Drug Companies, their Patenting Strategies and High-Cost Pharmaceuticals: An Empirical Investigation. Pharmaceuticals are a vital part of clinical services that maintain and improve Australia's health; they are also costly, absorbing a substantial proportion of the national health expenditures. By conferring market protections, the patent system helps the manufacturers of pharmaceuticals to recoup the high costs of research associated with developing new products. Abuses of the patent system by ....Drug Companies, their Patenting Strategies and High-Cost Pharmaceuticals: An Empirical Investigation. Pharmaceuticals are a vital part of clinical services that maintain and improve Australia's health; they are also costly, absorbing a substantial proportion of the national health expenditures. By conferring market protections, the patent system helps the manufacturers of pharmaceuticals to recoup the high costs of research associated with developing new products. Abuses of the patent system by pharmaceutical manufacturers have the potential to stifle competition and inappropriately raise the costs of pharmaceuticals to society. This innovative, cross-disciplinary, research will investigate the existence of abusive patents and, if necessary, propose reforms that will prevent further abuse and reduce the size of the health budget. Read moreRead less
Winners and losers: Examining tax justice in tax disputes in Australia. Little is known about the important process of tax dispute resolution in Australia. The project seeks to determine whether tax dispute resolution in Australian is effective, whether or not taxpayers with greater resources come out ahead in tax litigation, and whether or not alternative dispute resolution is a cost effective way for resolving tax disputes. The project also examines the costs and benefits of independent tax di ....Winners and losers: Examining tax justice in tax disputes in Australia. Little is known about the important process of tax dispute resolution in Australia. The project seeks to determine whether tax dispute resolution in Australian is effective, whether or not taxpayers with greater resources come out ahead in tax litigation, and whether or not alternative dispute resolution is a cost effective way for resolving tax disputes. The project also examines the costs and benefits of independent tax dispute resolution, and the legal and justice implications of accessibility to such dispute resolution. Through its analysis, the project aims to arrive at concrete policy recommendations to improve the functioning of the present system in terms of accessibility, operating costs and perceived procedural justice.Read moreRead less
A cancer on our economy? An empirical interdisciplinary study of the criminalisation of serious cartel conduct in Australia. Serious cartel conduct is seen as highly damaging to Australia's economic welfare but only recently has it been regarded as criminal. This research will inform public debate about the impetus and justification for this major shift in competition law policy and enforcement. It will provide robust empirical evidence about public opinion and business behaviour and derive insi ....A cancer on our economy? An empirical interdisciplinary study of the criminalisation of serious cartel conduct in Australia. Serious cartel conduct is seen as highly damaging to Australia's economic welfare but only recently has it been regarded as criminal. This research will inform public debate about the impetus and justification for this major shift in competition law policy and enforcement. It will provide robust empirical evidence about public opinion and business behaviour and derive insights into whether criminalisation will promote greater compliance with the law. It will assist in refining practical implementation measures to ensure the effectiveness of a criminal regime and it will aid legislators and regulators in policy-making, regulatory design and enforcement in relation to competition law and business regulation more generally.Read moreRead less
A comparative analysis of gambling regulation in Australian states and territories. This project will be the first systematic and comprehensive evaluation of Australian gambling regulation. Research is in response to incidents of regulatory failure, fragmentation and inconsistency in the gambling regulatory frameworks of states/territories and calls by the Productivity Commission for rigorous and independent review. It will develop an evaluative framework to analyse current gambling regulations, ....A comparative analysis of gambling regulation in Australian states and territories. This project will be the first systematic and comprehensive evaluation of Australian gambling regulation. Research is in response to incidents of regulatory failure, fragmentation and inconsistency in the gambling regulatory frameworks of states/territories and calls by the Productivity Commission for rigorous and independent review. It will develop an evaluative framework to analyse current gambling regulations, performances and capacities in the face of challenges such as crime, problem gambling and cross-jurisdictional gambling. Research will allow identification of Australian and international benchmarks for gambling regulations that prevent crime and encourage social responsibility.Read moreRead less
Developing a model to assess the economic consequences of cannabis policy options. The potential economic benefits of the project reside in the ability of governments to make cannabis policy decisions based on assumptions of reduced economic burden of one model over another through:
1.the direct comparison in economic terms of three different models for the regulation of cannabis;
2.a model for estimating economic costs associated with cannabis which can be applied to other illicit drugs;
3 ....Developing a model to assess the economic consequences of cannabis policy options. The potential economic benefits of the project reside in the ability of governments to make cannabis policy decisions based on assumptions of reduced economic burden of one model over another through:
1.the direct comparison in economic terms of three different models for the regulation of cannabis;
2.a model for estimating economic costs associated with cannabis which can be applied to other illicit drugs;
3.improving the evidence-base for policy decision-making at all jurisdictions in Australia.
