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
Reliability of purchasing power parities from the World Bank. This project aims to provide an econometric framework to estimate purchasing power parities (PPPs) and a method to compute standard errors associated with the World Bank’s International Comparison Programme (ICP)’s PPPs. The ICP regularly compiles and publishes estimates of PPPs of currencies and real incomes. These results are used for study of global inequality and poverty; macroeconomic analysis; the Human Development Index; and cr ....Reliability of purchasing power parities from the World Bank. This project aims to provide an econometric framework to estimate purchasing power parities (PPPs) and a method to compute standard errors associated with the World Bank’s International Comparison Programme (ICP)’s PPPs. The ICP regularly compiles and publishes estimates of PPPs of currencies and real incomes. These results are used for study of global inequality and poverty; macroeconomic analysis; the Human Development Index; and cross-country productivity comparisons. However, no estimates of ICP PPPs’ reliability are available. Results from this project are likely to improve the quality of widely used data sets including the Penn World Tables and the University of Queensland International Comparison Database relevant to banking.Read moreRead less
Financing aged care in Australia: Mitigating fiscal gaps and maintaining intergenerational equity. Aged care has been identified as a significant contributor to the growing fiscal problems predicted for Australian government finances during the next 10 to 20 years. This project will develop the cutting-edge modelling tools needed to allow Australia to make informed decisions about possible reforms in aged care financing. It will create significant national benefits by allowing detailed assessmen ....Financing aged care in Australia: Mitigating fiscal gaps and maintaining intergenerational equity. Aged care has been identified as a significant contributor to the growing fiscal problems predicted for Australian government finances during the next 10 to 20 years. This project will develop the cutting-edge modelling tools needed to allow Australia to make informed decisions about possible reforms in aged care financing. It will create significant national benefits by allowing detailed assessment of the distributional impact of a wide range of possible reforms, including how the outcomes of any policy change will affect disadvantaged sections of our society, whether different generations will be fairly treated, and the impact by gender.Read moreRead less
Consistent Space-Time Comparisons of Real Income. The project will result in internationally comparable macroeconomic data, spanning all years since 1950 and covering in excess of 120 countries. The Australian government, private sector and academic researchers will find from this project a wealth of economic information on Australia, its geographical neighbours and trading partners which can be used in assessing Australia's economic performance and role in a global context. Results from this pr ....Consistent Space-Time Comparisons of Real Income. The project will result in internationally comparable macroeconomic data, spanning all years since 1950 and covering in excess of 120 countries. The Australian government, private sector and academic researchers will find from this project a wealth of economic information on Australia, its geographical neighbours and trading partners which can be used in assessing Australia's economic performance and role in a global context. Results from this project will provide international organisations, multinationals and researchers with a much improved data set, to those currently available, thus enhancing the reputation of the research team, the University of Queensland and Australia. Read moreRead less
Construction of Consistent Panels of Real Gross Domestic Product and its Components at Current and Constant Prices. The Australian government, international organizations, private sector and academic researchers will find from this project a wealth of economic information on Australia, its geographical neighbours and trading partners which can be used in assessing Australia's economic performance and role in a global context. This project will result in internationally comparable real income, co ....Construction of Consistent Panels of Real Gross Domestic Product and its Components at Current and Constant Prices. The Australian government, international organizations, private sector and academic researchers will find from this project a wealth of economic information on Australia, its geographical neighbours and trading partners which can be used in assessing Australia's economic performance and role in a global context. This project will result in internationally comparable real income, consumption, investment and government expenditures spanning all years since 1950 and covering over 180 countries based on an econometric methodology that is superior to those currently in use. Successful completion of the project will place the research team, the University of Queensland and Australia on the international map.Read moreRead less
Improving productivity: theory and application to Australian hospitals. This project aims to improve existing methods for analysing productivity and efficiency of organisations. The new methods will be applied to Australian hospitals, to analyse their productivity and efficiency, identify the best-practices and their determinants and recommend improvements and necessary reforms. The high level of healthcare costs in Australia, about 5 percent of gross domestic product, as well as their rapid and ....Improving productivity: theory and application to Australian hospitals. This project aims to improve existing methods for analysing productivity and efficiency of organisations. The new methods will be applied to Australian hospitals, to analyse their productivity and efficiency, identify the best-practices and their determinants and recommend improvements and necessary reforms. The high level of healthcare costs in Australia, about 5 percent of gross domestic product, as well as their rapid and accelerating growth, imply that application of methods developed through this project may save billions of dollars and, more importantly, thousands of lives. An expected outcome of this project will be superior theoretical and practical methods for analysing productivity and efficiency of economic systems, to enhance understanding of the potential for improvements and of the necessary reforms.Read moreRead less
Econometric modelling of housing prices and their relationship to climate adaptation issues. The path to climate adaptation in urban communities is directly related to housing infrastructure. The project develops improved and new econometric methods for the prediction of property prices and their components, land and structure, and it will provide estimates of the interplay between flooding risk and property values.