Inequality, Prosperity and the Australian Welfare State. This project aims to clarify contested understandings of Australian inequality and the role of economic and social policies in addressing policy challenges going forward. The objective of the project is to generate significantly improved knowledge of inequality in Australia using innovative approaches of data splicing, decomposition, simulation and backcasting to fill research gaps and resolve contested interpretations. We aim to provide a ....Inequality, Prosperity and the Australian Welfare State. This project aims to clarify contested understandings of Australian inequality and the role of economic and social policies in addressing policy challenges going forward. The objective of the project is to generate significantly improved knowledge of inequality in Australia using innovative approaches of data splicing, decomposition, simulation and backcasting to fill research gaps and resolve contested interpretations. We aim to provide a benchmark and robust framework against which policy development after the current crisis can be evaluated. This project aims to provide significant benefits, keeping Australia at the forefront of research on inequality and public policy, strengthening links between researchers and policy makers.
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Literacy and Numeracy, Schooling, Neighbourhoods and Labour Market Success. Our research will assess the role of literacy and numeracy in explaining the educational attainment and labour markets outcomes of young Australians, after accounting for background characteristics and school and neighbourhood effects. By exploiting differences in Australian jurisdictions? school structures, it will enable, for the first time, the direct estimation of the effect of schooling on literacy and numeracy. T ....Literacy and Numeracy, Schooling, Neighbourhoods and Labour Market Success. Our research will assess the role of literacy and numeracy in explaining the educational attainment and labour markets outcomes of young Australians, after accounting for background characteristics and school and neighbourhood effects. By exploiting differences in Australian jurisdictions? school structures, it will enable, for the first time, the direct estimation of the effect of schooling on literacy and numeracy. This will clarify the role of literacy and numeracy in subsequent decisions to acquire more human capital through education. This will enable more precise estimates of the contribution of literacy and numeracy to subsequent labour market outcomes achieved by young Australians.Read moreRead less
COVID-19, health and labour market marginalisation . This project aims to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on labour market marginalisation in Australia. It seeks to generate new insights about whether the global economic shock had a disproportionately negative effect on the employment circumstances of working-age Australians with mental health and musculoskeletal/pain conditions, which are the leading causes of disability in Australia. The expected outcomes of this project includ ....COVID-19, health and labour market marginalisation . This project aims to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on labour market marginalisation in Australia. It seeks to generate new insights about whether the global economic shock had a disproportionately negative effect on the employment circumstances of working-age Australians with mental health and musculoskeletal/pain conditions, which are the leading causes of disability in Australia. The expected outcomes of this project include improved policy responses to direct effective support and assistance to those with the greatest need, and new resources for the research community. This should lead to significant benefits through reduced inequalities and improved social, economic and workforce outcomes for vulnerable Australians.Read moreRead less
Childhood poverty in Indonesia. This project aims to offer solutions to childhood poverty in Indonesia, where over half the child population live on less than $2 per day. More effective responses to childhood poverty, one of the greatest challenges facing the world, are needed. This project will extend theories of multidimensional poverty to children, reflecting their experience and priorities; analyse similarities and differences between child- and adult-centred conceptualisations of childhood ....Childhood poverty in Indonesia. This project aims to offer solutions to childhood poverty in Indonesia, where over half the child population live on less than $2 per day. More effective responses to childhood poverty, one of the greatest challenges facing the world, are needed. This project will extend theories of multidimensional poverty to children, reflecting their experience and priorities; analyse similarities and differences between child- and adult-centred conceptualisations of childhood poverty; and develop a replicable child-centred methodology for assessing childhood poverty. The project expects to produce policy-relevant findings that move beyond adult-centric definitions and contribute to more effective responses to child poverty.Read moreRead less
Understanding the Antipodean 'Fair Go'. There is bipartisan support for the 'fair go' in Australia and New Zealand, but what does the fair go actually mean? This project aims to generate new knowledge about the role of the fair go in political debate and policy making. It will examine the values that have been historically connected to the fair go. It will assess how the public and politicians currently understand the fair go and will investigate how the fair go has influenced public policies. E ....Understanding the Antipodean 'Fair Go'. There is bipartisan support for the 'fair go' in Australia and New Zealand, but what does the fair go actually mean? This project aims to generate new knowledge about the role of the fair go in political debate and policy making. It will examine the values that have been historically connected to the fair go. It will assess how the public and politicians currently understand the fair go and will investigate how the fair go has influenced public policies. Expected outcomes include the first systematic analysis of one of the most pervasive and enduring social and political ideas in Australia and New Zealand. This will give policymakers a better understanding of citizens’ values and will build knowledge about how values shape public policies.Read moreRead less
Sparking a National Conversation. This project aims to understand why some promises of a ‘national conversation’ on a policy issue seem to be mere hyperbole, while others seem more authentic. Using an evaluative framework based on the latest democratic theory, and the aims and understandings of key actors in each case, the project plans to compare three cases that claimed to spark a national conversation: the Scottish National Conversation 2007–14; debates around the Affordable Care Act in the U ....Sparking a National Conversation. This project aims to understand why some promises of a ‘national conversation’ on a policy issue seem to be mere hyperbole, while others seem more authentic. Using an evaluative framework based on the latest democratic theory, and the aims and understandings of key actors in each case, the project plans to compare three cases that claimed to spark a national conversation: the Scottish National Conversation 2007–14; debates around the Affordable Care Act in the United States, 2009; and the ongoing issue of Indigenous constitutional recognition in Australia. The project aims to identify why some real-world efforts work better than others, and draw lessons for replicating best practice in Australia. Project outcomes may provide advice to policy-makers on how to engage citizens better in the major issues of the day.Read moreRead less
A Principled Approach to Computer Simulation of Dynamic General Equilibrium Macroeconomic Models. In the last two decades a new generation of computer-intensive
modeling techniques has risen to prominence in macroeconomics. These
methods have broad policy applications, from public finance and
reserve bank operation to analysis of long-run productivity growth,
taxation reform, unemployment, international trade policy and natural
resource conservation. The size and complexity of these model ....A Principled Approach to Computer Simulation of Dynamic General Equilibrium Macroeconomic Models. In the last two decades a new generation of computer-intensive
modeling techniques has risen to prominence in macroeconomics. These
methods have broad policy applications, from public finance and
reserve bank operation to analysis of long-run productivity growth,
taxation reform, unemployment, international trade policy and natural
resource conservation. The size and complexity of these models means
that even computer-based techniques will rely for the foreseeable
future on efficient program design to solve them. The project will
construct a comprehensive set of solution techniques and software for
this class of macroeconomic models, including detailed mathematical
analysis on accuracy of model output.Read moreRead less
The making and unmaking of Australian public policy: using Historical Institutionalism theory to understand the path from Medibank to Medicare. This new analysis of Australia's tumultuous health reforms between 1972 and 1984 uses newly released documents and the recollections of central actors to improve our understanding of how and why health care reform succeeds or fails.
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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Business collective action, networks and discourse: a fiscal sociology of mining tax reform in Australia. The mining tax revolt in 2010 was a landmark event in government-business relations in Australia, acknowledged by multinational corporations and governments around the world for its broader ramifications. This project is the first systematic study of what happened, and its implications for our understanding of government-business relations.