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Business School Economics Program ANNUAL REPORT 2008
Business School
Economics Program
ANNUAL REPORT
2008
Economics Program
ANNUAL REPORT*
2008
Economics Program The University of Western Australia
Mailbag 251 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley WA 6009
Australia
http://www.business.uwa.edu.au
*This report was prepared by Ken Clements and Sarah Coakley, with valuable contributions from all other members of the Economics Group.
CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION......................................................................................... 2
2. STAFF MEMBERS ..................................................................................... 3
3. EXAMPLES OF RESEARCH ................................................................... 11
4. SEMINAR SERIES.................................................................................... 14
5. PUBLIC LECTURE PROGRAM ............................................................... 16
6. PHD CONFERENCE IN ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS ......................... 18
7. SEMINAR ON MINING AND ENERGY..................................................... 19
8. RESEARCH CENTRES ............................................................................ 20
9. VISITORS ................................................................................................. 22
10. RESEARCH GRANTS .............................................................................. 24
11. TEACHING ............................................................................................... 25
12. PHD STUDENTS’ TOPICS ....................................................................... 27
13. ACTIVITIES OF RECENT PHD GRADUATES......................................... 28
14. HONOURS AND MASTERS STUDENTS’ TOPICS ................................. 29
15. PUBLICATIONS BY RECENT HONOURS, MASTERS AND PHD GRADUATES ........................................................................................... 30
16. PRIZES ..................................................................................................... 31
17. VARGOVIC MEMORIAL FUND................................................................ 32
18. PUBLICATIONS BY STAFF ..................................................................... 33
19. DISCUSSION PAPERS ............................................................................ 38
20. SEMINAR AND CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS BY STAFF ............. 40
21. OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES.................................................... 43
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1. Introduction
The Economics Group at UWA is small but active and had a highly productive year in 2008. Student interest in Economics was at record levels with nearly 1,300 students enrolled in the first year unit, Microeconomics, Prices and Markets, and more than 300 in each of Quantitative Methods for Business and Economics, Microeconomics: Policy and Applications and Business Econometrics. The staff of the Economics Group have been very successful with teaching, research and service contributions. This report provides details of these and other activities. Among the many important events that took place in 2008, several are worth highlighting: • Yanrui Wu was promoted to Professorial Fellow. • Elisa Birch was awarded one of the two Inaugural Aherns Family Early
Career Researcher Awards. • David Butler was awarded the inaugural Dean’s Best Paper Prize for his
article (co-authored with Graham Loomes) “Imprecision as an Account of the Preference Reversal Phenomenon”, published in the American Economic Review.
• Elisa Birch and Ken Clements both won Faculty Teaching Awards. • Ken Clements was awarded the inaugural BHP Billiton Research Fellowship. • James Fogarty resigned to work for the consulting firm ACIL-Tasman, Jo
Voola moved from Economics to the School of Mechanical Engineering, and Glenys Walter retired after a long career as a senior administrator in Economics and elsewhere in the Business School.
Students in Economics distinguished themselves in a number of ways, and two achievements should be singled out: • Aimee Kaye, who completed Honours in 2007, was awarded the prestigious
J A Wood Memorial Prize, as well as the Best Honours Thesis Prize by the WA Branch of the Economic Society. Aimee is now working at Macquarie Bank in Sydney.
• Callum Jones completed Honours in 2008 and has won a number of important prizes. These include the J A Wood Memorial Prize, the Best Honours Thesis Prize awarded by the WA Branch of the Economic Society, the Brian Gray Honours Scholarship awarded by APRA, the BHP Billiton Honours Prize, and was the winner of the Reserve Bank of Australia Essay Competition, as well as the Mannkal ECOMS Essay Competition. Callum is currently undertaking further studies at UWA.
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2. Staff Members
PROFESSORS K.W. Clements BEc-Hons MEc (Monash), PhD (Chicago), FASSA
Professor Clements is a generalist economist with interests in international finance, monetary economics, index numbers and the economics of drugs. His research has been supported by a series of grants from the Australian Research Council and he has published recently in journals such as the Journal of Business, Journal of International Money and Finance, Economics Letters and International Statistical Review. He is on the Editorial Boards of Resources Policy, Economic Papers and the Australasian Journal of Economics Education. In 2008 he received a UWA Award for Excellence in Teaching (Postgraduate Supervision). He currently holds a BHP Billiton Research Fellowship.
P.W. Miller BEc (New England), MEc PhD (ANU), FASSA Professor Miller’s primary research interest is labour market performance, particularly as it relates to educational attainment, gender and ethnic and racial origin. He has published extensively in both Australian and overseas journals, including Economic Record, American Economic Review, Canadian Journal of Economics, Economic Journal, Economica, Journal of Human Resources, Journal of Labor Economics and Industrial and Labor Relations Review. His recent research includes “The Return to Schooling: Estimates from a sample of young Australian twins” (with Nick Martin and Charles Mulvey), which was published in a 2006 issue of Labour Economics, and The Economics of Language: International Analyses (with Barry R. Chiswick), which was published by Routledge in 2007. Professor Miller is currently an Australian Professorial Fellow. He is also the editor of the Economic Record.
