Institutions for Food Security: Global Lessons from Rural India. Between 2006 and 2008, global progress in combating world hunger stalled. World food prices increased by 71.4% and an additional 115 million people joined the ranks of the undernourished. This is a human tragedy which has fuelled political and economic turmoil across many countries. India has 28% of the world's hungry, and is an increasingly important economic and political partner to Australia. This research will involve a team of ....Institutions for Food Security: Global Lessons from Rural India. Between 2006 and 2008, global progress in combating world hunger stalled. World food prices increased by 71.4% and an additional 115 million people joined the ranks of the undernourished. This is a human tragedy which has fuelled political and economic turmoil across many countries. India has 28% of the world's hungry, and is an increasingly important economic and political partner to Australia. This research will involve a team of Australian researchers working with Indian counterparts to develop a framework that explains what causes risk and resilience to food insecurity, and offers practical insights for policy-makers. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190101364
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$422,460.00
Summary
Securing future supplies of chicken-meat protein. This project aims to generate advanced knowledge in amino acid metabolism in poultry in order to reduce soybean inclusion in broiler diets. Chicken-meat is the dominant animal protein source in human diets in Australia. However, Australia chicken-meat industry will need to increase production by more than 40 per cent to meet population growth by 2050. Soybean meal is the major protein source in poultry diets but the sustainability of increased so ....Securing future supplies of chicken-meat protein. This project aims to generate advanced knowledge in amino acid metabolism in poultry in order to reduce soybean inclusion in broiler diets. Chicken-meat is the dominant animal protein source in human diets in Australia. However, Australia chicken-meat industry will need to increase production by more than 40 per cent to meet population growth by 2050. Soybean meal is the major protein source in poultry diets but the sustainability of increased soy production is problematic. The expected outcomes of this project will be an increase in our future capacity to produce affordable, healthy chicken-meat with humane animal welfare by novel dietary formulations. Chicken-meat production generates less greenhouse gases than its competitors but this project will contribute to the reduction of harmful environmental outputs and ensure food security for Australia.Read moreRead less
Manipulation of the growth potential and carcass composition of domestic animal species. Finding alternatives to repeated growth hormone(GH) injection to boost production efficiency and minimise carcass fatness remains an important target for animal research. This application exploits the two novel approaches to achieve this goal through: 1. the administration of the GH releasing peptides to the neonate to imprint an enhanced GH secretory pattern and feed conversion efficiency during growth ....Manipulation of the growth potential and carcass composition of domestic animal species. Finding alternatives to repeated growth hormone(GH) injection to boost production efficiency and minimise carcass fatness remains an important target for animal research. This application exploits the two novel approaches to achieve this goal through: 1. the administration of the GH releasing peptides to the neonate to imprint an enhanced GH secretory pattern and feed conversion efficiency during growth to maturity and 2. the development of an orally active form of these peptides by conjugation with VitB12 to facilitate intestinal absorption through the VitB12 transport mechanism for delivery to the hypothalamic/pituitary axis of animals nearing maturity.Read moreRead less
Origins, evolution, and economic cost of gender norms. Gender norms are slow to change, and key drivers of economic development. This proposal leverages natural experiments to test their causal implications on two major channels of economic growth: the trust shared by individuals and the productivity of firms. It will use cutting-edge empirical techniques to generate novel measures of diversity and inclusion for Australian firms, and will conduct original fieldwork, matching experimental measure ....Origins, evolution, and economic cost of gender norms. Gender norms are slow to change, and key drivers of economic development. This proposal leverages natural experiments to test their causal implications on two major channels of economic growth: the trust shared by individuals and the productivity of firms. It will use cutting-edge empirical techniques to generate novel measures of diversity and inclusion for Australian firms, and will conduct original fieldwork, matching experimental measures of trust and cooperation with variation in traditional male versus female roles. This research aims at improving fundamental knowledge about how cultural norms shape economic outcomes and anticipates delivering practical policy recommendations for more efficient and inclusive economic growth. Read moreRead less
