Understanding and overcoming confusion in consumer financial decisions. This project aims to develop consumer-centred approaches to reducing the harmful effects of confusion in financial decisions by studying superannuation investment and home loan decisions where confused choices are individually and collectively costly. The project intends to develop comprehensive models to capture the full complexity of financial products and the diverse preferences and capability of consumers, then to use ad ....Understanding and overcoming confusion in consumer financial decisions. This project aims to develop consumer-centred approaches to reducing the harmful effects of confusion in financial decisions by studying superannuation investment and home loan decisions where confused choices are individually and collectively costly. The project intends to develop comprehensive models to capture the full complexity of financial products and the diverse preferences and capability of consumers, then to use advanced statistical methods to estimate the benefits of clearer decision-making. The outcomes of this project includes new models of complex financial decisions, and a better understanding of where confusion arises and the effects it may have. Decreased confusion will raise financial well-being and help communities become more resilient to financial shocks.Read moreRead less
Protecting Australia’s brand assets and stakeholder interests. International accounting standards have recently been harmonised to allow firms to recognise the value of purchased brands on their balance sheets, subject to an annual test to verify that value has not been impaired. There are no widely accepted methodologies with which to undertake such tests, despite the requirement for the balance sheet to provide a true and fair view of financial position. This research will develop three approa ....Protecting Australia’s brand assets and stakeholder interests. International accounting standards have recently been harmonised to allow firms to recognise the value of purchased brands on their balance sheets, subject to an annual test to verify that value has not been impaired. There are no widely accepted methodologies with which to undertake such tests, despite the requirement for the balance sheet to provide a true and fair view of financial position. This research will develop three approaches to calibrate brand impairment and draw lessons from applying them over a three year period. The outputs are twofold: first, a suite of detailed methods for accountants, auditors and financial analysts to measure and diagnose brand value; second, several key indicators that can be used to monitor signs of brand impairment.Read moreRead less
The Role of Corporate Governance Mechanisms in Maximising the Performance of Listed Australian Corporations. The recent spake of corporate collapses and scandals highlights the need for an ongoing commitment to the development, implementation and maintenance of strong systems of governance within Australian corporations. This commitment necessitates an understanding of which suite of governance mechanisms are most effective in positively impacting upon corporate performance rather than just the ....The Role of Corporate Governance Mechanisms in Maximising the Performance of Listed Australian Corporations. The recent spake of corporate collapses and scandals highlights the need for an ongoing commitment to the development, implementation and maintenance of strong systems of governance within Australian corporations. This commitment necessitates an understanding of which suite of governance mechanisms are most effective in positively impacting upon corporate performance rather than just the performance impact of a particular mechanism in isolation. To date, research facilitating such an understanding is all but non-existent. However, our study will yield this much-needed evidence and, therefore, provide the foundations for ongoing corporate governance reform on the part of regulators and practitioners alike.Read moreRead less
Equity Market Integrity and Liquidity. This project seeks to increase our understanding of market integrity. Market integrity directly impacts investor confidence which influences liquidity and the cost of capital. It is imperative that exchanges implement policies to enhance integrity to survive in a competitive market. The Australian Stock Exchange Limited (ASX) has provided access to unique data of alleged market manipulation to undertake this research. Previous researchers have been cons ....Equity Market Integrity and Liquidity. This project seeks to increase our understanding of market integrity. Market integrity directly impacts investor confidence which influences liquidity and the cost of capital. It is imperative that exchanges implement policies to enhance integrity to survive in a competitive market. The Australian Stock Exchange Limited (ASX) has provided access to unique data of alleged market manipulation to undertake this research. Previous researchers have been constrained by their inability to access such data. We now have an opportunity to complete unique research to develop a measure of market integrity and assess its impact on liquidity and the cost of capital.Read moreRead less
