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
Honesty and efficiency in the provision of expert services: doctors and other experts as participants in economic experiments. Experts serve us when we see the doctor, the financial planner or the car mechanic. In all these case the expert can take advantage of his superior knowledge and sell us something we do not need. This research will inform policy makers about the underlying motives of real world experts and allow them to design better institutions.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130100996
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$372,000.00
Summary
Social learning: the diffusion of residential rooftop photovoltaic panels in Australia. Residential photovoltaic (PV) panels provide a sustainable solution to energy supply helping to address the climate change challenge. This project develops novel methodologies to study the diffusion mechanisms of PV panels. The outcomes will be useful for energy industries and the government for the effective formulation of their business strategies and policies.
Estimating the impact of fiscal stimulus on household expenditure. The tax bonus payments of the $42 billion Nation Building and Jobs Plan were among the largest fiscal policy packages in the developed world. This project applies a new methodology to estimate the short-term impact of this cash handout on consumer spending, allowing better modelling of the Australian economy.
Computational methods for solving modern asset pricing models. This project aims to solve a broad range of asset pricing models. Movements in asset prices affect private investors, public sector finances, wealth distribution and business activity levels. Economists have tried to build better models of asset prices, moving away from hyper-rationality and towards realistic features including heterogeneity, habit persistence and bounded rationality. These models’ additional complexity makes them di ....Computational methods for solving modern asset pricing models. This project aims to solve a broad range of asset pricing models. Movements in asset prices affect private investors, public sector finances, wealth distribution and business activity levels. Economists have tried to build better models of asset prices, moving away from hyper-rationality and towards realistic features including heterogeneity, habit persistence and bounded rationality. These models’ additional complexity makes them difficult to solve or to apply to real world problems. The project will use modern hardware and computational tools, insights from economics literature and numerical analysis to provide a set of solution methods for such asset pricing models. This is expected to improve policy analysis and decision making under uncertainty.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE130100113
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$390,000.00
Summary
Travel Choice Simulation Laboratory (TRACSLab): a visualisation laboratory to study travel behaviour and drivers’ interactions. Travel Choice Simulation Laboratory (TRACSLab) is a world-first facility to observe collective travel choice in a realistic lab environment. It is unique due to the focus on travel choice, networked interaction and strong teaming. The findings of the lab will support a new generation of transport analysis techniques for emerging issues such as sustainability, reliabili ....Travel Choice Simulation Laboratory (TRACSLab): a visualisation laboratory to study travel behaviour and drivers’ interactions. Travel Choice Simulation Laboratory (TRACSLab) is a world-first facility to observe collective travel choice in a realistic lab environment. It is unique due to the focus on travel choice, networked interaction and strong teaming. The findings of the lab will support a new generation of transport analysis techniques for emerging issues such as sustainability, reliability, and intelligent transport systems (ITS).Read moreRead less
Understanding the Factors which Underlie Successful Refugee Integration in the Australian Workplace. There is general agreement that more needs to be done to integrate refugees into the Australian workplace. This project aims to: identify psychological predictors that enable refugee workers to succeed in maintaining their employment and perform at a higher level; examine the importance of workplace and social support to refugee workplace integration, and the groups for which it may have the grea ....Understanding the Factors which Underlie Successful Refugee Integration in the Australian Workplace. There is general agreement that more needs to be done to integrate refugees into the Australian workplace. This project aims to: identify psychological predictors that enable refugee workers to succeed in maintaining their employment and perform at a higher level; examine the importance of workplace and social support to refugee workplace integration, and the groups for which it may have the greatest benefit; and, investigate the effectiveness of a training program as an intervention to enhance refugee job performance and retention. Results will have significant benefits for refugees, their employers and their communities, and will provide a road-map to improve integration of refugees into Australian society.Read moreRead less
Spatial Interactions Among Juvenile Southern Bluefin Tuna At The Global Scale: A Large Scale Archival Tag Experiment
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$1,206,055.00
Summary
The SBT resource is estimated to be at historically low levels and biological concerns exist about the status of the stock (Anon. 1998, 2001). There is also large uncertainty about the sustainability of current catches. The advice from the CCSBT Scientific Committee’s stock assessment in 2001 was that under current catch levels there was a ~50% chance that the stock would continue to decline or increase. The 2002 CCSBT Scientific Committee concluded that there was no basis for changing its previ ....The SBT resource is estimated to be at historically low levels and biological concerns exist about the status of the stock (Anon. 1998, 2001). There is also large uncertainty about the sustainability of current catches. The advice from the CCSBT Scientific Committee’s stock assessment in 2001 was that under current catch levels there was a ~50% chance that the stock would continue to decline or increase. The 2002 CCSBT Scientific Committee concluded that there was no basis for changing its previous advice on catch levels. The current management practice in the CCSBT is based on a global total allowable catch (TAC) with no consideration or restriction on where the catch is taken. Genetic studies, along with the fact that there is only one known SBT spawning ground, have led to the conclusion that SBT comprises a single reproductive stock. However, tag return and catch distribution data suggest that there may be substantial spatial structuring and incomplete mixing of SBT among the major feeding areas. Spatial structuring of the stock would have large implications for SBT assessments and for managing the rebuilding of the SBT resource. The combined results from the SRP conventional tagging program and this proposed archival tagging project would provide the basis evaluating the need for and, if necessary for developing, spatially-explicit population assessment and management response.
