Flexible methods for latent variable models applied to Health Economics. This project aims to develop flexible and powerful methods for estimating models containing variables that are unobserved, that is, latent. Such models are often used to capture individual heterogeneity and time dependence in data collected on individuals, with each individual observed for several time periods. Latent variables can also infer group membership, where such membership is unavailable from the data. The intended ....Flexible methods for latent variable models applied to Health Economics. This project aims to develop flexible and powerful methods for estimating models containing variables that are unobserved, that is, latent. Such models are often used to capture individual heterogeneity and time dependence in data collected on individuals, with each individual observed for several time periods. Latent variables can also infer group membership, where such membership is unavailable from the data. The intended methodology is Bayesian and based on new particle methods that allow users to select between models and predict future observations even in complex situations. The research aims to inform decision making through improved use of data in health economics and related fields.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
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
Intergenerational Disadvantage: Causes, Pathways, and Consequences. This Project aims to prevent poor Australian children from becoming poor adults by developing scientific evidence and creative policy approaches to overcome entrenched disadvantage. The Project will generate new knowledge on how social assistance dependence is linked across generations using new Australian data. Expected outcomes are the identification of i) the causal link between parents’ and children’s social assistance depen ....Intergenerational Disadvantage: Causes, Pathways, and Consequences. This Project aims to prevent poor Australian children from becoming poor adults by developing scientific evidence and creative policy approaches to overcome entrenched disadvantage. The Project will generate new knowledge on how social assistance dependence is linked across generations using new Australian data. Expected outcomes are the identification of i) the causal link between parents’ and children’s social assistance dependence; ii) the pathways through which youths overcome disadvantage; and iii) the role of family structure in transmitting disadvantage. Transforming the evidence base, the findings will have significant benefits in redesigning the Australian social safety net, promoting social and economic mobility.Read moreRead less
The economics of filial informal care: future trends and directions for policy supports. This project examines the family decision on informal care and living arrangements, it aims to make constructive policy suggestions in order to promote the healthy life of elderly people, support more productive and fulfilling lives of adult children with elderly parents and fortify supportive family structures.
Bayesian choice modelling. Discrete choice models are important as they provide tools to help understand choice processes of decision makers. It remains a challenge to specify models with covariance structures flexible enough to capture complex patterns of cross-substitution between choices while being able to capture heterogeneity present in individual behaviour. We will develop a Bayesian approach to choice modelling that uses covariance selection to overcome these problems. This will train re ....Bayesian choice modelling. Discrete choice models are important as they provide tools to help understand choice processes of decision makers. It remains a challenge to specify models with covariance structures flexible enough to capture complex patterns of cross-substitution between choices while being able to capture heterogeneity present in individual behaviour. We will develop a Bayesian approach to choice modelling that uses covariance selection to overcome these problems. This will train researchers and raise the profile of Australia in an active research area that is important in the social sciences; substantive applications will be in health economics, but developments will also be relevant to cognate areas of biostatistics, epidemiology, and ecology.Read moreRead less
Family Responses to Economic Shocks and Policy Reforms over the Life Cycle. Australian social and economic policy requires a sophisticated understanding of the interaction of public policy with recent demographic trends, including the growth in fragile families and the ageing population. This project aims to develop innovative dynamic models of family decision-making to produce new estimates of the impact of significant Australian public policy reforms on labour supply, fertility, family formati ....Family Responses to Economic Shocks and Policy Reforms over the Life Cycle. Australian social and economic policy requires a sophisticated understanding of the interaction of public policy with recent demographic trends, including the growth in fragile families and the ageing population. This project aims to develop innovative dynamic models of family decision-making to produce new estimates of the impact of significant Australian public policy reforms on labour supply, fertility, family formation, and retirement decisions. Structural econometric models will be used to simulate the effects of variation in the design of the Parenting Payment Single, Age Pension and other programs. The project findings are expected to generate economic and social policy recommendations.Read moreRead less