Australian labour market adjustment to technology, trade and policy. This project aims to examine how the Australian labour market has adjusted over the past 30 years to several major developments: increased use of computers, growth in international trade and the mining boom, microeconomic reform, and the expansion of higher education. The analysis is designed to encompass the effect on labour market outcomes including workers’ pay, the skill composition of employment, migration flows and indivi ....Australian labour market adjustment to technology, trade and policy. This project aims to examine how the Australian labour market has adjusted over the past 30 years to several major developments: increased use of computers, growth in international trade and the mining boom, microeconomic reform, and the expansion of higher education. The analysis is designed to encompass the effect on labour market outcomes including workers’ pay, the skill composition of employment, migration flows and individuals’ decisions about acquiring education. Having a richer understanding of how the labour market has adjusted in the past may help policy-makers to infer how adjustment will happen in the future. For example, a better understanding of the effects of new technologies would provide a stronger basis for judging trends in job creation and hence the types of skills and training that will be required in Australia in future years.Read moreRead less
Economic stress, non-cognitive skill development and life outcomes. This project aims to identify policies in which the fostering of non-cognitive skills (NCS) can break the persistence of economic disadvantage. The project seeks to investigate the mechanisms behind differential development, intergenerational transmission of NCS between "rich and poor," how exposure to economic stress inhibits NCS development and the role of schooling in boosting NCS of disadvantaged children. Expected outcomes ....Economic stress, non-cognitive skill development and life outcomes. This project aims to identify policies in which the fostering of non-cognitive skills (NCS) can break the persistence of economic disadvantage. The project seeks to investigate the mechanisms behind differential development, intergenerational transmission of NCS between "rich and poor," how exposure to economic stress inhibits NCS development and the role of schooling in boosting NCS of disadvantaged children. Expected outcomes include evidence-based policy advice on how human capital investments in NCS can be beneficial for health, educational and labour market success, and how NCS can survive despite economic stress. Intended benefits include new cost-effective policies to reduce inequality and maximise the welfare of society.Read moreRead less
Decentralised assets trading, centralised clearing and systemic risk. This project aims to study the effect of regulating over-the-counter (OTC) financial markets on economic performance. The lack of transparency of OTC financial markets may have exacerbated the severity of the 2007-09 financial crisis. In response, regulators around the world decided to mandate centralised clearing of derivatives traded OTC, believing this would reduce system-wide risk. This project will study the regulatory ch ....Decentralised assets trading, centralised clearing and systemic risk. This project aims to study the effect of regulating over-the-counter (OTC) financial markets on economic performance. The lack of transparency of OTC financial markets may have exacerbated the severity of the 2007-09 financial crisis. In response, regulators around the world decided to mandate centralised clearing of derivatives traded OTC, believing this would reduce system-wide risk. This project will study the regulatory change’s effects on market participation, volumes of trade and prices, and the behavioural effect of shifting risk from market participants to clearinghouses. It expects to suggest remedial policies clearinghouses could implement to control market participants’ risk appetite. These can help enhance future productivity and reduce unemployment in Australia.Read moreRead less
Changing Institutions to Mitigate Gender Leadership Gaps: Power of Defaults. This project aims to improve diversity in organisations by investigating a simple yet novel institutional change that can increase women’s participation in leadership. This involves a change in the default used for leadership selection, from an opt-in to an opt-out mechanism. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of diversity and inclusion by showing how appropriate choice of defaults can reduce lab ....Changing Institutions to Mitigate Gender Leadership Gaps: Power of Defaults. This project aims to improve diversity in organisations by investigating a simple yet novel institutional change that can increase women’s participation in leadership. This involves a change in the default used for leadership selection, from an opt-in to an opt-out mechanism. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of diversity and inclusion by showing how appropriate choice of defaults can reduce labour market gaps and inequality. Expected outcomes include understanding mechanisms underlying the gender default effect both in the short and long run which will help identify appropriate interventions that can be scaled up. Insights gained should provide significant benefits by improving workplace diversity and productivity.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
