Designing Weather Derivatives and Yield Index Contracts for Rural Australia. This project addresses the security of communities in rural areas. Successful risk management based on weather derivatives and yield index contracts will stabilise the income of rural industries and improve the financial viability of rural communities. It will allow systemic risks from climate change to be reinsured with financial institutions, maintain some of Australia's most important export industries and help maint ....Designing Weather Derivatives and Yield Index Contracts for Rural Australia. This project addresses the security of communities in rural areas. Successful risk management based on weather derivatives and yield index contracts will stabilise the income of rural industries and improve the financial viability of rural communities. It will allow systemic risks from climate change to be reinsured with financial institutions, maintain some of Australia's most important export industries and help maintain leadership in climate risk research. It will use state of the art methods to derive and estimate nonlinear yield indexes, and develop new option pricing methods to value the premium that farmers should pay for a yield index contract. Finally it will evaluate the likely adoption by farmers using nonlinear portfolio theory.Read moreRead less
Modelling non-linear price dynamics of primary commodities that are affected by seasonality, significant storage costs, and slow adjustment. Australia's economy relies substantially on exports of commodities. However, recent volatility of commodity prices has created tremendous uncertainties for traders, producers and consumers of those commodities. This adversely affects our national economy through the disruption of agricultural and mining production, and also more broadly impacts on investmen ....Modelling non-linear price dynamics of primary commodities that are affected by seasonality, significant storage costs, and slow adjustment. Australia's economy relies substantially on exports of commodities. However, recent volatility of commodity prices has created tremendous uncertainties for traders, producers and consumers of those commodities. This adversely affects our national economy through the disruption of agricultural and mining production, and also more broadly impacts on investment, employment and gross domestic income. This research will model more accurately the complex dynamics of primary commodity prices and their inter-market linkages, which will allow traders, producers and consumers to better forecast commodity price movements and protect themselves through inventory management, hedging and long-run production planning.Read moreRead less
Designing for uncertainty in conservation auctions. Economic theory and case study evidence show that tenders or auctions are more efficient than grant mechanisms for encouraging landholders to produce environmental outcomes on private land. These studies have ignored the effects of uncertainty of both bidders and administrators about factors such as landholder participation and the level of environmental benefits that will be delivered. This project will test whether distributing environmental ....Designing for uncertainty in conservation auctions. Economic theory and case study evidence show that tenders or auctions are more efficient than grant mechanisms for encouraging landholders to produce environmental outcomes on private land. These studies have ignored the effects of uncertainty of both bidders and administrators about factors such as landholder participation and the level of environmental benefits that will be delivered. This project will test whether distributing environmental funds via tenders is still efficient when uncertainty about various important factors is considered. Results from this research are expected to inform the cost effective design of systems to pay landholders for the provision of environmental benefits even when there is high uncertainty.Read moreRead less
Redesigning Landcare policy to better coordinate across landholders. This project aims to study how landscape-sensitive economic incentives and social norms can be leveraged to enhance the short- and long-term effectiveness of conservation programs. It will yield new knowledge for innovative designs in conservation contracting that is urgently needed to address worsening environmental threats in Australia and worldwide. In collaboration with Nobel laureate Vernon Smith’s team, new methods and pr ....Redesigning Landcare policy to better coordinate across landholders. This project aims to study how landscape-sensitive economic incentives and social norms can be leveraged to enhance the short- and long-term effectiveness of conservation programs. It will yield new knowledge for innovative designs in conservation contracting that is urgently needed to address worsening environmental threats in Australia and worldwide. In collaboration with Nobel laureate Vernon Smith’s team, new methods and protocols will improve our ability to generate better data and better understand how social and incentive mechanisms can constructively interact to facilitate collaborative environmental action. Results will help make the achievement of environmental targets and the use of public funds more cost-effective. Read moreRead less
Youth in Australia: Education and Work. This project examines, in an integrated way, the education decisions, transition from school to work, and the early labour market experience of youth from 1975 to the present time. The recent emphasis on Australia as a Knowledge Nation and a New Economy indicates that study of education decisions is a high priority. Similarly, pathways from school to work and the cumulative disadvantage that many youth experience in the labour market are leading contempo ....Youth in Australia: Education and Work. This project examines, in an integrated way, the education decisions, transition from school to work, and the early labour market experience of youth from 1975 to the present time. The recent emphasis on Australia as a Knowledge Nation and a New Economy indicates that study of education decisions is a high priority. Similarly, pathways from school to work and the cumulative disadvantage that many youth experience in the labour market are leading contemporary economic and social issues. The project is expected to yield insights into the determinants of educational attainment, best pathways and the channels of influence on labour market success and failure that will be policy relevant and publishable in refereed journals.Read moreRead less
Presumed Guilty: An Economics Analysis of the Efficiency of Environmental Bonds for the WA Mining Sector. Environmental bonds have two important economic effects. First they give an incentive for mining firms to manage environmental damage and second they prevent excessive costs falling on the regulator in the case of bankruptcy. The aim of this project is to assess if this policy can be redesigned to increase its economic efficiency.
