Research Expertise

Macroeconomics and Growth

In this broad area, research is being done currently on:

Applications of game theory to financial markets and political economy, seeing how the structure of markets affects the volatility of security prices.
Sources of wealth inequality, in particular trying to understand why observationally similar households hold very different amounts of wealth.
Causes of educational attainment differences across countries and US states.
The role of institutions in determining the level of income and wealth inequality to assess how socio-economic, demographic, and health factors determine households? consumption-savings behaviour.
How inequality impacts on the growth rate of an economy, which will lead to an understanding of the design of optimal fiscal institutions and capital controls.
An analysis of the prospects for an Asian currency union in the face of a range of macroeconomic shocks .
The interactions between bond markets and the macroeconomy.
State-space modelling of the unobserved natural rate of unemployment.
The role of macroeconomic variables in conflicts between countries.
The relation between the rate of growth and the distribution of income, specifically, the role of variations in distribution in the adjustment to changes in rates of growth of demand.

Staff members with expertise in Macroeconomics and Growth

Economic Theory

Members of this cluster have an expertise and maintain an active research interest in modelling the behaviour of agents and the economic implications of their actions in predominantly strategic environments. This expertise is underscored by publications in major international journals such as American Economic Review, Econometrica, Review of Economic Studies, Journal of Economic Theory and Games & Economic Behavior among several others.

At one end of the spectrum, there is on going research in the fundamental issues of bounded rationality, of computability of equilibria, learning procedures in games and mechanism design in abstract settings. At the other end, members study and have contributed to a diverse theoretical literature that uses game theory: coalition formation, the theory of auctions, bargaining, provision of public goods, design of optimal contracts in the presence of externalities, issues relating to financial markets' microstructure and models of political economy.

Staff members with expertise in Economic Theory

Industrial Organization and International Trade

Research in Industrial Organisation is proceeding in several areas. One strand of research examines the regulation of the health sector and the incentives faced by market participants. Another focus is the structural modelling and estimation of dynamic pricing behaviour with applications to airline and retail petrol markets. Also, the growth and management of big business and the transfer of technology is examined. Other topics examined include the incentive to wait in strategic interaction, and the allocation of decision-making authority within organisations.

The international trade research agenda being pursued within the Discipline has both a theoretical and an empirical focus. One strand of this research agenda models the formation and optimal design of regional trade agreements. Another focus of research deals with how firms choose which mode of entry to adopt in undertaking foreign direct investment. Discipline staff have also examined the issue of optimal patent design.

Staff members with expertise in Industrial Organization and International Trade

Applied Econometrics and Labour Economics

Members in this cluster are involved in empirical analyses using a variety of data sources, including Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) unit record files and other large cross-sectional datasets such as HILDA (Household Income and Labour Survey), NATSISS (National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey), LSAY (Longitudinal Survey of Australian Youth), IFLS (Indonesian Family Life Survey), DHS (Demographic Health Surveys), PWD (Penn World Table), NLSY (National Longitudinal Survey of Youth).

Current research projects in this area include:

An analysis of child care and maternal employment decisions in Australia.
An analysis of microfinance and its effect on household welfare.
Assessing the relationship between child care and the labour market activity of Australian women.
Effect of publications record on tenure and promotion at universities in Australia, Canada and the U.S.
Examining the employment patterns of nurses in New South Wales.
Identifying the impact of housing assistance measures on labour market outcomes using administrative data on public housing.
Impact of observed/unobserved training and experience on education coefficients in wage equations.
Linkages between health status and employment outcomes for Indigenous Australians.
Properties of Measurement Error in Penn World Table.
Quantile Regression Analysis of Body Mass and Wages.
Underutilisation of labour resources in Australia.

Staff members with expertise in Applied Econometrics and Labour Economics

Economic Policy and Economic Development

Members of this cluster are involved in theoretical and empirical research into topics related to government policy and the economic development of nations. The following is a short list of some of the topics currently under research by the cluster:

A theoretical and empirical analysis of bankruptcy and financial reorganization in Australia.
Public debt sustainability and alternative theories of the rate of interest.
Fiscal policy and public sector debt: a re-evaluation of conventional arguments about optimal fiscal policy and debt trajectories.
Internet diffusion in Australia.
Role of micro-entrepreneuers, information and communication technology, and the services sector in the process of economic development with a focus on policy analysis and prescription involving different levels of government (local, national and international) and different agencies (private/corporate, NGO and govermental).
The Australian housing system and intergenerational sustainability.
Housing affordability for lower income Australians.
ousing affordability, occupation and location in Australian cities and regions.
The link between infant mortality and child nutrition in India: Is there any evidence of a gender bias.
Sibling synergy and migrant effects in child health: Evidence from South Africa.
Maternal education and child health outcomes in Nepal.
The effect of elderly care and female labour supply in Indonesia.
Social norms and gender bias in education.

Staff members with expertise in Economic Policy and Economic Development