Speculative Bubbles in Property Markets. It is anticipated that the test for speculative bubbles outlined in this research proposal will make significant progress towards establishing the existence (or non-existence) of property market bubbles. While the proposed application is to the Sydney market, the method will be applicable to property markets in other cites and regions, both in Australia and internationally. An improved test for speculative bubbles will provide a better understanding of th ....Speculative Bubbles in Property Markets. It is anticipated that the test for speculative bubbles outlined in this research proposal will make significant progress towards establishing the existence (or non-existence) of property market bubbles. While the proposed application is to the Sydney market, the method will be applicable to property markets in other cites and regions, both in Australia and internationally. An improved test for speculative bubbles will provide a better understanding of the nature of bubbles and will benefit policy-makers by providing a more solid basis for policy development. The research will also produce hedonic pricing models that can be used understand the determinants of property prices and rents in Australian cities. Read moreRead less
The economics of happiness, public policy, and national success indicators. The project will provide a sound analysis of happiness, taking account of traditional welfare economics and recent advances in happiness studies, including making the analysis more relevant for policy formulation, making happiness measures more comparable interpersonally, intertemporally, and interculturally. A new and more appropriate national success indicator will be devised that takes positive account of some appropr ....The economics of happiness, public policy, and national success indicators. The project will provide a sound analysis of happiness, taking account of traditional welfare economics and recent advances in happiness studies, including making the analysis more relevant for policy formulation, making happiness measures more comparable interpersonally, intertemporally, and interculturally. A new and more appropriate national success indicator will be devised that takes positive account of some appropriate measure of happiness (adjusted happy life-years) and negative account of some measure of per capita external costs. This will encourage people, organizations, and governments to focus on factors that have a more direct bearing on people's happiness.Read moreRead less
The Role of the Family in Facilitating the Human Capital and Labour Market Investments of Young Australians. A nation's future lies in its young people, and society as a whole must take part in ensuring that today's youth acquire the skills, experience, and training necessary not only to cope, but to thrive. The proposed research will make a substantial step forward in understanding how families make decisions about supporting their young adult children and how those decisions are shaped by Aust ....The Role of the Family in Facilitating the Human Capital and Labour Market Investments of Young Australians. A nation's future lies in its young people, and society as a whole must take part in ensuring that today's youth acquire the skills, experience, and training necessary not only to cope, but to thrive. The proposed research will make a substantial step forward in understanding how families make decisions about supporting their young adult children and how those decisions are shaped by Australian social policy. The findings will inform social policy development by providing evidence on pressing issues such as the effects of rising house prices or weakening labour markets on young Australians' ability to invest in education.Read moreRead less
The future of work and the economic well-being of women in the Australian labour market, 1981 to 2001. Australia is in the midst of fundamental political, economic and social change leading some in the community to question the benefits of micro-economic reform. Others question the future of work; labour market projections for 2015 show more women than men in employment, raising the spectre of further social and economic change. This project aims to shed some light on the debate over the future ....The future of work and the economic well-being of women in the Australian labour market, 1981 to 2001. Australia is in the midst of fundamental political, economic and social change leading some in the community to question the benefits of micro-economic reform. Others question the future of work; labour market projections for 2015 show more women than men in employment, raising the spectre of further social and economic change. This project aims to shed some light on the debate over the future of work and inform labour market policy for the 'new economy'. Our capacity to understand the future requires knowledge of previous developments, trends, turning points etc. Using data from 1981-2001 the study will examine key dimensions of labour market change, particularly as it affects women. The research should lead to several publications and a manuscript for a book.Read moreRead less
Valuing Life and Time in the Knowledge Economy. This project will help increase the international profile of Australia scholarship in a burgeoning research area of increasing importance: valuation of life, time and health with particular emphasis on the effects of aging and the accumulation of knowledge. It will generate new insights and important welfare and policy implications, which are especially of interest to a knowledge economy like Australia, in which the demographic profile is experienc ....Valuing Life and Time in the Knowledge Economy. This project will help increase the international profile of Australia scholarship in a burgeoning research area of increasing importance: valuation of life, time and health with particular emphasis on the effects of aging and the accumulation of knowledge. It will generate new insights and important welfare and policy implications, which are especially of interest to a knowledge economy like Australia, in which the demographic profile is experiencing a fundamental shift toward unprecedentedly high percentage of the aged population. Read moreRead less
