Applying behavioural insights to the tax system in Australia. Applying behavioural insights to the tax system in Australia. This project aims to improve compliance and payment in the Australian tax system. It aims to tackle debts of individuals and businesses, the most challenging aspect of tax systems, by applying behavioural insights to design innovative payment interventions and conducting rigorous randomised controlled trials to evaluate their effects. An empirical analysis will account for ....Applying behavioural insights to the tax system in Australia. Applying behavioural insights to the tax system in Australia. This project aims to improve compliance and payment in the Australian tax system. It aims to tackle debts of individuals and businesses, the most challenging aspect of tax systems, by applying behavioural insights to design innovative payment interventions and conducting rigorous randomised controlled trials to evaluate their effects. An empirical analysis will account for heterogeneity in treatment responses, and the findings will be combined with a study of regulatory and administrative processes to support the ultimate goal of a legitimate, fair, cost-effective and responsive tax system.Read moreRead less
Improving external validity of stated choice experiments. This project aims to deliver more accurate estimates of choice behaviour by reducing biases due to choice task complexity in surveys as well as design artefacts. Extracting 'true' preferences is challenging, not only due to possible hypothetical bias, but also due to increasingly complex choice tasks and the existence of design artefacts. This project will investigate the latter two in the context of marketing, transport, health, and envi ....Improving external validity of stated choice experiments. This project aims to deliver more accurate estimates of choice behaviour by reducing biases due to choice task complexity in surveys as well as design artefacts. Extracting 'true' preferences is challenging, not only due to possible hypothetical bias, but also due to increasingly complex choice tasks and the existence of design artefacts. This project will investigate the latter two in the context of marketing, transport, health, and environmental economics, and proposes new methodologies to extract preferences that more closely reflect true behaviour in real markets.Read moreRead less
ARC Research Network for Economic Design. The Economic Design Network is a partnership of more than one hundred researchers and over forty international universities and research centres. The Network will support cross disciplinary research and policy innovation using state of the art techniques in economic theory and experimental economics. It will create practical policy tools that can be used to solve complex social and economic problems in industry economics, health economics and environment ....ARC Research Network for Economic Design. The Economic Design Network is a partnership of more than one hundred researchers and over forty international universities and research centres. The Network will support cross disciplinary research and policy innovation using state of the art techniques in economic theory and experimental economics. It will create practical policy tools that can be used to solve complex social and economic problems in industry economics, health economics and environmental policy. By linking Australian mid and early career researchers into multidisciplinary teams based around the world's top experimental economics laboratories, it will create a world class economic design capacity in Australia.Read moreRead less
Economic impacts of disease on older workers: Costs to government and individuals and opportunities for intervention. With an ageing workforce, Australia is at risk of having an inadequate workforce to ensure economic growth and to maintain sufficient taxation revenue to support future needs.
This project will provide fill substantial gaps in the Australian evidence the health conditions that keep older workers out of the labour market and that diminish their own immediate and long-term livi ....Economic impacts of disease on older workers: Costs to government and individuals and opportunities for intervention. With an ageing workforce, Australia is at risk of having an inadequate workforce to ensure economic growth and to maintain sufficient taxation revenue to support future needs.
This project will provide fill substantial gaps in the Australian evidence the health conditions that keep older workers out of the labour market and that diminish their own immediate and long-term livings standards and reduce funds available to government. We will address one of the most significant issues resulting fundamental changes to the demography of the Australian labour market and one is regularly raised by the Prime Minister and Treasurer in their speeches following the Intergenerational Report.Read moreRead less
Long term economic impacts of disease on older workers to 2030: Costs to government and individuals and opportunities for intervention. This project will fill substantial gaps in Australian evidence about the health conditions of the future that will keep older workers out of the labour market and diminish their own immediate and long-term livings standards, thereby reducing funds available to government. We will address one of the most significant issues resulting from the fundamental changes t ....Long term economic impacts of disease on older workers to 2030: Costs to government and individuals and opportunities for intervention. This project will fill substantial gaps in Australian evidence about the health conditions of the future that will keep older workers out of the labour market and diminish their own immediate and long-term livings standards, thereby reducing funds available to government. We will address one of the most significant issues resulting from the fundamental changes to the demography of the Australian labour market and one that is regularly raised by the government following the release of the 2002 and 2007 Intergenerational Reports. This project will also examine the interventions that would improve the health of older workers and increase labour force participation over the long term.Read moreRead less