D.A. Turkington BA (Wellington), MCom (Canterbury), MA PhD (Berkeley), FASSA Professor Turkington specialises in theoretical econometrics. He has published in Journal of Econometrics, Journal of the American Statistical Association and International Economic Review, and is the co-author (with R. Bowden) of the Econometric Society Monograph, Instrumental Variables. Professor Turkington’s current research focuses on the application of matrix calculus to econometric models. He has written a book on this topic: Matrix Calculus and Zero-One Matrices: Statistical and econometric applications, published by Cambridge University Press. His most recent book is Mathematical Tools for Economics, published by Blackwell Publishing.
PROFESSORIAL FELLOW Y. Wu BS (Anhui), MA (Nankai), MA (ANU), PhD (Adel.)
Professor Wu is an economist specialising in development economics and applied econometrics. His research interests are the Chinese and Asian economies, economic growth and productivity analysis. He has published
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extensively in these fields. He is the author of Productive Performance in Chinese Enterprises (Macmillan, 1996), China’s Consumer Revolution (Edward Elgar, 1999), The Macroeconomics of East Asian Growth (Edward Elgar, 2002) and China’s Economic Growth (Curzon, 2004). Professor Wu is on the editorial board of China Economic Review (North-Holland) and Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies (Routledge). He is also the General Editor of Advances in Chinese Economic Studies Series (Edward Elgar). His teaching interests include econometrics, international economics and development economics.
ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS N. Groenewold BEc MEc (Tasmania), MA PhD (Western Ontario)
Associate Professor Groenewold teaches in macroeconomics and international finance. His research interests include theoretical and applied macroeconomics, regional economics and financial economics. He has published in a number of journals including Journal of Macroeconomics, North-American Journal of Economics and Finance, Australian Journal of Labour Economics, China Economic Review, Pacific Economic Review, Journal of Empirical Finance, Journal of Economics and Business, Review of Regional Studies, and Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance. He is currently working on a project on finance and growth with researchers at Hunan University.
SENIOR LECTURERS D.J. Butler BA MSc (York), PhD (W.Aust.)
Dr Butler’s research interests focus on the application of experimental methods to the economic theory of individual choice and game theory. In particular he studies competing explanations for observed violations of expected utility theory and other choice theories, as well as the role of motivations such as reciprocity in behavioural game theory. Dr Butler has published in journals such as the American Economic Review, Economics Letters, Acta Psychologica, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Manchester School and Journal of Behavioral Decision Making. He spent 2002 to 2004 as Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics, University of Arizona.
P. Crompton BBus-Hons (Curtin), PhD (W.Aust.)
Dr Crompton’s research interests include the econometric modelling of commodity markets, the relationship between metals demand and economic activity, and the world iron ore, steel and coal industries. He has published in Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Agricultural and Resources Quarterly, Resources Policy, Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Statistics and Applied Economics Letters. Dr Crompton has edited a book of Shann Memorial Lectures, Australian Macroeconomic Policy Debates: Contributions from the Shann Memorial Lectures (UWA Press). He is also principal author of Macroeconomics: A contemporary introduction (third edition). He also regularly works as a consultant to several of Australia’s largest mining companies and is
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currently an examiner on the Tertiary Entrance Examination Panel for Economics.
A.T. Le BBus (Curtin), MEc PhD (W.Aust.) Dr Le’s research interests include labour market outcomes of female migrants, educational attainment, unemployment, self-employment and labour market activities of ex-offenders. She has published in a range of journals, such as Industrial & Labor Relations Review, Applied Economics, Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Economics of Education Review, Education Economics, International Migration Review, International Migration, Journal of International Migration & Integration, Journal of Economic Surveys, Economic Record, Australian Economic Review and Australian Economic Papers . Her current research includes labour force status of immigrant women.
P.B. McLeod BEc PhD (Adel.)
Dr McLeod teaches in the area of microeconomics, including microeconomic theory, resource economics and public policy economics. His research interests cover various areas of applied microeconomics, including transport, housing, valuation and management of natural resources, production functions and productivity measurement, and competition policy. He has published articles in International Journal of Transport Economics, Transportation Research, Urban Studies, Environment and Planning, Journal of Economic Psychology, People and the Physical Environment, Accounting and Finance, International Journal of Public Sector Management, Annals of Tourism Research, Journal of Environmental Management and Australian Transport Research Forum. Dr McLeod has acted as a consultant to several government departments and private firms, and has served on a number of Government Committees of Inquiry.