Welfare Economic Issues in the New Classical Economic Framework of Inframarginal Analysis (renewal application). The CIs have developed a framework analysing the classical but largely ignored problems of division of labour. The 2001-2 project extends the framework to examine welfare issues and public policies, including government encouragement of infrastructure, organisational effects of externality-corrective taxes, work ethics and the optimal working week. The proposed extension to this res ....Welfare Economic Issues in the New Classical Economic Framework of Inframarginal Analysis (renewal application). The CIs have developed a framework analysing the classical but largely ignored problems of division of labour. The 2001-2 project extends the framework to examine welfare issues and public policies, including government encouragement of infrastructure, organisational effects of externality-corrective taxes, work ethics and the optimal working week. The proposed extension to this research will address the more fundamental issue of the Pareto optimality of general equilibrium in the new framework and extend the existing analyses to be of more practical relevance with more immediate policy implications.Read moreRead less
Evaluating the sources of growth and decline in Australia's State economies via historical/decomposition simulations with a dynamic multiregional fiscal model. Australia's State economies have experienced wide disparities in economic growth rates. Little research has been undertaken on the underlying forces responsible for this. Nevertheless, State and Commonwealth governments spend several $billion annually on policies with the ostensible aim of promoting State growth. Disparities in growth ....Evaluating the sources of growth and decline in Australia's State economies via historical/decomposition simulations with a dynamic multiregional fiscal model. Australia's State economies have experienced wide disparities in economic growth rates. Little research has been undertaken on the underlying forces responsible for this. Nevertheless, State and Commonwealth governments spend several $billion annually on policies with the ostensible aim of promoting State growth. Disparities in growth rates also contribute to potentially costly movements in population, and (by promoting perceptions of unequal outcomes from policy change) may hinder the inter-government cooperation required for many beneficial policy changes. This project aims to develop a dynamic 8-region CGE model of Australia, and use it to investigate the causes of relative state economic performance.Read moreRead less
Testing for Age Discrimination in Hiring in the Australian Labour Market. This project will raise awareness in the community of the extent, or lack thereof, of age discrimination in the Australian labour market. This is particularly important as no other investigations of this nature have been made. The findings will provide a valuable and important complement to the surveys of employer's attitudes towards older workers. There will be policy implications for the structure and operation of anti-d ....Testing for Age Discrimination in Hiring in the Australian Labour Market. This project will raise awareness in the community of the extent, or lack thereof, of age discrimination in the Australian labour market. This is particularly important as no other investigations of this nature have been made. The findings will provide a valuable and important complement to the surveys of employer's attitudes towards older workers. There will be policy implications for the structure and operation of anti-discrimination legislation in Australia. The technique of using written applications to apply for jobs can highlight deficiencies in the current legislation and ways in which the legislation can be modified to make it more effective. Read moreRead less
International exchanges of knowledge, temporary skilled labour movements, and Australia's economic growth. It is known that skilled labour is a significant source of economic growth as it creates new knowledge and innovation, and that Australia, like other countries, uses policies to attract skilled migrants. It is less known however that thousands of skilled workers also migrate temporarily, often to exchange knowledge. Whilst the effect of permanent migration is widely researched, this project ....International exchanges of knowledge, temporary skilled labour movements, and Australia's economic growth. It is known that skilled labour is a significant source of economic growth as it creates new knowledge and innovation, and that Australia, like other countries, uses policies to attract skilled migrants. It is less known however that thousands of skilled workers also migrate temporarily, often to exchange knowledge. Whilst the effect of permanent migration is widely researched, this project will examine the economic impact of short-term labour movements. Using data from DIMIA and surveying temporary migrants, this project will analyse the consequences of temporary labour movements on Australia's innovation ability, productivity and economic growth, contributing to develop migration policy.Read moreRead less
Towards an enhanced understanding of child and youth social exclusion risk at a small area level in Australia. This project will produce major national benefits, improving our understanding of child and youth social exclusion risk at a small area level, and putting Australia at the forefront of research into child well-being. Communities will benefit from the availability of high quality, rigorously developed measures of child and youth disadvantage at a local area level. Results from this proje ....Towards an enhanced understanding of child and youth social exclusion risk at a small area level in Australia. This project will produce major national benefits, improving our understanding of child and youth social exclusion risk at a small area level, and putting Australia at the forefront of research into child well-being. Communities will benefit from the availability of high quality, rigorously developed measures of child and youth disadvantage at a local area level. Results from this project will provided policy makers with tools to develop measures for overcoming disadvantage and narrowing gaps in outcomes for Australia's young people. The international team will ensure that methodological developments will be widely available in other countries interested in developing small area measures of child and youth disadvantage.Read moreRead less