Increasing Returns and Economic Efficiency. The project attempts to increase the international profile of Australian research by extending the analysis of the challenging issues of economic efficiency in the presence of increasing returns. The proposed analysis takes account of both allocational efficiency and organizational efficiency. It will integrate the Dixit-Stiglitz model of the traditional analysis with the Yang-Ng-Shi model of the new framework to provide a more realistic analysis that ....Increasing Returns and Economic Efficiency. The project attempts to increase the international profile of Australian research by extending the analysis of the challenging issues of economic efficiency in the presence of increasing returns. The proposed analysis takes account of both allocational efficiency and organizational efficiency. It will integrate the Dixit-Stiglitz model of the traditional analysis with the Yang-Ng-Shi model of the new framework to provide a more realistic analysis that allows for increasing returns in both home and firm/market production. This conceptual extension constitutes an advance that is of analytical value and will also be relevant for the formulation of public economic policy in the Australian setting and also more generally. Read moreRead less
Private Wealth Accumulation, Wealth Distribution, and Social Welfare Reform in Urban China. During the 1990s, when the Chinese urban labour market and social security reforms accelerated, average urban household wealth increased more than three fold and the distribution of wealth widened. We will document this significant change and examine its relationship to past and future social welfare reform. This project will:
· Be the first study of wealth accumulation and distribution in China over th ....Private Wealth Accumulation, Wealth Distribution, and Social Welfare Reform in Urban China. During the 1990s, when the Chinese urban labour market and social security reforms accelerated, average urban household wealth increased more than three fold and the distribution of wealth widened. We will document this significant change and examine its relationship to past and future social welfare reform. This project will:
· Be the first study of wealth accumulation and distribution in China over the 1990s.
· Add to our knowledge of the interrelationship between wealth accumulation, distribution and political power during economic transition.
· Contribute to a better design of a new social welfare system.
· Develop lessons and policy implications that will be broadly applicable to most transitional and developing economies.
The project will produce at least seven journal articles and one book.
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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
Modelling Food Expenditure, Analysing Nutrient Security, Measuring Hunger and Calculating Purchasing Power Parity: Methodological Advances with Policy Applications. The analysis of consumption changes in selected Asian countries will throw light on Australia's trade potential, especially with one of the fastest growing countries.
More informed debate on the role of trade and aid in reducing hunger and poverty.Following the 2000 Millenium summit and the step up of Australian developmental aid, ....Modelling Food Expenditure, Analysing Nutrient Security, Measuring Hunger and Calculating Purchasing Power Parity: Methodological Advances with Policy Applications. The analysis of consumption changes in selected Asian countries will throw light on Australia's trade potential, especially with one of the fastest growing countries.
More informed debate on the role of trade and aid in reducing hunger and poverty.Following the 2000 Millenium summit and the step up of Australian developmental aid, the subject has returned to the centre stage in policy discussions.
The systematic use of unit value information available elsewhere, but currently lacking in ABS data, will help the latter in improving its HES.
Contribute to "understanding our region and the world"(Key Priority Goal in Research Priority 4 of ARC).
Provide data sets for use in Australian RHD dissertations .
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Information and market design: mediation and analogical argumentation. This project aims to increase knowledge of how judicious disclosure of information facilitates economic exchange and social interactions and to shed light on how mediation can be an effective mode of dispute resolution. The project seeks to uncover how analogical arguments can be persuasive and determine social outcomes as well as provide guidance for advocates and decision makers on the best way to persuade and counteract mi ....Information and market design: mediation and analogical argumentation. This project aims to increase knowledge of how judicious disclosure of information facilitates economic exchange and social interactions and to shed light on how mediation can be an effective mode of dispute resolution. The project seeks to uncover how analogical arguments can be persuasive and determine social outcomes as well as provide guidance for advocates and decision makers on the best way to persuade and counteract misleading persuasion practices. Besides producing significant new knowledge, the project promises to inform future innovative economic, social and cultural developments of benefit to the Australian and international community.Read moreRead less
Economic efficiency and the provision of incentives for information acquisition and disclosure: a mechanism design approach. By uncovering what determines information acquisition, highlighting what allows experts and insiders to manipulate market outcomes, and studying the efficiency gains obtainable with the use of a variety of incentives schemes, this research will provide valuable insights for public policy concerning information diffusion and market transparency.
Modelling Decision Making Within the Household and Analysing its Welfare Implications:Methodological Advances with Policy Applications. The project examines the behavioural and welfare implications of alternative models of intra household decisions. A framework that integrates the household's earnings and expenditure decisions will be proposed and applied. The project introduces new measures of spousal power in making decisions and examines its impact on household outcomes. A satisfactory eco ....Modelling Decision Making Within the Household and Analysing its Welfare Implications:Methodological Advances with Policy Applications. The project examines the behavioural and welfare implications of alternative models of intra household decisions. A framework that integrates the household's earnings and expenditure decisions will be proposed and applied. The project introduces new measures of spousal power in making decisions and examines its impact on household outcomes. A satisfactory econometric methodology to test the conventional unitary model will be developed and applied. The usefulness of this research is underlined by examining the policy implications in areas that range from taxation in the developed country context to child health, child labour and gender bias in case of developing countries.Read moreRead less
Econometric estimation and analysis of country, regional and global income distributions. The project will provide valuable information on characteristics of the income distribution for Australia, and the distributions for countries of socio-economic significance to Australia. The findings will enable Australian government and non-government organisations and international agencies to assess the effects of various policies such as those designed to reduce world poverty. The project can help Aust ....Econometric estimation and analysis of country, regional and global income distributions. The project will provide valuable information on characteristics of the income distribution for Australia, and the distributions for countries of socio-economic significance to Australia. The findings will enable Australian government and non-government organisations and international agencies to assess the effects of various policies such as those designed to reduce world poverty. The project can help Australia understand the most immediate needs of countries in the region, information that is useful for formulating Australian policy responses that can alleviate poverty and lead to improved living standards in the region, thereby creating a harmonious and safer environment within the Asia-Pacific region.Read moreRead less
International Trade Policy and the Dynamics of Open Economies. The project is concerned with the relationship between an open economy's international trading conditions and the allocation of resources within the economy, particularly over time (dynamic effects). The trading conditions reflect international markets and governments' trade policies. The dynamic effects upon the economy include the rate of growth, saving and inter-generation welfare. The models developed to study these relationship ....International Trade Policy and the Dynamics of Open Economies. The project is concerned with the relationship between an open economy's international trading conditions and the allocation of resources within the economy, particularly over time (dynamic effects). The trading conditions reflect international markets and governments' trade policies. The dynamic effects upon the economy include the rate of growth, saving and inter-generation welfare. The models developed to study these relationships will link international markets with domestic and future markets in a unified and consistent manner. The outcomes include a better theoretical understanding of these relationships and empirical inter-temporal models for the Australian economy that permit measurement of these dynamic effects.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