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Integrating Accident and Travel Delay Externalities in an Urban Speed Reduction Context. The recognition that accident externalities are not independent of travel delays, and hence travel time savings and losses will promote a serious policy rethink about strategies designed to reduce the risk of exposure to accidents. The evidence is designed to identify that additional externality that has to be factored into the accident costs to recognise the other sources of externality typically ignored in ....Integrating Accident and Travel Delay Externalities in an Urban Speed Reduction Context. The recognition that accident externalities are not independent of travel delays, and hence travel time savings and losses will promote a serious policy rethink about strategies designed to reduce the risk of exposure to accidents. The evidence is designed to identify that additional externality that has to be factored into the accident costs to recognise the other sources of externality typically ignored in accident costing and speed restriction studies. The implication on the development of a national program of road safety is likely to be profound. Read moreRead less
Developing demand-side strategies for sustainable futures at the business and consumer levels. Australia is facing a world in which the material demands of developing nations are putting pressure on global resources, at the same time as effects of economic activity on the earth's climate are leading to questions about the planet's sustainability. Efforts to mandate changes in consumption patterns are likely to be politically unpopular and lead to a loss of social welfare. This research will in ....Developing demand-side strategies for sustainable futures at the business and consumer levels. Australia is facing a world in which the material demands of developing nations are putting pressure on global resources, at the same time as effects of economic activity on the earth's climate are leading to questions about the planet's sustainability. Efforts to mandate changes in consumption patterns are likely to be politically unpopular and lead to a loss of social welfare. This research will investigate ways in which choices between current and future consumption can be framed to maximize voluntary consumer choices for sustainable futures. It will allow the demand side of negative environmental trends to be addressed, reducing the pressure on the supply side without the loss of consumer sovereignty.Read moreRead less
Opportunity and Disadvantage: Differences in Wellbeing Among Australia's Adults and Children at a Small Area Level. There is growing interest in regional perspectives in social, economic and health policy, amid increasing evidence that the opportunities and well-being of Australians are greatly affected by where they live. But the evidence base and data required to assess distributional equity issues are deficient. This project will improve the welfare of Australians by generating new insights i ....Opportunity and Disadvantage: Differences in Wellbeing Among Australia's Adults and Children at a Small Area Level. There is growing interest in regional perspectives in social, economic and health policy, amid increasing evidence that the opportunities and well-being of Australians are greatly affected by where they live. But the evidence base and data required to assess distributional equity issues are deficient. This project will improve the welfare of Australians by generating new insights into spatial inequalities; creating new databases about the characteristics of Australians living in each small area; making these new data very widely available through the web; and placing Australia at the international leading edge in the production of spatial socio-economic household data.Read moreRead less
Uncovering Antarctica’s Secret Chemical Voyagers for Expedited Regulation. This project aims to strengthen global chemical policy by rapidly identifying chemicals that demonstrate environmental persistence and mobility, two requisite risk criteria for regulatory action. It will take the novel approach of applying powerful non-target chemical screening approaches to Antarctic environmental media, leveraging the remoteness of Antarctica to derive unambiguous evidence against the key risk criteria. ....Uncovering Antarctica’s Secret Chemical Voyagers for Expedited Regulation. This project aims to strengthen global chemical policy by rapidly identifying chemicals that demonstrate environmental persistence and mobility, two requisite risk criteria for regulatory action. It will take the novel approach of applying powerful non-target chemical screening approaches to Antarctic environmental media, leveraging the remoteness of Antarctica to derive unambiguous evidence against the key risk criteria. Research will uncover a new catalogue of proven persistent and mobile chemicals, and further assess their ubiquity and biomagnification potential in the Antarctic system. Project findings will be directly disseminated to policymakers, facilitating expedited regulatory decision-making for improved Planetary Health outcomes.Read moreRead less