M.T. McLure BA (Murd.), Grad DipEd (WAIT), MEc (W.Aust.), PhD (Curtin) Dr McLure’s research primarily focuses on the history of economic ideas,
with special reference to Italian contributions to economic theory. His current long-term research program is a comparative intellectual history of the second generation leaders from the Cambridge and Lausanne traditions in economics. Dr McLure is the joint editor of the History of Economics Review, the author of two books, Pareto, Economics and Society and The Paretian School and Italian Fiscal Sociology, and his research has been published in Australian Economic Papers, the Cambridge Journal of Economics, the European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, the Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Pensiero Economico Italiano and the Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Economiche and Commerciali. He has also co-edited three multivolume collections in the Critical Assessments of Leading Economists series published by Routledge: Vilfredo Pareto (4 vols); Wassily Leontief (3 vols); and Paul A. Samuelson (3 Vols). Prior to joining UWA, Dr McLure prepared policy advice for the State Government as a Treasury officer.
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M.A.B. Siddique BA-Hons MA MPhil (Rajshahi), DipResMeth (Dhaka), DipResRurDev (Hawaii), PhD (W.Aust.) Dr Siddique is a development economist. His research focus centres around some of the critical areas in contemporary development economics such as environment, corruption, good governance and international migration, with special focus on the Asia-Pacific region. He has published in international journals such as Environment International, Mathematics and Computers in Simulation, International Journal of Social Economics, South Asia, The Asia Pacific Economic Journal and Empirical Economics Letters. He has authored and edited numerous books including International Migration into the 21st Century: Essays in Honour of Reginald Appleyard, (Edward Elgar), Regionalism, Trade and Economic Development in the Asia-Pacific Region (Edward Elgar), Handbook of Sustainable Development Planning: Studies in modelling and decision support (Edward Elgar) and Tourism and Economic Development (Ashgate). Dr Siddique is the Director of the Trade, Migration and Development Research Centre and Chair of the Economics Discipline at the University of Western Australia.
E.J. Weber Lic oec publ (Zurich), MA PhD (Rochester) Dr Weber’s fields of specialisation are macroeconomics and monetary history. His publications have appeared in Australian and international professional journals, including History of Economics Review, Journal of Australian Political Economy, Explorations in Economic History, Economics Letters, Applied Economics, Applied Financial Economics, Kyklos, Journal of Economic Surveys, Energy Economics and Resources Policy, among others. He wrote an entry on ‘Switzerland Before 1815’ for the Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History, and contributed chapters to books on the history of derivative security markets, the role of gold in the monetary system, and the issue of private bank notes before the emergence of central banking. Dr Weber’s current research includes discussion papers on the history of bimetallism, the role of the real interest rate in U.S. macroeconomic history, and labour taxes and work hours in Australia.
LECTURERS E.R. Birch BCom-Hons (Curtin), PhD (W.Aust.)
Dr Birch joined the Economics Program in 2007. Her research has been published in journals such as the Economic Record, Australian Economic Papers, Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, Australian Journal of Labour Economics and the Journal of Economic Studies. Her main research interests are labour economics and the economics of education. She completed her PhD, entitled The Determinants of Labour Supply and Fertility Behaviour: A study of Australian women, in April 2005. In 2006, Dr Birch, together with Paul Miller and Anh Tram Le, was awarded an ARC Discovery Project grant to research households’ allocation of time. This research is to be published in a book entitled Teamwork and Gender at Home (Palgrave McMillan Publishing).
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S.H.K. Tang BA (Lethbridge), MA (Simon Fraser), PhD (Tasmania) Dr Tang’s main research interests are empirical growth models and development economics, particularly relating to the volatility of the growth rate, technical change and financial development in developing countries. His papers have been published in a range of international journals such as China Economic Review, Economic Inquiry, Economics Letters, Journal of Asian Economics, Journal of Economics, and Pacific Economic Review. He also has two book chapters and is the author of the book, The Chinese Stock Market: Efficiency, predictability and profitability (with N. Groenewold, Y. Wu and X. Fan), which was published by Edward Elgar.
D.T. Tran BAE-Hons (UNE), PhD (Duke) Dr Tran started working at UWA from July, 2007 after graduating from the PhD program in economics at Duke University in May, 2007. His research interests include financial econometrics and empirical finance. Currently, he is working on stochastic volatility models applied to high frequency financial data and the relationship between volatility with other variables of trading activity.
J.R. Voola BEc-Hons (Murd.), GradDipBus MCom PhD (Curtin) Dr Voola joined the Program at the beginning of 2003. Her principal interests are empirical industrial organisation and business economics. She has particular interest in the petroleum and pharmaceutical industries as well as innovation and technological issues. She is particularly interested in the role of abatement technology in addressing climate change issues.
A. Williams, BEc-Hons (W.Aust.), PhD (W.Aust.).
Dr Williams’ teaching is focused in the core first-year microeconomic theory course, as well as modern British economic history. In 2006 he completed his PhD thesis on the links of the long-run relationship between governance and economic growth, and has had papers published in the Economics of Governance and the Journal of Development Economics.
ASSOCIATE LECTURERS I. Kristoffersen B.Bus-Hons, M.Bus (Edith Cowan U.)
