Price Transparency, Search, and Collusion in Markets. Online search platforms and 'open data' policies are emerging to empower consumers with price information for decision-making in markets, yet also can enable collusive pricing. This project aims to study the competitive impact of search platforms by combining large, real-time datasets on firm pricing and consumer search with natural and field experiments. The project expects to facilitate the development of new models of collusion, consumer s ....Price Transparency, Search, and Collusion in Markets. Online search platforms and 'open data' policies are emerging to empower consumers with price information for decision-making in markets, yet also can enable collusive pricing. This project aims to study the competitive impact of search platforms by combining large, real-time datasets on firm pricing and consumer search with natural and field experiments. The project expects to facilitate the development of new models of collusion, consumer search, and platform adoption. This should yield substantial benefit by modernizing competition policy for the digital age through novel data-driven screens for collusion, and policies to encourage platform adoption and enable consumers’ use of data in decision-making to increase competition in markets.Read moreRead less
Optimal Policy Design with Entry: A Model of Aggregative Oligopoly Games. This project aims to develop a theory of endogenous market structures using aggregative oligopoly games to engage issues in competition, trade and innovation policy. Effective and innovative policy design is crucial for economic growth and productivity. Policy analysis with endogenous market structures is in need of better tools. The toolkit of aggregative games, in which each player’s profit can be written as a function o ....Optimal Policy Design with Entry: A Model of Aggregative Oligopoly Games. This project aims to develop a theory of endogenous market structures using aggregative oligopoly games to engage issues in competition, trade and innovation policy. Effective and innovative policy design is crucial for economic growth and productivity. Policy analysis with endogenous market structures is in need of better tools. The toolkit of aggregative games, in which each player’s profit can be written as a function of own action and an aggregate variable, would greatly simplify the analysis of oligopoly interaction. This would lead to a tractable but general welfare analysis yielding new results. The framework is designed to allow us to examine complex policy questions in a simplified way, accommodating models with heterogeneous players and entry, and generalising models with different types of competition and demand specification.Read moreRead less
Optimal prize structures in the innovation context. This project aims to study the optimal prize structures in innovation contests. Innovation contests spur innovation for governments, not-for-profit organizations and firms, but the optimal design of innovation contests is a problem. Innovation is important in economic growth and firm competitiveness, but the 2015 Australian Innovation System Report identifies Australia as a mediocre innovator amongst the OECD countries. This project will use an ....Optimal prize structures in the innovation context. This project aims to study the optimal prize structures in innovation contests. Innovation contests spur innovation for governments, not-for-profit organizations and firms, but the optimal design of innovation contests is a problem. Innovation is important in economic growth and firm competitiveness, but the 2015 Australian Innovation System Report identifies Australia as a mediocre innovator amongst the OECD countries. This project will use an ideas-based innovation model to distinguish between easy and difficult challenges based on the availability of good ideas. The results should be important for effective incentivising of innovation through contests.Read moreRead less
Workers of the world: International labour movement responses to globalization. Industrial relations was the most significant issue in the 2007 federal election. The return of the Labor Government suggests the majority of Australians wished to preserve workers' rights to bargain collectively for better wages and working conditions. This project speaks directly to such concerns by analysing the global forces that have prompted anti-worker policies internationally and the worldwide responses on th ....Workers of the world: International labour movement responses to globalization. Industrial relations was the most significant issue in the 2007 federal election. The return of the Labor Government suggests the majority of Australians wished to preserve workers' rights to bargain collectively for better wages and working conditions. This project speaks directly to such concerns by analysing the global forces that have prompted anti-worker policies internationally and the worldwide responses on the part of labour movements. It will also incorporate Australian scholarship and subject-matter into a major comparative study for an international audience, at a time when the global political pendulum has swung in the direction of confronting corporate excesses and improving employees' living and working standards.Read moreRead less
