Mechanism design under bounded rationality: The optimal contracts in the complex world. The research will help to clarify the nature of optimal contracts in real life environments. An important feature of such environments is that they are complex so that actors cannot be assumed to behave fully rationally. We propose to address the question of optimal contract design under bounded rationality. Determining the incidence of costs of boundedly rational behaviour may provide foundations for some p ....Mechanism design under bounded rationality: The optimal contracts in the complex world. The research will help to clarify the nature of optimal contracts in real life environments. An important feature of such environments is that they are complex so that actors cannot be assumed to behave fully rationally. We propose to address the question of optimal contract design under bounded rationality. Determining the incidence of costs of boundedly rational behaviour may provide foundations for some policy proposals in areas as diverse as industrial relations and income taxation in Australian settings.
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An economic analysis of multi-period reform programs. This project aims to use a mechanism design approach to study multi-period reform programs and their use in the transition from status quo institutions. The project intends to shed light on the difficulties of introducing efficiency enhancing long-term policies. Expected outcomes include theoretical models that incorporate adjustment costs, common values, and complicated status quo institutions into models of economic reform from a mechanism ....An economic analysis of multi-period reform programs. This project aims to use a mechanism design approach to study multi-period reform programs and their use in the transition from status quo institutions. The project intends to shed light on the difficulties of introducing efficiency enhancing long-term policies. Expected outcomes include theoretical models that incorporate adjustment costs, common values, and complicated status quo institutions into models of economic reform from a mechanism design perspective as well as optimal dynamic reform policies in the presence of these frictions, focusing attention in the trade-off between static efficiency and dynamic welfare gains. Intended benefits include insights that are wildly applicable to the provision of public infrastructure and management of public resources.Read moreRead less
Information and market price manipulation in trade. As we can see from the financial crisis, speculative trading in financial markets can have real world effects. Inside traders can exploit their information for more profits. At this stage, we do not fully understand the role of diverse information in the financial system and we need better ways to model price manipulation and information in a dynamic setting. This proposal seeks to supply a reference framework for analyzing price manipulatio ....Information and market price manipulation in trade. As we can see from the financial crisis, speculative trading in financial markets can have real world effects. Inside traders can exploit their information for more profits. At this stage, we do not fully understand the role of diverse information in the financial system and we need better ways to model price manipulation and information in a dynamic setting. This proposal seeks to supply a reference framework for analyzing price manipulation. Recently, there has been an increasing interest in the informed trader's dynamic strategy. By strengthening this research area, this project will give new momentum to Australian economic theory.Read moreRead less
State-contingent analysis of productivity, efficiency and innovation. Productivity growth is a fundamental precondition for sustainable improvements in living standards. The main drivers of productivity growth are technological innovation and improvements in the efficiency of resource use. Effective public policy in this area requires identification of these components. This project develops improved productivity measurement methods that are applicable in economic environments characterised b ....State-contingent analysis of productivity, efficiency and innovation. Productivity growth is a fundamental precondition for sustainable improvements in living standards. The main drivers of productivity growth are technological innovation and improvements in the efficiency of resource use. Effective public policy in this area requires identification of these components. This project develops improved productivity measurement methods that are applicable in economic environments characterised by production and/or demand uncertainty. The methods will be used to obtain improved estimates of rates of innovation and changes in the relative efficiency of selected Australian enterprises. The empirical results will inform National Competition Policy and the process of microeconomic reform.Read moreRead less
Innovation, Competition and Economic Performance: Understanding the Dynamics of Industry Development. An improved understanding of the impact of innovation on competition and economic performance will inform the design of public policy in terms of industry assistance, research and development support, competition policy and regulatory activity. This will help ensure that the billions of dollars of private and public expenditure devoted to innovative activities and industry development has the gr ....Innovation, Competition and Economic Performance: Understanding the Dynamics of Industry Development. An improved understanding of the impact of innovation on competition and economic performance will inform the design of public policy in terms of industry assistance, research and development support, competition policy and regulatory activity. This will help ensure that the billions of dollars of private and public expenditure devoted to innovative activities and industry development has the greatest possible impact in terms of improved products, lower prices and the enhanced competitiveness of Australian businesses.Read moreRead less
Tackling the Tough Problems in Productivity Measurement: Infrastructure, Services and R&D. Productivity is seen as a main driver of economic growth and welfare improvements. Productivity indexes are used in a variety of policy contexts, in particular in determining the effectiveness (or otherwise) of government policies. Most industrialized countries have productivity accounts, but measurement problems persist and may even be more problematic in the future given an expansion in new goods and ser ....Tackling the Tough Problems in Productivity Measurement: Infrastructure, Services and R&D. Productivity is seen as a main driver of economic growth and welfare improvements. Productivity indexes are used in a variety of policy contexts, in particular in determining the effectiveness (or otherwise) of government policies. Most industrialized countries have productivity accounts, but measurement problems persist and may even be more problematic in the future given an expansion in new goods and services. Improved productivity measurement and an improved understanding of its sources can inform aggregate and regional policy. The project includes collaboration with the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Productivity Commission, with the participation of the Reserve Bank of Australia.Read moreRead less
Measurement and Sources of Productivity Growth under Imperfect Competition. The relative growth performance of countries using net output will free comparisons from the contentious and differing adjustments made by many statistical agencies in an attempt to take account of quality change in capital goods. Thus, Australia will have a better understanding of its relative performance in terms of growth, and thus be better positioned to make informed policy decisions. In addition, whether producti ....Measurement and Sources of Productivity Growth under Imperfect Competition. The relative growth performance of countries using net output will free comparisons from the contentious and differing adjustments made by many statistical agencies in an attempt to take account of quality change in capital goods. Thus, Australia will have a better understanding of its relative performance in terms of growth, and thus be better positioned to make informed policy decisions. In addition, whether productivity growth is mainly driven by technical progress or returns to scale, and the size of monopolistic markups, has a large bearing on how we view the performance of an economy and its potential for future growth.Read moreRead less
Robust Productivity Measurement: An Econometric Distance Function Approach. Accurate measures of productivity are required in a range of economic analyses. For example, in the assessment of the success of microeconomic reforms, or in price-cap regulation of utility and transport infrastructure firms. In this project we investigate the use of econometric distance functions as a means of obtaining improved productivity measures. This new approach addresses the main criticisms of alternative ap ....Robust Productivity Measurement: An Econometric Distance Function Approach. Accurate measures of productivity are required in a range of economic analyses. For example, in the assessment of the success of microeconomic reforms, or in price-cap regulation of utility and transport infrastructure firms. In this project we investigate the use of econometric distance functions as a means of obtaining improved productivity measures. This new approach addresses the main criticisms of alternative approaches, such as the single output restriction in the production function approach, the optimisation assumptions embedded in both the value dual approach and the Törnqvist index approach, and the statistical noise criticism of the data envelopment analysis approach.Read moreRead less
Carbon pricing and its impacts on the productivity growth of Australian industries. This project seeks to investigate the effects of carbon pricing on the productivity of Australian industries. It will provide important insights into the issues of productivity growth and technical efficiency for Australian industries following the imposition of a price on carbon, implemented either through a carbon tax or a carbon trading scheme.