Ms Kristoffersen commenced her employment at UWA in January 2005. She has been involved in teaching first-year Microeconomics and Macroeconomics, as well as second-year Macroeconomics and International Finance. Her earlier papers have been published in the International Journal of Business Studies and the Australian Accounting Review. Her research interests have until recently concerned the relationship between corporate social responsibility and firms’ financial performance. Inga was awarded an Excellence in Teaching Award in 2008 in the category of Early Career Teacher. She is currently exploring the role of happiness research in economics as the basis for a PhD.
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I. Li BEc – Hons (W. Aust) Mr Ian Li started tutoring in 2007, while undertaking his honours year. He began his current position in 2008, and has been involved in teaching first -and second-year Microeconomics, as well as first-, second- and third-year Macroeconomics. His research interests are in the area of labour and education economics. He has published in the Australian Economic Review, and will commence his PhD program in 2009.
P. Metaxas BEc (W.Aust) completed the BEc at UWA in 2007 and worked for
Economics as a Level A appointee in 2008. D. Vo BEc-Hons (VNU, Vietnam), MEconSt. (UQ), PhD (W.Aust.)
Dr Vo’s teaching is focused in the second-year international finance and the core first-year quantitative methods for business and economics courses. He began his position at UWA in 2007. In 2008, he completed his PhD thesis on the economics of measuring fiscal decentralisation, and has had papers published in the Journal of Public Economics and Finance (Italy) and accepted for publication in the Journal of Economic Surveys (UK). Dr Vo is currently working as a Senior Project Officer at The Economic Regulation Authority, Western Australia.
HONORARY RESEARCH FELLOWS M.J. Davies BA (Kent), MA (Adel.)
Mr Davies’ major research interests are associated with the history of Australian mining. He has been Secretary/Treasurer of the Australian Mining History Association since 1994, and is Secretary of the International Mining History Congress. He has a number of publications that include papers in Australian Economic History Review, Comparative Studies in Society and History, Australian Historical Studies, Cornish Studies, The Great Circle, Journal of Australasian Mining History and the Journal of the Historical Society of South Australia. He has chapters in a number of books and has compiled a bibliography of the Mining History of Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. For the past five years he has been editor of the Journal of Australasian Mining History.
HONORARY SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOWS R. Gabbay BSc MA (Tel Aviv), DrPolSc (Geneva)
Dr Gabbay specialises in contemporary Middle Eastern issues, energy and oil (with special emphasis on OPEC), development economics, tourism in Indian Ocean island states, and the role of culture in international marketing. He has published eighteen books and over 76 articles and monographs. Dr Gabbay is now working on his sixth volume of Australia and the Middle East 1945-2000: A socio-economic and political study. Dr Gabbay’s latest co-edited books are International Business and Cross Cultural Marketing: Contemporary research in selected countries, Academic Press International (API), 2004; Gabbay, R. Ogunmokun, G and Janelle, R (eds.), Business Across Borders in the 21st Century, Vol. 2 Academy of World Business, Marketing and Management Development and Pole Universitaire Leonard de Vinci, Paris, 2006, and Managing and
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Marketing Organizations in an Era of Global Complexity, Vol.3, Academy of World Business, Marketing and Management Development, 2008, Gabbay, R. Ogunmokun, G and Janelle, R (eds.).
R.N. Ghosh MA (Delhi), PhD (Birmingham)
Dr Ghosh retired from the Economics Program in 1994, when he was appointed as Senior Honorary Research Fellow. He is a specialist in the history of economic thought. In recent years he has also published on topics relating to a wide range of development issues, such as good governance, corruption, gender issues, the environment, and the role of tourism in initiating development in LDCs. Dr Ghosh is the current chairman of the International Institute of Development Studies Australia. He is also Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed journal The Atlantic Journal of Development Studies (AJDS), published from New Delhi. He has recently published with Atlantic Publishers and Distributors, a South Asian edition of Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations.