Incomplete Information Models for Industrial Organisation. Mergers, acquisitions, and collusive conduct take place in imperfectly competitive environments where firms have incomplete information about others. Despite this, standard workhorse models for analyzing the associated competitive effects assume that firms have complete information and typically only accommodate imperfect competition on one side of the market. This project aims to remedy this deficiency by developing the economic theory ....Incomplete Information Models for Industrial Organisation. Mergers, acquisitions, and collusive conduct take place in imperfectly competitive environments where firms have incomplete information about others. Despite this, standard workhorse models for analyzing the associated competitive effects assume that firms have complete information and typically only accommodate imperfect competition on one side of the market. This project aims to remedy this deficiency by developing the economic theory and associated practical tools for the analysis of competitive effects in settings with incomplete information and market power on both sides. The project work will be presented at seminars and workshops around the globe to both academic audiences and to practitioners at competition authorities. Read moreRead less
Multi-tier economic hierarchies: existence, structure, and optimal incentives. There exists a considerable gap between real-world economic organizations and the economic theory of the firm. This project provides formal theories of multi-tier hierarchies, thereby contributing to fill the gap. The project is expected to produce highest-quality research publishable in top-tier journals. This will, among others, enhance Australia's standing as a knowledge nation. Additional benefit comes from inter ....Multi-tier economic hierarchies: existence, structure, and optimal incentives. There exists a considerable gap between real-world economic organizations and the economic theory of the firm. This project provides formal theories of multi-tier hierarchies, thereby contributing to fill the gap. The project is expected to produce highest-quality research publishable in top-tier journals. This will, among others, enhance Australia's standing as a knowledge nation. Additional benefit comes from international collaboration with high-calibre theorists such as the two partner investigators. The project would provide opportunities for communication between Australian economists and the partner investigators, as well as a launch pad for further collaboration in the future.Read moreRead less
Economic interactions between scientists and commercial interests and their impact on scientific knowledge dissemination: a theoretical and empirical investigation. In recent decades, the debate between scientists, policy-makers and businesses on the usefulness of scientific discoveries has been intense. Despite its clear economic implications, there has been very little economic modeling of the interactions between scientists and firms on key choices such as publication rights and licensing agr ....Economic interactions between scientists and commercial interests and their impact on scientific knowledge dissemination: a theoretical and empirical investigation. In recent decades, the debate between scientists, policy-makers and businesses on the usefulness of scientific discoveries has been intense. Despite its clear economic implications, there has been very little economic modeling of the interactions between scientists and firms on key choices such as publication rights and licensing agreements associated with patent protection. These choices impact on the diffusion of scientific knowledge and their productive applications. This project will examine those interactions both at a theoretical and empirical level with the goal of generating insights into whether and how public policy makers should regulate or leave unchecked the commercialisation of science.Read moreRead less
Microeconomics of Professional Sporting Competitions and Labour Markets. This project will undertake theoretical and empirical research on the operation of labour markets in professional sporting competitions. It will examine two main topics - the effects of labour market regulations in sporting competitions; and the determinants of job tenure and job mobility of players and coaches. The main expected outcomes are new theories of how sporting competitions operate, and for the determinants of j ....Microeconomics of Professional Sporting Competitions and Labour Markets. This project will undertake theoretical and empirical research on the operation of labour markets in professional sporting competitions. It will examine two main topics - the effects of labour market regulations in sporting competitions; and the determinants of job tenure and job mobility of players and coaches. The main expected outcomes are new theories of how sporting competitions operate, and for the determinants of job tenure; and original empirical evidence on these issues. The significance of the research derives from its potential contribution to international knowledge of how labour markets operate, and to the improved operation of sporting competitions.Read moreRead less
Big data: implications for competition, privacy and regulation. This project aims to provide economic analyses of the costs and benefits of business strategies driven by consumer data, while considering consumers’ privacy concerns. This is highly relevant and timely given the vast amount of consumer data collected, shared and used in the digital era. Expected outcomes include better understanding of how data may lead to market power and how to safeguard against abuse of market power and privacy ....Big data: implications for competition, privacy and regulation. This project aims to provide economic analyses of the costs and benefits of business strategies driven by consumer data, while considering consumers’ privacy concerns. This is highly relevant and timely given the vast amount of consumer data collected, shared and used in the digital era. Expected outcomes include better understanding of how data may lead to market power and how to safeguard against abuse of market power and privacy breach. This project should make significant contributions to the nascent academic research and policy discussions in this area. This should also place Australia at the forefront of international scientific community and policy circle on the regulation of data-driven business strategies and privacy regulation. 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