There is a critical need for direct and improved estimates of juvenile fishing mortality rates (or equivalently recruitment) to reducing uncertainty in the stock assessments and to provide a robust evaluation of the sustainability of recent catch levels. The SRP conventional tagging program is intended to provide this information. However, in order to achieve this objective, it is essential that sufficient information is available to account for incomplete mixing and the spatial dynamics of SBT in the analyses of the results from the conventional tagging data.
Catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) indices are used to provide stock indicators of trends in the SBT stock size and form an essential input into the analytical stock assessment models. Interpretation of CPUE data is complicated by spatial and temporal variation in the availability and catchability of SBT in relationship to fishing effort. Interpretation of catch rates has been and continues to be a major source of uncertainty in the SBT stock assessment. The CCSBT Scientific Committee have repeatedly identified the need to develop alternative approaches for modeling and interpreting the SBT catch and effort data and this need has been incorporated into the agreed CCSBT SRP. Both availability and catchability are expected to vary with environmental conditions that modify the habitat suitability for SBT. Information for habitat-specific CPUE standardization was recognized as an important alternative approach for modeling catch rate data at the last CCSBT Scientific Committee meeting. This standardization approach takes into account changes in environmental conditions so that CPUE indices reflect the actual SBT habitat. This should allow the indices to more clearly reflect the actual changes in the abundance of SBT. This is especially critical as CPUE indices are seen as providing one of the key inputs in the decision-rule-based management procedure under development by the CCSBT. Thus, it is essential that to the extent possible that the CPUE indices provide a reliable indication of shorter term trends and that the CPUE signal is not confounded by short-term environmental fluctuations. Archival tags provide a unique tool for collecting the required habitat-specific requirements of SBT. Without such data, these habitat based standardization approaches are intractable. For example the archival tag data on vertical and horizontal distribution allow habitat preferences to be estimated, and CPUE standardization is possible.
In summary, this project aims to provide information to provide a substantial improvement in our current understanding of SBT movements and spatial dynamics. In particular, the proposal has been developed in response to three specific needs for an improved understanding of SBT spatial dynamics: 1. Estimation of mixing rates for the estimation of mortality rates from conventional tagging (particularly in the context of the large scale juvenile tagging program which is a high priority component of the CCSBT Scientific Research Program); 2. Habitat definition to allow the standardization of CPUE indices for use in the CCSBT stock assessment process; and 3. Requirements within the guidelines under the strategic assessment provisions of the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 that “the distribution and spatial structure of the stock(s) has been established and factored into the management response”. In addition to these three specific needs, there is a general need to ensure that the current stock assessment models are robust to their implicit assumptions about spatial homogeneity. Objectives: 1. Tag 150-200 juvenile SBT/year for 3 years with archival tags throughout the full range of spatial habitats in order to provide a comprehensive understanding of their spatial dynamics; 2. For each tag returned (expected to be ~ 20-30%) estimate daily positions based on the stored light and temperature data and develop a database for the storage and analysis of all relevant location, temperature and depth data; 3. Provide a comprehensive analysis of the evidence for temporal changes in the spatial dynamics of juvenile SBT and analyses of the implication of the information provided on mixing rate between themajor SBT fishing and their changes over time for the use of combined archival and conventional tagging data to provide fishery independent estimates of fishing mortaility for monitoring the SBT fishery. 4. Provide critical information and contribute to developing a framework for incorporating the archival tag and conventional tagging data within the SBT stock assessment model; 5. Integrate the position, temperature and depth data provided by the tags with oceanographic data to develop a seasonal model of residence times and habitat use for regions with consistent temporal patterns across the years; 6. Evaluate the implication from a seasonal habit model for the interpretation of future catch and effort data and monitoring strategies. 7. Evaluate implications of the spatial dynamics of juvenile SBT for the management of the SBT resource (e.g. the potential consequences and benefits of either ignoring or using spatially explicit management actions). Read moreRead less
'Digital Natives': Growing up with new and old media in Australia. Developing a sophisticated digital literacy is important for both the future of children, the cultural, social and economic well-being of the nation. Digital literacy requires not only communications infrastructure but targeted investment in human skills. Investing in the development of a digitally literate Australian population has become an explicit means for promoting the future economic and social well-being of the nation. Th ....'Digital Natives': Growing up with new and old media in Australia. Developing a sophisticated digital literacy is important for both the future of children, the cultural, social and economic well-being of the nation. Digital literacy requires not only communications infrastructure but targeted investment in human skills. Investing in the development of a digitally literate Australian population has become an explicit means for promoting the future economic and social well-being of the nation. The information provided by this project has the potential to contribute significantly to giving children 'a healthy start to life' in their early years. Read moreRead less
Transitions to adulthood among young people in migrant families in Australia and Canada: A comparative study. Canada and Australia have had the world's highest immigration rates in recent decades. Central to the success of an immigration programme is the level of integration on immigrants themselves but, more importantly, their children. Australian research has led the world in this field. However, there is much to be gained for the mutual benefit of both countries through comparative research u ....Transitions to adulthood among young people in migrant families in Australia and Canada: A comparative study. Canada and Australia have had the world's highest immigration rates in recent decades. Central to the success of an immigration programme is the level of integration on immigrants themselves but, more importantly, their children. Australian research has led the world in this field. However, there is much to be gained for the mutual benefit of both countries through comparative research using a common framework. More broadly, as demography takes on much greater significance with population aging, there is much to be gained through international cooperation between ANU Demography and Canada's leading centre for demography, the University of Montreal.Read moreRead less