The Importance of Being Politically Connected. The literature on the importance of political connections to firms and their value implications is scant. This project aims to develop a framework that depicts the interplay of political connections, institutional factors, corporate governance, media coverage and firm value. In particular, it investigates how political connections enhance the value of firms in China and how this changes as the market transitions.
Surviving financial crises: a study of the Australian Government securities market. This project assesses the capacity of the Australian Government securities market to meet investor demand in times of financial crises. The outcomes will provide governments in Australia and other countries with the necessary tools to enhance the efficiency of securities markets and to flag liquidity problems in a timely manner.
Adoption of Australian IFRS: Are IFRS "fit for purpose"? The project seeks to explore the usefulness of modifications made to company earnings based on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS; Australia’s mandatory accounting standards) by financial report preparers and users. The project intends to show how share markets respond to adjustments to IFRS earnings and provide evidence to assist standard setters and regulators in policy decisions to strengthen the financial reporting frame ....Adoption of Australian IFRS: Are IFRS "fit for purpose"? The project seeks to explore the usefulness of modifications made to company earnings based on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS; Australia’s mandatory accounting standards) by financial report preparers and users. The project intends to show how share markets respond to adjustments to IFRS earnings and provide evidence to assist standard setters and regulators in policy decisions to strengthen the financial reporting framework and to improve the comparability and transparency of financial information. A more robust framework would improve capital market efficiency, promote economic growth in Australia and support the goal of making Australia a world-leading financial market.Read moreRead less
The Aging Population, Superannuation and Corporate Dividend Policy. The project intends to examine how population wealth and age affect one important aspect of corporate decision-making, namely dividend policy. Researchers invest considerable effort in understanding how demographics impact upon the need for, and structure of, government systems including social security and taxation, but relatively little is known about its effect on capital markets or corporate decision-making. Although individ ....The Aging Population, Superannuation and Corporate Dividend Policy. The project intends to examine how population wealth and age affect one important aspect of corporate decision-making, namely dividend policy. Researchers invest considerable effort in understanding how demographics impact upon the need for, and structure of, government systems including social security and taxation, but relatively little is known about its effect on capital markets or corporate decision-making. Although individual investors are, by nature, atomistic, the project argues changes in investor preferences will ultimately prompt companies to alter their dividend policies. Pressure on firms to update these policies will come from superannuation and pension fund managers who, as fiduciaries, will invest money consistent with clients' revised preferences. The project aims to more fully characterise how Australia's ageing population will affect the public and private sectors.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
How do company announcements affect trading frequency in stocks? This project addresses the question of how financial markets respond to news by investigating how company announcements affect trading patterns in Australian banking stocks. Analysis will be based on new extensions to autoregressive conditional hazard (ACH) models, with research focussing on how to incorporate announcement variables into an ACH framework and how to modify standard ACH analysis to account for simultaneous transactio ....How do company announcements affect trading frequency in stocks? This project addresses the question of how financial markets respond to news by investigating how company announcements affect trading patterns in Australian banking stocks. Analysis will be based on new extensions to autoregressive conditional hazard (ACH) models, with research focussing on how to incorporate announcement variables into an ACH framework and how to modify standard ACH analysis to account for simultaneous transactions, market frictions and spillover effects. The results of this research will assist government and companies in choosing announcement times, aid traders in portfolio adjustment and will lead to a better understanding of the microstructure of Australian stock markets.Read moreRead less
Location-Based Personalisation in Mobile Commerce (M-Commerce). M-commerce, though playing an important role in future competitiveness of Australia, suffers a low user demand. While location-based services have taken off in Europe, they are still at their infancy in Australia. In terms of IT access, Australia is ranked lower than many Asian countries. Our work gains an understanding of users' concerns and expectations of location-based services, which leads to better application designs and thus ....Location-Based Personalisation in Mobile Commerce (M-Commerce). M-commerce, though playing an important role in future competitiveness of Australia, suffers a low user demand. While location-based services have taken off in Europe, they are still at their infancy in Australia. In terms of IT access, Australia is ranked lower than many Asian countries. Our work gains an understanding of users' concerns and expectations of location-based services, which leads to better application designs and thus a wider adoption. An examination of users' attitude towards personalised content and concerns about data privacy provides insights to Australian legislation in relation to telemarketing and data-driven marketing. National benefits will stem from a balance between telemarketing efficiency and users' benefits.Read moreRead less
Welfare receipt, demoralisation and mental health: how can welfare reform promote personal wellbeing and social inclusion? Welfare recipients are more likely to experience mental disorders and have poor wellbeing than non-recipients, and this can be a barrier to employment. This project examines the factors that may improve their mental health, promote employment outcomes, and help the Commonwealth Government develop effective welfare reform policies.
Ageing in China and Australia: Promoting health, productivity and wellbeing. This project aims to provide insights into the ways in which life-span development and social change in China have influenced the development of policies to support the health, productivity and wellbeing of people entering later life. China’s population is rapidly ageing, bringing pressure on intergenerational support arising from smaller families, migration, urbanisation, and growing social inequalities. It may also br ....Ageing in China and Australia: Promoting health, productivity and wellbeing. This project aims to provide insights into the ways in which life-span development and social change in China have influenced the development of policies to support the health, productivity and wellbeing of people entering later life. China’s population is rapidly ageing, bringing pressure on intergenerational support arising from smaller families, migration, urbanisation, and growing social inequalities. It may also bring opportunities. Using an understanding of social determinants, cultural context and policy responses, the project plans to undertake cross-national comparisons with Australia and examine historical influences and social variations within China. The project aims to deliver a better understanding of how public policy can enhance productivity, health and wellbeing of an ageing population.Read moreRead less
Provable elimination of information leakage through timing channels. This project aims to develop techniques to solve the issue in information security of unauthorised information flow resulting from competition for shared hardware resources. The project will combine operating systems design, formal hardware models, information-flow reasoning and theorem proving to achieve a goal that is widely considered infeasible. The project is expected to result in a system that prevents leakage of critical ....Provable elimination of information leakage through timing channels. This project aims to develop techniques to solve the issue in information security of unauthorised information flow resulting from competition for shared hardware resources. The project will combine operating systems design, formal hardware models, information-flow reasoning and theorem proving to achieve a goal that is widely considered infeasible. The project is expected to result in a system that prevents leakage of critical information, such as encryption keys, through timing channels. This should prevent sophisticated attacks on public clouds, mobile devices and military-grade cross-domain devices.Read moreRead less