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
Mandatory pre-funded retirement income schemes: Best policy and practice. This innovative project aims to leverage in-depth knowledge of two mandatory pre-funded retirement income systems, Australia and the Netherlands to create new findings to significantly advance policy and practice in these two countries. Mandatory pre-funded retirement income structures adopt a range of approaches regarding choice and drawdown structures. This project aims to use survey and experimental techniques, and stoc ....Mandatory pre-funded retirement income schemes: Best policy and practice. This innovative project aims to leverage in-depth knowledge of two mandatory pre-funded retirement income systems, Australia and the Netherlands to create new findings to significantly advance policy and practice in these two countries. Mandatory pre-funded retirement income structures adopt a range of approaches regarding choice and drawdown structures. This project aims to use survey and experimental techniques, and stochastic life-cycle models, to investigate comparative choice frameworks and the menu of retirement income products in the two countries. It aims to deliver models for improved policy and retirement income designs, producing outcomes which aim to generate global benefit as more countries move towards this pension paradigm.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140100463
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$380,364.00
Summary
Exceptional upward mobility against all odds: Non-cognitive skills and early-childhood disadvantage. Children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds who exceed their parents' social achievements are pioneers. The aims of this project are to introduce this exceptional upward mobility as an alternative measure of economic success and to study its distribution and determinants. The main hypothesis is that these pioneers, apart from being intelligent, have a set of non-cognitive skills that mak ....Exceptional upward mobility against all odds: Non-cognitive skills and early-childhood disadvantage. Children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds who exceed their parents' social achievements are pioneers. The aims of this project are to introduce this exceptional upward mobility as an alternative measure of economic success and to study its distribution and determinants. The main hypothesis is that these pioneers, apart from being intelligent, have a set of non-cognitive skills that make them successful. This will be the first study to analyse these individuals and the personality-related determinants of their life trajectories. It will contribute to understand the various pathways via which non-cognitive skills affect upward mobility, and assess their malleability during childhood or adolescence.Read moreRead less
Self-control in Economic Behaviour. This project aims to use new Australian data to study the way that people’s self-control affects their economic behaviour. This project expects to advance science by testing two new ways of identifying whether people understand their own self-control issues and conducting an innovative program of research that links people’s self-control to their life chances. Expected outcomes include an understanding of i) the factors driving the capacity for self-control; i ....Self-control in Economic Behaviour. This project aims to use new Australian data to study the way that people’s self-control affects their economic behaviour. This project expects to advance science by testing two new ways of identifying whether people understand their own self-control issues and conducting an innovative program of research that links people’s self-control to their life chances. Expected outcomes include an understanding of i) the factors driving the capacity for self-control; ii) the role of self-control in promoting wellbeing; and iii) policy options for improving outcomes through better self-control. This should provide significant benefits in supporting policy agendas such as the Government’s Priority Investment Approach and behavioural economics teams. Read moreRead less
The altruism of the arts customer. The altruism of the arts customer. This project aims to understand customers’ philanthropic motives within the customer-organisation relationship, by combining existing data with behavioural-economic motivated field and lab experiments to study Sydney Opera House customers’ motives for philanthropy. Due to rising costs, budget cuts and greater community outreach, many art organizations increasingly rely on their customers for philanthropic support. The findings ....The altruism of the arts customer. The altruism of the arts customer. This project aims to understand customers’ philanthropic motives within the customer-organisation relationship, by combining existing data with behavioural-economic motivated field and lab experiments to study Sydney Opera House customers’ motives for philanthropy. Due to rising costs, budget cuts and greater community outreach, many art organizations increasingly rely on their customers for philanthropic support. The findings are expected to broaden and deepen theoretical understanding of altruism and preferences for charitable behaviour within the social science literature, and provide art organisations with empirically-tested approaches to improve their philanthropy.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
The economics of filial informal care: future trends and directions for policy supports. This project examines the family decision on informal care and living arrangements, it aims to make constructive policy suggestions in order to promote the healthy life of elderly people, support more productive and fulfilling lives of adult children with elderly parents and fortify supportive family structures.
Flexible methods for latent variable models applied to Health Economics. This project aims to develop flexible and powerful methods for estimating models containing variables that are unobserved, that is, latent. Such models are often used to capture individual heterogeneity and time dependence in data collected on individuals, with each individual observed for several time periods. Latent variables can also infer group membership, where such membership is unavailable from the data. The intended ....Flexible methods for latent variable models applied to Health Economics. This project aims to develop flexible and powerful methods for estimating models containing variables that are unobserved, that is, latent. Such models are often used to capture individual heterogeneity and time dependence in data collected on individuals, with each individual observed for several time periods. Latent variables can also infer group membership, where such membership is unavailable from the data. The intended methodology is Bayesian and based on new particle methods that allow users to select between models and predict future observations even in complex situations. The research aims to inform decision making through improved use of data in health economics and related fields.Read moreRead less
Family Responses to Economic Shocks and Policy Reforms over the Life Cycle. Australian social and economic policy requires a sophisticated understanding of the interaction of public policy with recent demographic trends, including the growth in fragile families and the ageing population. This project aims to develop innovative dynamic models of family decision-making to produce new estimates of the impact of significant Australian public policy reforms on labour supply, fertility, family formati ....Family Responses to Economic Shocks and Policy Reforms over the Life Cycle. Australian social and economic policy requires a sophisticated understanding of the interaction of public policy with recent demographic trends, including the growth in fragile families and the ageing population. This project aims to develop innovative dynamic models of family decision-making to produce new estimates of the impact of significant Australian public policy reforms on labour supply, fertility, family formation, and retirement decisions. Structural econometric models will be used to simulate the effects of variation in the design of the Parenting Payment Single, Age Pension and other programs. The project findings are expected to generate economic and social policy recommendations.Read moreRead less
Reaching for tax breaks: Household financial decisions and tax policy. The project aims to investigate how two tax incentives – franking credits and negative gearing of investments – impact individual taxpayer risk-taking behaviour, voluntary savings and retirement outcomes. The project will develop a new measure of tax efficiency based on if, and how, individuals take advantage of franking credits and negative gearing. It will identify what factors drive the use of franking credits and negativ ....Reaching for tax breaks: Household financial decisions and tax policy. The project aims to investigate how two tax incentives – franking credits and negative gearing of investments – impact individual taxpayer risk-taking behaviour, voluntary savings and retirement outcomes. The project will develop a new measure of tax efficiency based on if, and how, individuals take advantage of franking credits and negative gearing. It will identify what factors drive the use of franking credits and negative gearing and whether their use is associated with better retirement outcomes. The findings of the project will potentially lead to an improvement in individuals’ financial literacy, retirement outcomes and reduce reliance on the aged pension.Read moreRead less