The Overseas Chinese Water Frontier of Southeast Asia, 1700-1900. This project proposes to view the South China Sea/Gulf of Thailand rim as a single economic region, a "water frontier" that endured for two centuries. Focusing on the Mekong delta and adjacent coasts, it will examine the major roles the Chinese played in the establishment of the Siamese and Vietnamese states. Despite the frontier's marginalisation in the nineteenth century, the populations supplied the manpower and expertise that ....The Overseas Chinese Water Frontier of Southeast Asia, 1700-1900. This project proposes to view the South China Sea/Gulf of Thailand rim as a single economic region, a "water frontier" that endured for two centuries. Focusing on the Mekong delta and adjacent coasts, it will examine the major roles the Chinese played in the establishment of the Siamese and Vietnamese states. Despite the frontier's marginalisation in the nineteenth century, the populations supplied the manpower and expertise that fueled the national and colonial economies which later developed around Saigon, Bangkok and Singapore. Our aim is to restore the "lost" history of this region and its peoples and to set new agendas for future research.Read moreRead less
Water and the making of urban Australia since 1900. This project aims to produce new understandings of both the historical drivers of today’s urban water systems, and how these systems have impacted on human and ecological welfare. This will be achieved through the first integrated and comparative historical study of the provision, use and cultures of water in Australia’s five largest cities from 1900 to the present. Such historical knowledge is critical at a time when the water systems of Austr ....Water and the making of urban Australia since 1900. This project aims to produce new understandings of both the historical drivers of today’s urban water systems, and how these systems have impacted on human and ecological welfare. This will be achieved through the first integrated and comparative historical study of the provision, use and cultures of water in Australia’s five largest cities from 1900 to the present. Such historical knowledge is critical at a time when the water systems of Australia’s largest cities are under growing pressure from environmental change and population growth. Project findings will inform the development of policies and practices that produce sustainable, equitable urban water systems.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120101426
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Understanding industrialisation, entrepreneurship, and technology adoption in emerging economies: new evidence from historical Japanese firms. Japan's pre-war industrialisation is widely used as a model by emerging economies, despite a lack of detailed data. This project provides a new firm-level dataset from hitherto unused archives, which allows empirical testing of theories about entrepreneurial activity, technology adoption, financial access, and other determinants of economic growth.
Economic Inequality: Trends, Causes and Consequences. Measuring inequality and understanding its determinants is important for three reasons. First, knowing the causes and consequences of inequality is critical to making trade-offs between equity and efficiency. Second, the degree of economic mobility over the lifecycle determines how much opportunity people have to move upwards, and how much risk they face on moving downwards. This informs policies that guard against risk (eg. social insurance) ....Economic Inequality: Trends, Causes and Consequences. Measuring inequality and understanding its determinants is important for three reasons. First, knowing the causes and consequences of inequality is critical to making trade-offs between equity and efficiency. Second, the degree of economic mobility over the lifecycle determines how much opportunity people have to move upwards, and how much risk they face on moving downwards. This informs policies that guard against risk (eg. social insurance) and those that encourage risk (eg. entrepreneurship). Third, by learning more about intergenerational mobility, we can improve policies that seek to boost the life chances of children in disadvantaged households. Read moreRead less
British Empire and the Natural World: the Environmental History of the British Empire and Commonwealth 1600-2000. Australia faces multiplying environmental crises in climate change, including soil erosion, salinisation, deforestation. Most of these crises originate in faulty land use management. An understanding of the causes of this predicament require deep insights into the global impact of European colonisation and an understanding of the environmental history of the British empire and the id ....British Empire and the Natural World: the Environmental History of the British Empire and Commonwealth 1600-2000. Australia faces multiplying environmental crises in climate change, including soil erosion, salinisation, deforestation. Most of these crises originate in faulty land use management. An understanding of the causes of this predicament require deep insights into the global impact of European colonisation and an understanding of the environmental history of the British empire and the ideas and intellectual networks that underpinned the expansion of the geographical and resource frontier. Read moreRead less
Inequality of health, wealth and education in China. This project aims to examine whether China’s recent increase in income inequality is associated with increased inequalities in other well-being related outcomes: health, education and wealth. It also aims to identify the factors associated with increases in inequalities. Significant increases in income and wealth inequality could have detrimental effects on economic and political stability. The expected outcomes from this project will help to ....Inequality of health, wealth and education in China. This project aims to examine whether China’s recent increase in income inequality is associated with increased inequalities in other well-being related outcomes: health, education and wealth. It also aims to identify the factors associated with increases in inequalities. Significant increases in income and wealth inequality could have detrimental effects on economic and political stability. The expected outcomes from this project will help to identify policies useful in addressing inequalities and enhancing stability within Australia's important trading partner.Read moreRead less