Wage Determination and the New Household Economics. By linking wage outcomes and occupational attainment to home time activities and the human capital and other characteristics of partners, this project should help establish the basis for the payoffs to schooling, the gender pay gap and the marriage wage premium in Australia. A focus on the household allocation of time, with a possible emphasis on child care, may emerge as an important consideration in discussion of the gender wage gap, and of ....Wage Determination and the New Household Economics. By linking wage outcomes and occupational attainment to home time activities and the human capital and other characteristics of partners, this project should help establish the basis for the payoffs to schooling, the gender pay gap and the marriage wage premium in Australia. A focus on the household allocation of time, with a possible emphasis on child care, may emerge as an important consideration in discussion of the gender wage gap, and of the glass ceiling effects shown in recent research and in the media to be an important feature of the Australian labour market.Read moreRead less
Examining Overeducation and Undereducation in the Immigrant Labour Market: An International Case Study Approach. Overseas research has shown that wages and job satisfaction are affected by the degree to which workers' skills are matched to the requirements of their jobs. Examination of this issue for Australia within an international case study approach will identify avenues through which the matching function of the labour market can be improved, and hence economic efficiency enhanced. This wil ....Examining Overeducation and Undereducation in the Immigrant Labour Market: An International Case Study Approach. Overseas research has shown that wages and job satisfaction are affected by the degree to which workers' skills are matched to the requirements of their jobs. Examination of this issue for Australia within an international case study approach will identify avenues through which the matching function of the labour market can be improved, and hence economic efficiency enhanced. This will benefit Australia in that it will provide a basis through which worker satisfaction, lifetime outcomes and aggregate output can be enhanced through a more effective use of our skill-base, and hence permit a strengthening of our social and economic fabric. Read moreRead less
Higher Education: Access and Equity. This project will study the determinants of the mix of higher education participants within a comprehensive framework that will provide empirical evidence on the fundamental issues of access and equity in the higher education system. It will examine the consequences of the current funding arrangements for higher education in Australia, and explore potential modifications to these funding arrangements. This project should help strengthen the higher educatio ....Higher Education: Access and Equity. This project will study the determinants of the mix of higher education participants within a comprehensive framework that will provide empirical evidence on the fundamental issues of access and equity in the higher education system. It will examine the consequences of the current funding arrangements for higher education in Australia, and explore potential modifications to these funding arrangements. This project should help strengthen the higher education sector, and so help Australia to compete in an increasingly technology-driven marketplace. The outcomes of the project will include discussion papers, workshops and a number of papers in international, refereed journals, and in this way it will increase, and render more informed, debate on higher education issues in Australia. As the Industry Partner is the Department of Education, Science and Training, the research will be conducted within a dynamic policy setting.Read moreRead less
High-skilled immigrants: Improved methods for enhancing absorption and addressing negative assimilation. This project will help Australia to design better migration and immigrant settlement policies. It will provide policy-makers with information on the economic and social adjustment of high-skilled immigrants in a global economy, and hasten the contribution of these immigrants to the development of Australia's technological capabilities. This, in turn, will increase Australia's production oppor ....High-skilled immigrants: Improved methods for enhancing absorption and addressing negative assimilation. This project will help Australia to design better migration and immigrant settlement policies. It will provide policy-makers with information on the economic and social adjustment of high-skilled immigrants in a global economy, and hasten the contribution of these immigrants to the development of Australia's technological capabilities. This, in turn, will increase Australia's production opportunities. The research will also help ensure that highly trained researchers are available for acquiring the knowledge that is important in a multicultural society such as Australia, and will further enhance our understanding of our region and the world.Read moreRead less