Self-control in Economic Behaviour. This project aims to use new Australian data to study the way that people’s self-control affects their economic behaviour. This project expects to advance science by testing two new ways of identifying whether people understand their own self-control issues and conducting an innovative program of research that links people’s self-control to their life chances. Expected outcomes include an understanding of i) the factors driving the capacity for self-control; i ....Self-control in Economic Behaviour. This project aims to use new Australian data to study the way that people’s self-control affects their economic behaviour. This project expects to advance science by testing two new ways of identifying whether people understand their own self-control issues and conducting an innovative program of research that links people’s self-control to their life chances. Expected outcomes include an understanding of i) the factors driving the capacity for self-control; ii) the role of self-control in promoting wellbeing; and iii) policy options for improving outcomes through better self-control. This should provide significant benefits in supporting policy agendas such as the Government’s Priority Investment Approach and behavioural economics teams. Read moreRead less
Policy-Related Lessons from the Econometric Analysis of Life Satisfaction Data in Australia. Our analyses will provide important information to policy-makers aiming to design policies that improve Australia's economic and social fabric. In particular, we will inform on the response of Australians to major life-events such as unemployment, ill-health or marital dissolution, but also exogenous shocks including drought and terrorism. Major focus will be on differentiating the determinants of life s ....Policy-Related Lessons from the Econometric Analysis of Life Satisfaction Data in Australia. Our analyses will provide important information to policy-makers aiming to design policies that improve Australia's economic and social fabric. In particular, we will inform on the response of Australians to major life-events such as unemployment, ill-health or marital dissolution, but also exogenous shocks including drought and terrorism. Major focus will be on differentiating the determinants of life satisfaction between rural and urban communities in Australia, and investigating the response of these communities to drought conditions. Moreover, we believe that a detailed international comparison using German and UK data will provide unique evidence on the relative quality of life in Australia and the role of culture and institutions. Read moreRead less
Status seeking and economic behaviour. The project will look at the importance of status seeking behaviour for the health system, behavioural experiments, international growth, and labelling. The insights will be useful for optimal redistribution policies, international cooperation, and behavioural research.
How to make other people happy. The contribution individuals can make to the happiness of others. The field of wellbeing has burgeoned in the last two decades. Economists have joined psychologists, health professionals and other social scientists to address the question of how society can be made happier. The literature to date has largely focused on how individuals can attain happiness by addressing personal psychological and health issues. This project offers a different perspective by asking ....How to make other people happy. The contribution individuals can make to the happiness of others. The field of wellbeing has burgeoned in the last two decades. Economists have joined psychologists, health professionals and other social scientists to address the question of how society can be made happier. The literature to date has largely focused on how individuals can attain happiness by addressing personal psychological and health issues. This project offers a different perspective by asking the question: What can be done to make others happy? In particular, this project focuses on: the effect we have on the happiness of our partners and children; how we optimally handle information as individuals and as a society, to make other people happy; how we can make our neighbourhoods happy; and how we can make other countries happy.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140101260
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$390,821.00
Summary
Tackling obesity: What role for behavioural and standard economics? The international community is grappling with the obesity epidemic. Behavioural economics has gained international attention by offering insights into individual decision making that can potentially be used in policy to nudge individuals to change their behaviour to improve their health. However, there is a paucity of evidence regarding its likely success in this endeavour. This project uses discrete choice and economic laborato ....Tackling obesity: What role for behavioural and standard economics? The international community is grappling with the obesity epidemic. Behavioural economics has gained international attention by offering insights into individual decision making that can potentially be used in policy to nudge individuals to change their behaviour to improve their health. However, there is a paucity of evidence regarding its likely success in this endeavour. This project uses discrete choice and economic laboratory experiments to investigate social acceptability of, and predicted behaviour change in response to, a range of behavioural and standard economic inspired policies. Results will inform optimal investment and targeting of policy to prevent and reduce obesity.Read moreRead less
Economic impacts of disease on older workers: Costs to government and individuals and opportunities for intervention. With an ageing workforce, Australia is at risk of having an inadequate workforce to ensure economic growth and to maintain sufficient taxation revenue to support future needs.
