Australia's Resilience to Recession. This project aims to study why Australia differs from its OECD peers in that it has not had a recession for 27 years. It intends to generate knowledge by using economic models to solve 3 puzzles relating to Australia’s success: (i) why did foreign financial market shocks not spill over to the economy?; (ii) how has the resource curse that affects economies with a booming resource sector been avoided?; and (iii) what makes Australia special? Expected outcomes ....Australia's Resilience to Recession. This project aims to study why Australia differs from its OECD peers in that it has not had a recession for 27 years. It intends to generate knowledge by using economic models to solve 3 puzzles relating to Australia’s success: (i) why did foreign financial market shocks not spill over to the economy?; (ii) how has the resource curse that affects economies with a booming resource sector been avoided?; and (iii) what makes Australia special? Expected outcomes include the development of theoretical and empirical models that reflect the unique features of the Australian economy. This should provide significant benefits, including guidance to Australian and international policymakers on macroeconomic policies for resource-rich countries.Read moreRead less
Banking System Competition and the Macro-economy. Australia has one of the most concentrated banking sectors in the world, generating concerns regarding its efficiency. This project aims to develop unified frameworks to understand and evaluate quantitatively how the structure of the banking industry affects the macro-economy and provide policy recommendations for establishing a healthy and efficient banking industry. This project expects to improve understanding of the welfare trade-off between ....Banking System Competition and the Macro-economy. Australia has one of the most concentrated banking sectors in the world, generating concerns regarding its efficiency. This project aims to develop unified frameworks to understand and evaluate quantitatively how the structure of the banking industry affects the macro-economy and provide policy recommendations for establishing a healthy and efficient banking industry. This project expects to improve understanding of the welfare trade-off between bank competition and economic well-being to enable policymakers to better determine the optimal concentration of banking sector in Australia. This will enhance the productivity and international competitiveness of Australia’s financial system and the broader economy.Read moreRead less
Nowcasting and Interpreting the Australian Economy. This project aims to investigate methods for nowcasting and interpreting the Australian economy. This is determining the current state of the economy and the factors contributing to it.
This project expects to generate new knowledge on how unconventional, new, data sources and innovative methods can be used to in nowcasting and how the Australian economy can be modelled.
The expected outcomes include timely new indicators of the state of the ec ....Nowcasting and Interpreting the Australian Economy. This project aims to investigate methods for nowcasting and interpreting the Australian economy. This is determining the current state of the economy and the factors contributing to it.
This project expects to generate new knowledge on how unconventional, new, data sources and innovative methods can be used to in nowcasting and how the Australian economy can be modelled.
The expected outcomes include timely new indicators of the state of the economy, and the factors contributing to it. This should provide significant benefits through informing the conduct of Australian macroeconomic policy, as the appropriate policy response depends not only on knowing the current state of the economy but understanding the economic factors underlying it.
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Macroeconomic and Financial Modelling in an Era of Extremes. This project aims to develop methods to allow workhorse models in economics and finance to better reflect tail events--low probability extreme events, such as the Global Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. It intends to address fundamental technical challenges in the estimation of such models, develop a coherent framework for counterfactual analysis of these models and propose methods to apply these models in a big-data environ ....Macroeconomic and Financial Modelling in an Era of Extremes. This project aims to develop methods to allow workhorse models in economics and finance to better reflect tail events--low probability extreme events, such as the Global Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. It intends to address fundamental technical challenges in the estimation of such models, develop a coherent framework for counterfactual analysis of these models and propose methods to apply these models in a big-data environment. Expected outcomes include new insights into the transmission of tail risks in the global economic and financial system. This should provide significant benefits, including guidance to Australian and international policymakers charged with maintaining stability in the face of extreme events.Read moreRead less
Natural resources and ecosystem services in productivity measurement. This project aims to understand sources of productivity growth through addressing theoretical and practical problems in the economics of natural resources and ecosystem services. It will study the valuation of non-renewable resources and ecosystem services, acknowledging their contributions to economic activity and the effect on national income from their depletion and degradation. It will develop approaches to incorporating n ....Natural resources and ecosystem services in productivity measurement. This project aims to understand sources of productivity growth through addressing theoretical and practical problems in the economics of natural resources and ecosystem services. It will study the valuation of non-renewable resources and ecosystem services, acknowledging their contributions to economic activity and the effect on national income from their depletion and degradation. It will develop approaches to incorporating natural resource depletion and degradation into productivity analysis with the aim of better informing environmental, innovation and industry policy.Read moreRead less
van der Waals epitaxy for advanced and flexible optoelectronics. This project aims to investigate the growth of compound semiconductors directly on two-dimensional material templates, via the so-called van der Waals epitaxy. Two-dimensional materials combined with compound semiconductors as optoelectronic materials can have many uses. This project expects to design flexible solar cells, which could be integrated with fabrics or building products, and lasers that need small drive currents. It wil ....van der Waals epitaxy for advanced and flexible optoelectronics. This project aims to investigate the growth of compound semiconductors directly on two-dimensional material templates, via the so-called van der Waals epitaxy. Two-dimensional materials combined with compound semiconductors as optoelectronic materials can have many uses. This project expects to design flexible solar cells, which could be integrated with fabrics or building products, and lasers that need small drive currents. It will use the Anderson localisation effect, a photon management concept, to control the interaction between photons and material and improve device efficiencies.Read moreRead less
Engineered ion channels for selective and switchable ion conduction. This project aims to develop an innovative bioinspired approach for fabricating angstrom-sized ion-channel membranes with specific ion selectivity, high ion conductivity and efficient gating function comparable to biological ion channels. Engineering of artificial channels with ion-channel-like shapes, ion selectivity filters and functional gates is expected to bring high-efficiency technologies to applications such as membrane ....Engineered ion channels for selective and switchable ion conduction. This project aims to develop an innovative bioinspired approach for fabricating angstrom-sized ion-channel membranes with specific ion selectivity, high ion conductivity and efficient gating function comparable to biological ion channels. Engineering of artificial channels with ion-channel-like shapes, ion selectivity filters and functional gates is expected to bring high-efficiency technologies to applications such as membrane separation and energy conversion. This project has potential to result in new knowledge of biomimetic design of artificial ion-channel membranes and directly benefit manufacturing industry for Australia.Read moreRead less
Porous transparent conducting oxides for efficient solar fuel production. This project aims to develop highly porous, transparent and electrically conducting networks of oxide nanoparticles for artificial photosynthesis applications. The majority of hydrogen is currently produced via natural gas reforming, a process that generates a significant carbon footprint due to the use of fossil fuels. This project will develop novel materials and fabrication methods to improve the efficiency of hydrogen ....Porous transparent conducting oxides for efficient solar fuel production. This project aims to develop highly porous, transparent and electrically conducting networks of oxide nanoparticles for artificial photosynthesis applications. The majority of hydrogen is currently produced via natural gas reforming, a process that generates a significant carbon footprint due to the use of fossil fuels. This project will develop novel materials and fabrication methods to improve the efficiency of hydrogen production using clean and renewable solar energy. This project will contribute to development of technologies for the chemical storage of renewable energy, and reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. This will have applications in the areas of optoelectronic devices, medical biosensors, and photocatalysis, offering downstream benefits for the society, the economy and the environment.Read moreRead less