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OTHER ACADEMIC STAFF The Economics Program has benefited from the teaching assistance of the following: Mohammed bin Rahmat Gariet Chow Liam Connolly Ben Davis Megan Garner Brian Gidney Kieran Gray Abdul Hakim David Halperin Daisy Han Jennifer Hughes Callum Jones Raza Khan
Jakub Kielbasa Alexandra Kofanova Kevin Lane Jennifer Lee Ian Li Shanaeya Mehta Stefan Mero Phillip Metaxas Udita Mittal Simon Mongey Pranushka Naidoo Rebecca Petchy Junxiang Pong
John Roberts Liz See David Shackles Nicholas (Yew Keong) Sin Ashley (Yee Horng) Tan Clarence (Hong Hao) Tan Alex Tharby Rahima Velagic Duc Vo Michael (Chee Kong) Wong Connie (Yun Chi) Wu Ghialy Yap Nina Yiannopolous
In addition, the following individuals have acted as Research and/or Administration Assistants to members of staff: Mei-Hsiu Chen Tsun Se Cheong Xing Gao Mei Han
Callum Jones Kevin Lane Ian Li Simon Mongey
Jiawei Si Rahima Velagic Michael (Chee Kong) Wong
GENERAL STAFF The Economics Program has also benefited from the assistance of a small, highly professional administrative group: Team Manager: Glenys Walter Administration Officer: Helen Reidy Administrative Assistants: Sarah Coakley Aya Kelly Helen Stephanou Paula Thien Research Assistant: Rahima Velagic Graduate Research Assistant: Derby Voon
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3. Examples of Research
The outstanding research record of the Economics Program can be illustrated by various indicators. One of these is cross-group ranking. The Economics Program has been consistently ranked as one of the most productive groups in Australian universities on a per capita basis. While the Program is relatively small in terms of the number of academic staff, it has nevertheless managed to successfully achieve both specialisation and diversification of research expertise. Areas of specialty possessed by Program staff range widely from microeconomics to macroeconomics, from pure theory to applied economics, and from economic history and thought to econometrics. To provide a feel for the type of research carried out in the Economics Program, the following describes three recent projects. Other sections of this report give information on research in the form of publications, grants, thesis topics, etc. WHY ARE POOR COUNTRIES MORE VUNERABLE TO INTERNATIONAL SHOCKS? (A/Prof NIC GROENEWOLD and DR SAM TANG) One of the enduring issues in macroeconomics is to explain the extent of economic fluctuations associated with the business cycle. In particular, why do some countries, usually the low-income developing countries, suffer so much more macroeconomic volatility than other countries, usually the high-income developed countries? In an article entitled “The link between institutions, technical change and macroeconomic volatility”, published in The Journal of Macroeconomics in 2008, Sam Tang, Nic Groenewold and Charles Leung tackle this question by examining the roles played by technological progress and institutions in influencing macroeconomic volatility. Tang, et al., show that, over the past 40 years, the low-income developing world consistently experienced macroeconomic volatility that is roughly three to four times that of high-income, developed countries. They hypothesize that the main source of this high macroeconomic volatility lies in weak institutions, such as little protection of property rights, high levels of corruption, or few constraints on executive power. Their theory is that institutional weaknesses increase uncertainty and undermine the incentives for the accumulation of both physical and human capital which, in turn, lead to a reduction in a society’s capacity for innovative activities and technological progress. Countries with little technological know-how tend to be heavily dependent on a single sector, or even a single commodity, since they lack the ability to produce a variety of high value-added products. This makes them more vulnerable to external shocks such as a deterioration of the terms of trade so that, in general, they suffer greater macroeconomic volatility. Extensive econometric analysis of a data set spanning 116 countries for the period 1970 to 2000 yielded convincing and robust evidence to support their theory.
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HAS CHINA INVESTED TOO MUCH? (Prof YANRUI WU) Less-developed economies have often been hampered by the shortage of funds during the course of economic development. China, however, seems to be an exception. Within three decades, China has accumulated the largest foreign reserve in the world, and undertaken many ambitious capital-intensive projects such as the Three Gorges Dam (at a cost of about US$200 billion), the Hangzhou Bay Bridge (about 36km across the sea) and the extravagant Beijing Olympic Games. The appearance of many new highways and buildings across the nation gives the impression that the country is flooded with money. This is also reflected in China’s statistics which show that the country has, for years, been the largest recipient of foreign direct investment and maintained one of the highest investment ratios in the world. As a result, it is questioned whether capital has been used efficiently in China, and what factors are driving the efficiency differences in Chinese regions. Yanrui Wu’s recent research sheds some light on those questions. He first estimated China’s capital stock (by region and by sector) and then examined regional capital efficiency and its determinants. His findings demonstrate that there is considerable scope for improvement in the performance of capital in China. He also argued that several factors are responsible for the regional disparity in capital performance. In particular, infrastructure development, economic reform and participation of foreign investment have positively affected the performance of capital. Thus, improvement in these areas has the potential to narrow the efficiency gap among the Chinese regions, especially between the country’s coastal and western areas. THE RICH HISTORY OF ECONOMICS AT UWA (A/Prof MICHAEL McLURE) Michael McLure has been investigating the history of the teaching of economics at UWA, yielding some details regarding the important contributions of Merab Harris. Merab Harris (1900–1985) was a correspondence tutor in political and constitutional history at UWA between 1928 and 1930. As a junior colleague of Edward Shann she taught, amongst others, Nugget Coombs, who has indicated that she was a good teacher. At the suggestion of Shann, Harris completed a Master of Arts thesis in 1931 entitled A Maker of Western Australia: Charles Yelverton O’Connor, engineer and economist, under the supervision of Shann and Fred Alexander. Alexander commented that Harris’ thesis ‘was the ablest piece of original research that I have yet been called upon to examine’. In her obituary for Harris, Caroline Pummer reported that Shann characterised Coombs and Harris as ‘my two best pupils hitherto’. Harris won a Hackett Travelling Scholarship in 1930 and took the opportunity to study at London University where, under the supervision of John Coatman, she successfully completed a PhD thesis on British Migration to Western Australia, 1829–1850. She returned to Western Australia in 1934 and, for the next four years, worked as tutor and/or part-time lecturer in a number of education institutions, including the Education Department, UWA, and the Teachers’ Training College.