This project will provide fill substantial gaps in the Australian evidence the health conditions that keep older workers out of the labour market and that diminish their own immediate and long-term livi ....Economic impacts of disease on older workers: Costs to government and individuals and opportunities for intervention. With an ageing workforce, Australia is at risk of having an inadequate workforce to ensure economic growth and to maintain sufficient taxation revenue to support future needs.
This project will provide fill substantial gaps in the Australian evidence the health conditions that keep older workers out of the labour market and that diminish their own immediate and long-term livings standards and reduce funds available to government. We will address one of the most significant issues resulting fundamental changes to the demography of the Australian labour market and one is regularly raised by the Prime Minister and Treasurer in their speeches following the Intergenerational Report.Read moreRead less
Non-cognitive skills and human capital investments: the importance of individuals' sense of control. This project investigates whether people's sense of control over their lives influences their decision to get an education, do job training, migrate, or adopt a healthy lifestyle. The results are important in helping policymakers to understand why some individuals work harder than others to ensure good outcomes for themselves.
Long term economic impacts of disease on older workers to 2030: Costs to government and individuals and opportunities for intervention. This project will fill substantial gaps in Australian evidence about the health conditions of the future that will keep older workers out of the labour market and diminish their own immediate and long-term livings standards, thereby reducing funds available to government. We will address one of the most significant issues resulting from the fundamental changes t ....Long term economic impacts of disease on older workers to 2030: Costs to government and individuals and opportunities for intervention. This project will fill substantial gaps in Australian evidence about the health conditions of the future that will keep older workers out of the labour market and diminish their own immediate and long-term livings standards, thereby reducing funds available to government. We will address one of the most significant issues resulting from the fundamental changes to the demography of the Australian labour market and one that is regularly raised by the government following the release of the 2002 and 2007 Intergenerational Reports. This project will also examine the interventions that would improve the health of older workers and increase labour force participation over the long term.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140100463
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$380,364.00
Summary
Exceptional upward mobility against all odds: Non-cognitive skills and early-childhood disadvantage. Children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds who exceed their parents' social achievements are pioneers. The aims of this project are to introduce this exceptional upward mobility as an alternative measure of economic success and to study its distribution and determinants. The main hypothesis is that these pioneers, apart from being intelligent, have a set of non-cognitive skills that mak ....Exceptional upward mobility against all odds: Non-cognitive skills and early-childhood disadvantage. Children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds who exceed their parents' social achievements are pioneers. The aims of this project are to introduce this exceptional upward mobility as an alternative measure of economic success and to study its distribution and determinants. The main hypothesis is that these pioneers, apart from being intelligent, have a set of non-cognitive skills that make them successful. This will be the first study to analyse these individuals and the personality-related determinants of their life trajectories. It will contribute to understand the various pathways via which non-cognitive skills affect upward mobility, and assess their malleability during childhood or adolescence.Read moreRead less
The Medicare Safety Net and its effect on efficiency, equity and welfare. This project aims to measure the welfare implications of social health insurance reforms. It will use the introduction of the Extended Medicare Safety Net to examine the effect of social insurance reforms on the efficiency and equity of Australia's health care system. The project expects to produce evidence on the partial and aggregate effects of the Medicare Safety Net and knowledge on the relationship between social insu ....The Medicare Safety Net and its effect on efficiency, equity and welfare. This project aims to measure the welfare implications of social health insurance reforms. It will use the introduction of the Extended Medicare Safety Net to examine the effect of social insurance reforms on the efficiency and equity of Australia's health care system. The project expects to produce evidence on the partial and aggregate effects of the Medicare Safety Net and knowledge on the relationship between social insurance and health system performance. In doing so, the research seeks to help policy makers to improve the design of social health insurance programmes to make the system more sustainable and equitable.Read moreRead less