Policy Modelling for Ageing in Emerging Economies: The Case of Indonesia. This project, in collaboration with the World Bank and the Indonesian Planning Authority, will support major social and economic policy development in a rapidly ageing region. It will break new ground by developing a cutting-edge economic policy model reflecting salient features of ageing in emerging economies, taking into account the wider implications for education, employment, formalisation, growth, and retirement. It w ....Policy Modelling for Ageing in Emerging Economies: The Case of Indonesia. This project, in collaboration with the World Bank and the Indonesian Planning Authority, will support major social and economic policy development in a rapidly ageing region. It will break new ground by developing a cutting-edge economic policy model reflecting salient features of ageing in emerging economies, taking into account the wider implications for education, employment, formalisation, growth, and retirement. It will bring the armoury of policy analysis instruments available to these countries up to the standard now enjoyed by the developed world. Indonesia, on the brink of major pension reform, will be used as a test bed. Data sets will be developed to allow the model structure to be applied to other emerging economies in Asia. Read moreRead less
The changing geographies of power, knowledge and access in Australia's financial services sector: a regional development perspective. This project investigates one of the most pressing issues in the development of regional Australia: whether the modern financial services sector acts to reinforce or remediate existing patterns of uneven development. The research focuses on two key issues: 1) how the restructuring of the banking sector has affected the availability of financial services and ventur ....The changing geographies of power, knowledge and access in Australia's financial services sector: a regional development perspective. This project investigates one of the most pressing issues in the development of regional Australia: whether the modern financial services sector acts to reinforce or remediate existing patterns of uneven development. The research focuses on two key issues: 1) how the restructuring of the banking sector has affected the availability of financial services and venture capital in rural and urban Australia; and 2) the relationship between the changing geography of financial services and financial institutions' increasing reliance upon instrumental knowledge about their customers. The research will produce a model of the role of modern financial services provision and market knowledge in regional development.Read moreRead less
ASEAN+3 Free Trade Agreement and Its Impact on Australia-Vietnam Trade. The ASEAN+3 (China, Japan and Korea) free trade agreement endorsed by ASEAN Leaders in 2001 poses a serious trade diversion threat to Australia's goods and services trade to ASEAN and North Asia (reaching $33.9b and $85.0b respectively in 2001, see DFAT 2003). No research on this has been done or reported. The project, with Vietnam Institute for Trade collaboration, uses new analytical and empirical approaches to investigate ....ASEAN+3 Free Trade Agreement and Its Impact on Australia-Vietnam Trade. The ASEAN+3 (China, Japan and Korea) free trade agreement endorsed by ASEAN Leaders in 2001 poses a serious trade diversion threat to Australia's goods and services trade to ASEAN and North Asia (reaching $33.9b and $85.0b respectively in 2001, see DFAT 2003). No research on this has been done or reported. The project, with Vietnam Institute for Trade collaboration, uses new analytical and empirical approaches to investigate this FTA and its implications to Australia's trade to a major ASEAN country, namely Vietnam, where 2002 trade reached $2.8b and Australia's global companies (eg. ANZ, Telstra, RMIT) currently have large operation.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170101132
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$372,000.00
Summary
How social relationships improve sheep productivity. This project aims to determine how the social network structure of a flock and different individuals’ experience and leadership abilities improve a population’s well-being and productivity (wool clip and lambing rates). This project will use social network theory and collective behaviour in animals to manage sheep in Australia’s arid rangelands, which are important for the pastoral industry, but where ecological challenges reduce livestock pro ....How social relationships improve sheep productivity. This project aims to determine how the social network structure of a flock and different individuals’ experience and leadership abilities improve a population’s well-being and productivity (wool clip and lambing rates). This project will use social network theory and collective behaviour in animals to manage sheep in Australia’s arid rangelands, which are important for the pastoral industry, but where ecological challenges reduce livestock productivity. An expected outcome is management guidelines for the sheep industry to improve wool and meat production.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170101060
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$323,000.00
Summary
Employer strategies for developing a skilled workforce. This project aims to discover why employers use particular strategies when sourcing skills and whether these strategies benefit their workers.Addressing employer skills needs expediently is imperative for productivity and national prosperity. Employers’ strategies have profound implications for the workforce and the Australian labour market, particularly at a time of rising unemployment. This project will study why employers increasingly ‘b ....Employer strategies for developing a skilled workforce. This project aims to discover why employers use particular strategies when sourcing skills and whether these strategies benefit their workers.Addressing employer skills needs expediently is imperative for productivity and national prosperity. Employers’ strategies have profound implications for the workforce and the Australian labour market, particularly at a time of rising unemployment. This project will study why employers increasingly ‘buy’ skills externally, through recruitment and sponsored immigration, rather than ‘build’ skills internally through employee development strategies. Understanding how immigration and domestic policy mechanisms addressing employer and labour market needs is expected to inform policy development on this vital issue.Read moreRead less