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Shann, Harris’ mentor, formally left UWA in 1934 and was succeeded by Alan Fisher in 1936, whose appointment lasted only two years. Between 1938 and 1941, when Frank Mauldon replaced Fisher as Professor of Economics, Harris played a role in holding the economics programme together. In the third term of 1938 she worked as a full-time lecturer and, from 1939, was granted leave from the Education Department to take up appointment as ‘temporary’ lecturer-in-charge of the Department of Economics. Harris’ position at the University became permanent (with appointments as ‘assistant lecturer’ in economics in 1941, ‘lecturer’ in 1947 and ‘senior lecturer’ in 1950). Later in her career, she was appointed to the editorial advisory board of Business Archives and History. Unfortunately, there is very limited information available from which a sound assessment of Harris’ approach to the history of economic thought can be made, although glimpses and hints can be gleaned from the recollections of some of Harris’ former students from the late 1950s and early 1960s. One such student, Reginald Appleyard (Professor Emeritus, UWA), recalls Harris as a ‘dour’ teacher, although outside class she was a pleasant and friendly person. This view was endorsed by another ex-student, Selwyn Cornish (Australian National University), although he also remembers her with much affection, especially because she mentored his academic activities so effectively, both within the classroom and as her part-time research assistant during two summer vacations. Neil De Marchi (Duke University) recalls Harris’ lectures as unexciting and obscure, lacking in topical or problem-based foundation, and depending significantly on the piles of old texts that she read to class. While certain that his own passion for HET had nothing to do with what Harris actually taught, De Marchi nevertheless speculated that the source of this passion may actually be related to Harris’ ‘clear love of old text’.
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4. Seminar Series
In 2008, 26 speakers presented their research findings in the Economics Program Seminar Series, organised by David Butler, Paul Crompton, Anh Tram Le and Inga Kristoffersen. Below is a list of speakers and their topics.
Date Speaker Title 29 February Professor Derek H. Aldcroft
University of Leicester African Nemesis: Why Africa Failed
7 March Professor Curtin Eaton University of Calgary
Existence advertising, price competition, and asymmetric market structure
14 March Professor Bob Rothschild University of Lancaster
Punishment paths and cartel size
28 March Dr Nisvan Erkal University of Melbourne
Scarcity of Ideas and Options to Invest in R&D
4 April
Professor Ken Clements UWA
The big mac index 21 years on: an evaluation of burgernomics
11 April Dr Greg Smith Curtin University of Technology
Economic theory, the competitive labour market and the role of the trade union
18 April Professor Jacques Percebois University of Montpelier
European markets for Natural gas
2 May Dr David Butler UWA
Imprecision as an Account of Violations of Independence
9 May Dr Steven Schilizzi UWA
Are quantity-based auctions more resistant to bidder learning than price-based auctions?
16 May Professor Tim Coelli University of Queensland
Social protection performance in the European Union: Comparison and convergence
23 May A/Prof Greg Castello Curtin University and A/Prof Greg Schwann University of Melbourne
Liquidity in housing markets –market momentum and market reversion
30 May Professor Kostas Mavromaras University of Melbourne
The effects of health and health shocks on hours worked
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6 June Mr Adham Al Said UWA
Monetary and Macroeconomic Developments in the GCC
1 August Professor David Pannell UWA
Selection of efficient policy mechanisms to manage externalities
8 August Mr Callum Jones UWA
Measuring West Australian house prices: Methods and implications
15 August Dr Juerg Weber UWA
A short history of derivative security markets
22 August Professor Tony Makin Griffith University
External account determination: Some new perspectives
29 August Paul McLeod UWA
A review and impact assessment of ACIAR's fruit-fly research partnerships - 1984 to 2007
5 September Dr Chika Yamauchi Australian National University
The availability of child care and maternal labour supply: Evidence from Australian longitudinal data
12 September Dr Ralph Bayer The University of Adelaide & University of Leicester
Homo Sapiens Meets Homo Strategicus at the Laboratory
26 September Dr David Evans University of Sussex
Shallow and deep integration: Examples from the application of the Sussex framework
3 October Professor Stan Metcalfe University of Manchester
Broken threads: Evolutionary economics between Marshall and Hayek
17 October Dr Andrew Williams UWA
What explains the natural resource curse?
