Choice foundations: Diagnostic tools for individual-level model development. This project aims to improve policy making in areas such as transport, environment and health, by better representation of how people make decisions. An interdisciplinary team of economists and psychologists will build on new mathematical and statistical tools to test for adherence to choice axioms that underlie observed choice behaviour. The project will produce a set of computerized statistical tools to implement the ....Choice foundations: Diagnostic tools for individual-level model development. This project aims to improve policy making in areas such as transport, environment and health, by better representation of how people make decisions. An interdisciplinary team of economists and psychologists will build on new mathematical and statistical tools to test for adherence to choice axioms that underlie observed choice behaviour. The project will produce a set of computerized statistical tools to implement the testing of choice axioms using Bayesian methods with the capacity to improve a wide array of applied economics work at the national and international levels.Read moreRead less
Putting death in its place. The project aims to link 890,000 population records to place of residence from 1838 to 1930, to examine the relationships between where people live, mortality, life expectancy and health. Where people live impacts their life-course outcomes. Using novel matching techniques, the project expects to identify intergenerational changes and the spatial dynamics of inequality and social mobility. Expected outcomes include the creation of a public resource of linked data and ....Putting death in its place. The project aims to link 890,000 population records to place of residence from 1838 to 1930, to examine the relationships between where people live, mortality, life expectancy and health. Where people live impacts their life-course outcomes. Using novel matching techniques, the project expects to identify intergenerational changes and the spatial dynamics of inequality and social mobility. Expected outcomes include the creation of a public resource of linked data and a better understanding of long-run health and inequality. These should provide economic and social benefits by informing policy aimed at contemporary social and health challenges, enhancing our understanding of Australian history, and developing public resources.Read moreRead less
Improving Choice Models: Multiple Goal Pursuit and Multi-Stage Decision Processes. This project aims to develop new econometric models of choice behaviour that recognise individuals adopt “how to decide” strategies when choosing between alternatives. Existing models simplistically assume that people evaluate all goods and choose the best of them, when in fact they ignore some goods, select what information is relevant, pursue multiple goals, and otherwise deviate from the assumptions commonly ma ....Improving Choice Models: Multiple Goal Pursuit and Multi-Stage Decision Processes. This project aims to develop new econometric models of choice behaviour that recognise individuals adopt “how to decide” strategies when choosing between alternatives. Existing models simplistically assume that people evaluate all goods and choose the best of them, when in fact they ignore some goods, select what information is relevant, pursue multiple goals, and otherwise deviate from the assumptions commonly made in econometric models. Filling in this significant gap in the choice modelling literature constitutes a significant contribution to improving our understanding of human decision making and policy analysis in every area of human endeavour.Read moreRead less
Accounting for preference seperability in stated choice experiments. This project aims to unite three separate streams of applied economic research into a single framework in order to develop a micro-economically consistent framework for demand forecasting and analysis. Forecasting demand to improve product performance or policy impacts requires realistic representations of how humans actually make choices. Combining theories of preference separability with recent developments in both activity a ....Accounting for preference seperability in stated choice experiments. This project aims to unite three separate streams of applied economic research into a single framework in order to develop a micro-economically consistent framework for demand forecasting and analysis. Forecasting demand to improve product performance or policy impacts requires realistic representations of how humans actually make choices. Combining theories of preference separability with recent developments in both activity and time use modelling and stated choice techniques, the project plans to develop new insights into consumer equilibrium as well as new econometric methods to test for the assumption of preference separability. Project outcomes would lead to an improved understanding of consumer behaviour as well as demand forecasting, with benefits to studies involving the need for benefit cost comparisons.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354852
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
Sustainable Regions for a Competitive Australia. How can metropolitan, rural and remote regions balance economic and job growth, with environmental and social sustainability? This Initiative establishes a Network of researchers to work collaboratively on questions of environmental best practice, community development, regional governance, labour markets, economic development and technology transfer. The Network's vision is to find ways to use existing and future research to help make Australia ....Sustainable Regions for a Competitive Australia. How can metropolitan, rural and remote regions balance economic and job growth, with environmental and social sustainability? This Initiative establishes a Network of researchers to work collaboratively on questions of environmental best practice, community development, regional governance, labour markets, economic development and technology transfer. The Network's vision is to find ways to use existing and future research to help make Australia's regions more competitive on world markets and more environmentally sustainable, and to help build stronger regional communities. The Network cuts across traditional discipline boundaries to find integrated solutions to the real problems confronting Australian regions.Read moreRead less
Understanding, measuring and managing the benefits of urban waterways. This project aims to improve understanding of the contribution of urban waterways to enhanced liveability in cities. Australia needs better water resource management and the rapid growth of Australia’s cities places increased importance on managing natural assets in metropolitan areas. The project focuses on clarifying the link between the benefits of waterways and the measurement techniques used by economists, which in turn ....Understanding, measuring and managing the benefits of urban waterways. This project aims to improve understanding of the contribution of urban waterways to enhanced liveability in cities. Australia needs better water resource management and the rapid growth of Australia’s cities places increased importance on managing natural assets in metropolitan areas. The project focuses on clarifying the link between the benefits of waterways and the measurement techniques used by economists, which in turn inform management choices. The project aims to fill an important gap between the psychology and economics disciplines and outputs should significantly improve the way waterways are valued and managed. This is intended to offer benefits for urban residents and to improve the methodologies used for environmental valuation.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100328
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$374,000.00
Summary
Minimising transaction costs in Murray-Darling Basin water reform. Transaction costs provide social, economic, environmental and political barriers to the effectiveness of water reallocation policy in Australia. These costs are often difficult to quantify, but potentially are subject to measurement. This project aims to develop a comprehensive transaction cost framework for the Murray-Darling Basin that can be used to capture and measure transaction costs related to water policy. Further, the sc ....Minimising transaction costs in Murray-Darling Basin water reform. Transaction costs provide social, economic, environmental and political barriers to the effectiveness of water reallocation policy in Australia. These costs are often difficult to quantify, but potentially are subject to measurement. This project aims to develop a comprehensive transaction cost framework for the Murray-Darling Basin that can be used to capture and measure transaction costs related to water policy. Further, the scope of the cost measurement will involve a variety of data collection approaches. Outcomes include better water policy and management from arrangements that will span the divide between the Basin Plan and its implementation.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120100635
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
The effects of international commodity price shocks on state fragility. This project examines the effects that commodity price shocks have on state fragility in developing countries. Outcomes that will be analysed include, but are not limited to, the transition from autocracy to democracy, the stability of democracy, the risk of civil conflict, food riots, and the survival probability of dictators.
Political economy of distortions to global agricultural markets. Farmers, agribusiness and governments in Australia and other food-exporting nations have put enormous efforts into seeking reductions in agricultural protectionism, particularly in the past two decades via the Cairns Group in GATT/WTO negotiations but also in bilateral and regional integration initiatives. Yet levels of protection have fallen little for agriculture relative to manufacturing in high-income countries, and in some new ....Political economy of distortions to global agricultural markets. Farmers, agribusiness and governments in Australia and other food-exporting nations have put enormous efforts into seeking reductions in agricultural protectionism, particularly in the past two decades via the Cairns Group in GATT/WTO negotiations but also in bilateral and regional integration initiatives. Yet levels of protection have fallen little for agriculture relative to manufacturing in high-income countries, and in some newly industrializing countries that indicator has been rising. Improving our understanding as to why that is the case will ensure Australia gets a better return from its investment in that area of commercial diplomacy.Read moreRead less
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.