. It will contribute to understand the various pathways via which non-cognitive skills affect upward mobility, and assess their malleability during childhood or adolescence.Read moreRead less
Self-control in Economic Behaviour. This project aims to use new Australian data to study the way that people’s self-control affects their economic behaviour. This project expects to advance science by testing two new ways of identifying whether people understand their own self-control issues and conducting an innovative program of research that links people’s self-control to their life chances. Expected outcomes include an understanding of i) the factors driving the capacity for self-control; i ....Self-control in Economic Behaviour. This project aims to use new Australian data to study the way that people’s self-control affects their economic behaviour. This project expects to advance science by testing two new ways of identifying whether people understand their own self-control issues and conducting an innovative program of research that links people’s self-control to their life chances. Expected outcomes include an understanding of i) the factors driving the capacity for self-control; ii) the role of self-control in promoting wellbeing; and iii) policy options for improving outcomes through better self-control. This should provide significant benefits in supporting policy agendas such as the Government’s Priority Investment Approach and behavioural economics teams. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140100719
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$383,312.00
Summary
The health cost of extended delays for inpatient treatment. Extended delays for elective procedures in public hospitals impede the National Research Priority of promoting and maintaining good health. Using unique large survey data linked to multiple years of health administrative records and the death registry, this project provides comprehensive costs of waiting, capturing both in-hospital and out of hospital health deterioration and impacts on medical expenditure. The estimation strategy takes ....The health cost of extended delays for inpatient treatment. Extended delays for elective procedures in public hospitals impede the National Research Priority of promoting and maintaining good health. Using unique large survey data linked to multiple years of health administrative records and the death registry, this project provides comprehensive costs of waiting, capturing both in-hospital and out of hospital health deterioration and impacts on medical expenditure. The estimation strategy takes into account patients’ initial choice to join the waiting list instead of going to a private hospital and allows for variation in the costs of waiting across patients. The results will have significant policy implications for waiting time reduction policies, health resource prioritisation and promotion of health equity.Read moreRead less
Private Health Insurance and Utilisation of Health Care in Australia. The breakdown of activity between the Australian public and private health sectors is currently subject to considerable scrutiny. The combination of a comprehensive public system with minimal co-payments, but considerable waiting times for some treatment, and a private system with minimal waiting but sizeable co-payments has interesting economic implications for both consumer and provider behaviour. This research project will ....Private Health Insurance and Utilisation of Health Care in Australia. The breakdown of activity between the Australian public and private health sectors is currently subject to considerable scrutiny. The combination of a comprehensive public system with minimal co-payments, but considerable waiting times for some treatment, and a private system with minimal waiting but sizeable co-payments has interesting economic implications for both consumer and provider behaviour. This research project will explore the relationship between insurance status and utilisation of health care in Australia. Because insurance reduces the out-of-pocket price for consumers, they tend to purchase more care than they would without insurance.Read moreRead less