24 October A/Professor Lisa Magnani University of New South Wales
Hours constraints and training for older workers: A comparison between Australia and Canada using Matched Employer-Employee Surveys
31 October Dr Liam Lenton La Trobe University
Determining an optimal possible bonus point system for the Australian Football League
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5. Public Lecture Program
The Economics Program presented two major public lectures during the academic year: the 2008 Shann Memorial Lecture and the Bateman Memorial Lecture. The first Shann Memorial Lecture was presented in 1961, and since then the Lecture has earned an enviable reputation for a high standard of scholarship, with the annual address making a substantial contribution to economic debate both inside and outside Western Australia. In addition to the public lectures, the Economics Teachers’ Seminar, first organised in 1994, has proved to be very successful. Details on the lecture program in 2008 are provided below. THE SHANN MEMORIAL LECTURE The annual Shann Memorial Lecture is held in memory of the Foundation Professor of Economics at the University of Western Australia, Edward Shann. The lecture is organised jointly by the UWA Business School and the West Australian Branch of the Economic Society of Australia. Professor Edward Shann was born in Hobart in 1884, coming to Perth in 1913 at the establishment of the University. He was Professor of History and Economics for over two decades before moving to the University of Adelaide in 1935. Past lecturers who have presented at the Shann Memorial Lecture include the 1972 Nobel Prize Winner for Economic Sciences, Professor Sir John Hicks, the former Reserve Bank of Australia Chairman, Ian Macfarlane, the former chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Allan Fels, and Professor Warwick McKibbin, a leading world expert on greenhouse gas emission trading schemes and carbon taxes. The 2008 Shann Memorial Lecturer was Lieutenant-General John Sanderson, who spoke about the situation of indigenous people in Western Australia. After having served as Governor of Western Australia from 2000 to 2005, Lieutenant-General Sanderson became the Special Advisor to the Government of Western Australia on Indigenous Affairs. His Lecture attracted a large audience that included many indigenous Australians. The Lecturer pointed out that the lack of an appropriate philosophical framework which values Aboriginal culture has led to an incoherent mix of crisis management and wishful thinking in Indigenous Affairs. He believes that the Apology to the Stolen Generations, which the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd gave on behalf of the Government and Parliament in 2008, may provide the starting point for a new philosophical framework for the relations between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians and the engagement of public and private agencies with the Aboriginal people. He deplored the demise of the Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander Commission in 2004 which - for all its flaws - had provided a conduit for a regional voice and a vehicle to negotiate a regional future from an Aboriginal perspective. The main conclusion of the Lecture was that progress can only be achieved on a regional basis because work and
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employment for Aboriginal people “needs to be generated from deep within the cultural foundations of communities.” The 2008 Shann Memorial Lecture is available from the office of the Economics Program at the UWA Business School. Earlier Lectures, including a Lecture on the Life of Edward Shann, were published in two edited volumes: Siddique, M.A.B. (ed.) A Decade of Shann Memorial Lectures, 1981-90. Academic Press International, 1993. Crompton, P. (ed.) Australian Macroeconomic Policy Debate: Contributions from the Shann Memorial Lectures, 1991-2000, University of Western Australia Press, 2004.
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6. PhD Conference in Economics and Business
The 2008 annual PhD Conference in Economics and Business was held at the Australian National University on Thursday and Friday, 20 and 21 November. This joint venture was organised by UWA, the ANU and the Queensland University of Technology. The Conference was co-convened by Geoff Brennan (ANU), Bob Gregory (ANU) and Paul Frijters (Queensland University of Technology), was organized by Lesley Elliot from the ANU, and was officially opened by Bob Gregory on Thursday morning. Students from across Australia attended, with 13 Australian universities represented, together with one student each from the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Papers presented ranged over pure economic theory, applied economics and finance. Themes included environmental economics, labour economics, accounting, sports betting, stock returns, market structure and health economics.The invited lecture was presented by Professor Warwick McKibbon of ANU who gave an engaging and timely lecture on the ‘Design of Emission Trading Systems’ Each doctoral presenter was assigned an academic discussant who had prepared a critical assessment of the student’s paper prior to the Conference and presented that assessment immediately following the student’s presentation. Discussants were drawn from Universities around Australia along with representatives from the Reserve Bank and the Commonwealth Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. There were 29 student presenters as well as 29 discussants. The traditional Conference dinner was held at Watersedge Restaurant, with pre-dinner drinks hosted by the Productivity Commission. A long lunch at Fellows’ Garden, University House at the ANU, followed the final presentations on the Friday morning. Following lunch, Bruce Chapman (ANU) closed the Conference and presided over the presentation of awards. The award for Best Student presentation, this year sponsored by The Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism, was won by Nicholas Rohde from the University of Queensland for his paper “Three Techniques for the Study of Inequality”. The runner up was Sylwia Nowak from ANU for her paper “How do Public Announcements Affect the Frequency of Trading in US Airline Stocks”. Ken Clements of UWA was awarded the prize for Best Discussant. The PhD Conference series was first convened in 1987 at UWA. Since then, 21 conferences have been convened, with the venues alternating annually between UWA and the ANU. Like the first Conference, the purpose of the 21st Conference remained the enhancement of research training in economics and business. The 22nd Annual PhD Conference will be held at UWA from 4-6 November 2009. The conference is to be convened by Ken Clements (UWA) and is being organised by Sandra Pollock.