A History of Foreign Multinational Enterprises in Australia from Federation. We aim to deliver the first history of foreign multinational firms in twentieth-century Australia, connecting to, and enhancing, a rich overseas literature on global business. Foreign corporations have played a critical but poorly understood role here with public and policy opinions polarised between approval for new investment, job creation and innovation against concern for their impact on tax revenue, competition, an ....A History of Foreign Multinational Enterprises in Australia from Federation. We aim to deliver the first history of foreign multinational firms in twentieth-century Australia, connecting to, and enhancing, a rich overseas literature on global business. Foreign corporations have played a critical but poorly understood role here with public and policy opinions polarised between approval for new investment, job creation and innovation against concern for their impact on tax revenue, competition, and economic policy. Through a closer, long term understanding of multinationals – their magnitude, motives to settle here, corporate structures, and adaptation to local conditions – our findings will inform public debate and policy about the roles of foreign investment and foreign enterprises in the Australian economy today.Read moreRead less
The economics of mothers milk and the market for infant food. Breastfeeding is increasingly recognized as an important public health issue, but is rarely viewed from an economic perspective. However, feminist critiques of mainstream economics have helped draw attention to the value of breastmilk and the significance of economic and commercial factors in women's decisions about infant feeding. This project aims to provide the economic analysis and social research relevant to effective public heal ....The economics of mothers milk and the market for infant food. Breastfeeding is increasingly recognized as an important public health issue, but is rarely viewed from an economic perspective. However, feminist critiques of mainstream economics have helped draw attention to the value of breastmilk and the significance of economic and commercial factors in women's decisions about infant feeding. This project aims to provide the economic analysis and social research relevant to effective public health policies on breastfeeding. The primary output will be a book manuscript.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140101770
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$327,841.00
Summary
Secularism and Philosophy: The Challenge of Spinozism. With the resurgence of religious conflict throughout the world, the question of secularism has acquired renewed importance. Nowhere has the plausibility of a secular worldview been more rigorously debated than within the history of philosophy, and no philosopher has aroused more controversy on this subject than Benedict de Spinoza (1632-1677). This project will result in the first history of Spinozism's pivotal role in the history of secular ....Secularism and Philosophy: The Challenge of Spinozism. With the resurgence of religious conflict throughout the world, the question of secularism has acquired renewed importance. Nowhere has the plausibility of a secular worldview been more rigorously debated than within the history of philosophy, and no philosopher has aroused more controversy on this subject than Benedict de Spinoza (1632-1677). This project will result in the first history of Spinozism's pivotal role in the history of secularism, focusing on three distinct episodes of philosophical conflict generated by Spinoza's thought from the late eighteenth century to the present. The study will make clear that secularism is not simply a social and political phenomenon, but a philosophical conundrum, thus far irresolvable.Read moreRead less
Modelling To Explore Management Strategies To Optimise The Value Of The Rock Lobster Fishery Of Western Australia
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$140,183.00
Summary
It is recognised by industry that the yield currently obtained from the western rock lobster fishery cannot be enhanced by increasing exploitation without also reducing the breeding stock to an unacceptable level. The value of the fishery can only be increased by reducing costs or by increasing the value of the catch. Modelling of the fishery is required to investigate the potential improvement in value that might be obtained from an optimal set of management controls designed to improve marke ....It is recognised by industry that the yield currently obtained from the western rock lobster fishery cannot be enhanced by increasing exploitation without also reducing the breeding stock to an unacceptable level. The value of the fishery can only be increased by reducing costs or by increasing the value of the catch. Modelling of the fishery is required to investigate the potential improvement in value that might be obtained from an optimal set of management controls designed to improve market prices through controlling the supply of lobsters to the market both within and among fishing seasons. The ability to predict future catches based on puerulus settlement indices offers the rock lobster industry in Western Australia a unique opportunity to improve prices by varying the exploitation rate between seasons in order to more closely match market demand.
A modelling project to address this need will require the development of a more statistically sound model of the lobster fishery than was provided by the descriptive model developed by Walters et al. (1993). This will benefit the participants in the fishery by providing an understanding of the uncertainties associated with model predictions, and the validity of the new model when applied to different sectors of the fishery. The earlier model used information from only a small subset of the data available from the fishery, and the new model will utilise far more of the available data, thus providing a more robust description of the rock lobster fishery.
Development of the proposed model is seen as an essential and strategic element of the research programme for this fishery. Objectives: 1. To develop a statistically sound biological model to represent the fish stock and its interaction with fishers within the constraints of management strategies; 2. To incorporate marketing data into the model to allow the prediction of changes in product value with different management scenarios; 3. To determine the time-dependent set of management controls (size, catch, and effort) that would optimise the value of the landed product, and to identify alternative locally optimum sets of controls producing similar (but reduced) value. Read moreRead less