Intergenerational Disadvantage: Causes, Pathways, and Consequences. This Project aims to prevent poor Australian children from becoming poor adults by developing scientific evidence and creative policy approaches to overcome entrenched disadvantage. The Project will generate new knowledge on how social assistance dependence is linked across generations using new Australian data. Expected outcomes are the identification of i) the causal link between parents’ and children’s social assistance depen ....Intergenerational Disadvantage: Causes, Pathways, and Consequences. This Project aims to prevent poor Australian children from becoming poor adults by developing scientific evidence and creative policy approaches to overcome entrenched disadvantage. The Project will generate new knowledge on how social assistance dependence is linked across generations using new Australian data. Expected outcomes are the identification of i) the causal link between parents’ and children’s social assistance dependence; ii) the pathways through which youths overcome disadvantage; and iii) the role of family structure in transmitting disadvantage. Transforming the evidence base, the findings will have significant benefits in redesigning the Australian social safety net, promoting social and economic mobility.Read moreRead less
Tackling the Tough Problems in Productivity Measurement: Infrastructure, Services and R&D. Productivity is seen as a main driver of economic growth and welfare improvements. Productivity indexes are used in a variety of policy contexts, in particular in determining the effectiveness (or otherwise) of government policies. Most industrialized countries have productivity accounts, but measurement problems persist and may even be more problematic in the future given an expansion in new goods and ser ....Tackling the Tough Problems in Productivity Measurement: Infrastructure, Services and R&D. Productivity is seen as a main driver of economic growth and welfare improvements. Productivity indexes are used in a variety of policy contexts, in particular in determining the effectiveness (or otherwise) of government policies. Most industrialized countries have productivity accounts, but measurement problems persist and may even be more problematic in the future given an expansion in new goods and services. Improved productivity measurement and an improved understanding of its sources can inform aggregate and regional policy. The project includes collaboration with the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Productivity Commission, with the participation of the Reserve Bank of Australia.Read moreRead less
Regional Australia' skills shortages and high-skill refugees' employment . Regional Australia loses to cities thousands of professional and trade-related people whose skills cannot be replaced. Focusing on small and medium-size enterprises producing food and beverages, this project aims to determine whether refugee employment (i) is a strategic resource (ii) can alleviate these chronic regional skill shortages, and (iii) can be integrated in immigration policy. In doing so, it will for the firs ....Regional Australia' skills shortages and high-skill refugees' employment . Regional Australia loses to cities thousands of professional and trade-related people whose skills cannot be replaced. Focusing on small and medium-size enterprises producing food and beverages, this project aims to determine whether refugee employment (i) is a strategic resource (ii) can alleviate these chronic regional skill shortages, and (iii) can be integrated in immigration policy. In doing so, it will for the first time provide critical empirical evidence on the possible need to separate policy measures aimed at rural vs. urban employers. The outcomes will contribute to reducing the problem of critical skill shortages and wastage at once and do so with an eye to the needs to rural Australia – a key driver of the country’s exports. Read moreRead less
Small firms' finances: effects on employment, wages and growth. The project aims to estimate how difficulties in accessing financial and credit markets affect small and medium enterprise (SME) decisions about employment, wages, entry and exit. Although the SME sector is Australia’s largest employer, the extent to which financial constraints affect these firms' market performance and their ability to create and sustain employment is unknown. The project plans to use an econometric analysis of fir ....Small firms' finances: effects on employment, wages and growth. The project aims to estimate how difficulties in accessing financial and credit markets affect small and medium enterprise (SME) decisions about employment, wages, entry and exit. Although the SME sector is Australia’s largest employer, the extent to which financial constraints affect these firms' market performance and their ability to create and sustain employment is unknown. The project plans to use an econometric analysis of firm level panel data to fill this gap. The intended outcome is micro-econometric findings tailored to improve targeted labour and financial policy. The expected benefit is to provide input to policy responses that support employment, productivity and wages in volatile market conditions.Read moreRead less
Biosecurity or Trade Barrier? The Economic Costs of Quarantine. Agricultural, fishing and forestry groups are united in supporting strict biosecurity measures, such as quarantine, in order to prevent any possibility of the importation of diseases. However, the importation of certain products from "diseased" countries does not necessarily mean that the disease will also be imported, and even if imported it may not result in the destruction of the local industry. The "diseased" countries obviousl ....Biosecurity or Trade Barrier? The Economic Costs of Quarantine. Agricultural, fishing and forestry groups are united in supporting strict biosecurity measures, such as quarantine, in order to prevent any possibility of the importation of diseases. However, the importation of certain products from "diseased" countries does not necessarily mean that the disease will also be imported, and even if imported it may not result in the destruction of the local industry. The "diseased" countries obviously remain competitive if they are able to export the products. Foreign quarantine restrictions are restricting Australia's access to international markets. The costs to consumers of the current zero-tolerance policy has not been quantified. The costs may indeed exceed the benefit.Read moreRead less