Applying behavioural insights to the tax system in Australia. Applying behavioural insights to the tax system in Australia. This project aims to improve compliance and payment in the Australian tax system. It aims to tackle debts of individuals and businesses, the most challenging aspect of tax systems, by applying behavioural insights to design innovative payment interventions and conducting rigorous randomised controlled trials to evaluate their effects. An empirical analysis will account for ....Applying behavioural insights to the tax system in Australia. Applying behavioural insights to the tax system in Australia. This project aims to improve compliance and payment in the Australian tax system. It aims to tackle debts of individuals and businesses, the most challenging aspect of tax systems, by applying behavioural insights to design innovative payment interventions and conducting rigorous randomised controlled trials to evaluate their effects. An empirical analysis will account for heterogeneity in treatment responses, and the findings will be combined with a study of regulatory and administrative processes to support the ultimate goal of a legitimate, fair, cost-effective and responsive tax system.Read moreRead less
Improving external validity of stated choice experiments. This project aims to deliver more accurate estimates of choice behaviour by reducing biases due to choice task complexity in surveys as well as design artefacts. Extracting 'true' preferences is challenging, not only due to possible hypothetical bias, but also due to increasingly complex choice tasks and the existence of design artefacts. This project will investigate the latter two in the context of marketing, transport, health, and envi ....Improving external validity of stated choice experiments. This project aims to deliver more accurate estimates of choice behaviour by reducing biases due to choice task complexity in surveys as well as design artefacts. Extracting 'true' preferences is challenging, not only due to possible hypothetical bias, but also due to increasingly complex choice tasks and the existence of design artefacts. This project will investigate the latter two in the context of marketing, transport, health, and environmental economics, and proposes new methodologies to extract preferences that more closely reflect true behaviour in real markets.Read moreRead less
ARC Research Network for Economic Design. The Economic Design Network is a partnership of more than one hundred researchers and over forty international universities and research centres. The Network will support cross disciplinary research and policy innovation using state of the art techniques in economic theory and experimental economics. It will create practical policy tools that can be used to solve complex social and economic problems in industry economics, health economics and environment ....ARC Research Network for Economic Design. The Economic Design Network is a partnership of more than one hundred researchers and over forty international universities and research centres. The Network will support cross disciplinary research and policy innovation using state of the art techniques in economic theory and experimental economics. It will create practical policy tools that can be used to solve complex social and economic problems in industry economics, health economics and environmental policy. By linking Australian mid and early career researchers into multidisciplinary teams based around the world's top experimental economics laboratories, it will create a world class economic design capacity in Australia.Read moreRead less
Economic impacts of disease on older workers: Costs to government and individuals and opportunities for intervention. With an ageing workforce, Australia is at risk of having an inadequate workforce to ensure economic growth and to maintain sufficient taxation revenue to support future needs.
This project will provide fill substantial gaps in the Australian evidence the health conditions that keep older workers out of the labour market and that diminish their own immediate and long-term livi ....Economic impacts of disease on older workers: Costs to government and individuals and opportunities for intervention. With an ageing workforce, Australia is at risk of having an inadequate workforce to ensure economic growth and to maintain sufficient taxation revenue to support future needs.
This project will provide fill substantial gaps in the Australian evidence the health conditions that keep older workers out of the labour market and that diminish their own immediate and long-term livings standards and reduce funds available to government. We will address one of the most significant issues resulting fundamental changes to the demography of the Australian labour market and one is regularly raised by the Prime Minister and Treasurer in their speeches following the Intergenerational Report.Read moreRead less
Long term economic impacts of disease on older workers to 2030: Costs to government and individuals and opportunities for intervention. This project will fill substantial gaps in Australian evidence about the health conditions of the future that will keep older workers out of the labour market and diminish their own immediate and long-term livings standards, thereby reducing funds available to government. We will address one of the most significant issues resulting from the fundamental changes t ....Long term economic impacts of disease on older workers to 2030: Costs to government and individuals and opportunities for intervention. This project will fill substantial gaps in Australian evidence about the health conditions of the future that will keep older workers out of the labour market and diminish their own immediate and long-term livings standards, thereby reducing funds available to government. We will address one of the most significant issues resulting from the fundamental changes to the demography of the Australian labour market and one that is regularly raised by the government following the release of the 2002 and 2007 Intergenerational Reports. This project will also examine the interventions that would improve the health of older workers and increase labour force participation over the long term.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