Economics of Biased Beliefs: Implications for Diversity Gaps in Workplaces. By developing state-of-the-art experimental and behavioural methodologies to study biased belief formation, this project aims to improve our understanding of the factors contributing to diversity gaps in labour market outcomes in Australia. The project investigates biases in the beliefs formed about the performance of women and minorities, and how these biases can be reduced through policy interventions and improved orga ....Economics of Biased Beliefs: Implications for Diversity Gaps in Workplaces. By developing state-of-the-art experimental and behavioural methodologies to study biased belief formation, this project aims to improve our understanding of the factors contributing to diversity gaps in labour market outcomes in Australia. The project investigates biases in the beliefs formed about the performance of women and minorities, and how these biases can be reduced through policy interventions and improved organisational structures. Expected outcomes include informing policy makers of appropriate interventions and expanding scholarly knowledge of the economic impact of discrimination. The insights gained will enhance Australia’s economic performance by improving workplace diversity and dynamics.Read moreRead less
Australia's Resilience to Recession. This project aims to study why Australia differs from its OECD peers in that it has not had a recession for 27 years. It intends to generate knowledge by using economic models to solve 3 puzzles relating to Australia’s success: (i) why did foreign financial market shocks not spill over to the economy?; (ii) how has the resource curse that affects economies with a booming resource sector been avoided?; and (iii) what makes Australia special? Expected outcomes ....Australia's Resilience to Recession. This project aims to study why Australia differs from its OECD peers in that it has not had a recession for 27 years. It intends to generate knowledge by using economic models to solve 3 puzzles relating to Australia’s success: (i) why did foreign financial market shocks not spill over to the economy?; (ii) how has the resource curse that affects economies with a booming resource sector been avoided?; and (iii) what makes Australia special? Expected outcomes include the development of theoretical and empirical models that reflect the unique features of the Australian economy. This should provide significant benefits, including guidance to Australian and international policymakers on macroeconomic policies for resource-rich countries.Read moreRead less
Econometric methods for distributional policy effects. This project aims to develop new econometric methods that can measure distributional policy effects by accounting for heterogeneous policy impacts among observationally equivalent individuals. The project expects to develop quantile regression methods under a difference-in-differences framework that accommodates issues of censoring and sample selection. The outcomes of this project are expected to substantially broaden the scope of the stand ....Econometric methods for distributional policy effects. This project aims to develop new econometric methods that can measure distributional policy effects by accounting for heterogeneous policy impacts among observationally equivalent individuals. The project expects to develop quantile regression methods under a difference-in-differences framework that accommodates issues of censoring and sample selection. The outcomes of this project are expected to substantially broaden the scope of the standard mean difference-in-differences approach and have significant contributions to empirical studies in the future. The project intends to provide statistically valid inferential procedures and conduct simulation exercise and empirical studies relevant to policy evaluation for the benefit of Australia and other jurisdictions.Read moreRead less
Talent Mismatch: Evidence from Australian Administrative Tax Records. The project aims to study the skill composition of the Australian workforce. Changes in the macroeconomic and technology environments make it hard to predict skill shortage. The project expects to develop macroeconomic models quantifying skill-mismatch of university graduates, identify sources of mismatch, highlight gender and generational differences, and estimate associated costs to Australia. The expected outcomes are to he ....Talent Mismatch: Evidence from Australian Administrative Tax Records. The project aims to study the skill composition of the Australian workforce. Changes in the macroeconomic and technology environments make it hard to predict skill shortage. The project expects to develop macroeconomic models quantifying skill-mismatch of university graduates, identify sources of mismatch, highlight gender and generational differences, and estimate associated costs to Australia. The expected outcomes are to help shape policy recommendations on the funding of tertiary education in a changing economic climate. This should provide significant benefits to Australians, as policies shaping the tertiary education system affect individual income and the aggregate economy by determining labour supply and taxpayers' financial burden.Read moreRead less
Discrimination in Policing: Evidences from Natural Experiments. Ensuring that institutions are discrimination-free is key for the harmony of a society and the strength of a nation’s social contract. This research aims to investigate whether Australian law enforcement discriminates against certain groups and to explore the mechanisms explaining how it decides with whom to strictly enforce the law and
with whom to be lenient. This research program focuses on speeding fines as they offer unique nat ....Discrimination in Policing: Evidences from Natural Experiments. Ensuring that institutions are discrimination-free is key for the harmony of a society and the strength of a nation’s social contract. This research aims to investigate whether Australian law enforcement discriminates against certain groups and to explore the mechanisms explaining how it decides with whom to strictly enforce the law and
with whom to be lenient. This research program focuses on speeding fines as they offer unique natural experiments allowing rigorous exploration of these issues. The expected outcome is a better understanding of discrimination in Australia and the factors explaining it, which should contribute to better policy design and lead to more equitable treatment for all Australians.Read moreRead less