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7. Seminar on Mining and Energy
The Seminar on Mining and Energy was convened at the University Club, The University of Western Australia, on 27 June 2008. The half-day-long seminar was coordinated by Mei Han of the UWA Business School and chaired by Dr David Butler, also of the UWA Business School. Dr Paul Crompton of the UWA Business School presented a joint paper with Professor Tim Coelli of the University of Queensland on “Regional Variation in Global Iron Making Costs”. Their reported finding is that “it is primarily conversion costs that account for much of the global variation in pig iron production costs”. A future suggested area of research is to investigate individual plant efficiencies and how these affect production costs. Associate Professor Ann Tarca of the UWA Business School presented a joint paper with Associate Professor Robert Durand, also of the UWA Business School, titled “An Investigation of the Usefulness of Accounting Data in Extractive Industry Operations”. Using market data and information about extractive industry firms’ (specific) assets, liabilities, revenue and profit, they find specific tangible extractive industry assets are value-relevant while intangible assets are periodically relevant. Professor Raymond da Silva Rosa of the UWA Business School presented a paper reporting joint research with Professor Izan Izan, Deputy Dean of the UWA Business School titled “An Analysis of the Impact of Corporate Governance Compliance on Mining IPOs”. Da Silva Rosa and Izan find no association between corporate governance compliance and IPO underpricing or subsequent share performance. This was attributed to the inability to account for the important intangible aspects of corporate governance such as directors’ reputation. Professor Yanrui Wu of the UWA Business School presented his paper on “Cross-country Comparisons of Energy and Emissions Intensities: Implications for China and India”. Wu raised the possibility of China and India in the future ‘tunnelling’ beneath the Korean and Japanese paths of energy intensity. Professor Ken Clements of the UWA Business School concluded the seminar with his presentation of the paper “The BMI, Exchange Rates and Fundamentals”, part of joint research with Dr Yihui Lan of the UWA Business School. They show the Big Mac Index (BMI), published by The Economist, is a biased predictor of currency movements but, when the bias is accounted for, the BMI has reasonable predictive power. There is a suggestion, over the past two years, that this bias is vanishing in accord with the depreciation of the United States dollar.
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8. Research Centres
There are two research centres attached to the Economics Program. They are the Trade, Migration and Development Research Centre and the Centre for Labour Market Research. Each of these Centres has been instrumental in raising the national and international profiles of the Program. This has been achieved through the organisation of seminars and conferences, through the research conducted, and through the visitors attracted to the Centres. The major activities of each Centre are described below. TRADE, MIGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH CENTRE The Trade, Migration and Development Research Centre (TMDRC) is a research centre located within the UWA School of Economics and Commerce. It was established in 1987 with the twin objectives of (i) promoting advanced research in trade, tourism, migration, globalisation and economic development, emphasising both theoretical aspects and the application of results for policy purposes; and (ii) enhancing collaborative and interdisciplinary research activities with local, national and international organisations and colleagues. In recent years, funded by various organisations, the TMDRC completed a number of research projects including (i) Development Strategies in the ASEAN Transitional Economies; (ii) Globalisation and Economic Development; (iii) Poverty and Income Distribution in Bangladesh: Issues and debates; (iv) The Economics and Politics of Illegal Immigration in Australia; (v) Shortages of Highly Skilled Workers in Australia and Policy Responses; and (vi) Women in Migration and Development. The TMDRC is also an important forum for debates and professional discussions on development-related issues. Through its seminars and conferences on contemporary and topical issues, the TMDRC brings together scholars of national and international eminence and also business leaders, senior public servants and policymakers from relevant areas and thus provides them with a forum for broad intellectual interaction. In the process, the Centre acts as a catalyst for contribution to debates that have major implications for policymaking. For example, during this year, and in collaboration with the Institute of Public Administration, WA Division, the Centre organised a breakfast and half-day seminar on “The Future of Corporate Governance in the Public Sector” with the Chief Justice of Western Australia, Wayne Martin, as the keynote speaker. Details of key researchers and research activities of the TMDRC are available at: http://www.business.uwa.edu.au/research/centres#migration.
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CENTRE FOR LABOUR MARKET RESEARCH The Centre for Labour Market Research (CLMR) is a consortium of Murdoch University, The University of Western Australia, Canberra University, and Curtin University of Technology. It has been operating since 1985. In April 2007 the Centre shifted from UWA to Curtin University, with Professor Thorsten Stromback of Curtin University as Director. The Centre has 20 Research Associates who hold academic positions at the four CLMR universities, and other national universities, in disciplines including economics, education, psychology, management and industrial relations. From its inception, the Centre has been a highly-regarded and nationally-recognised research organisation with an enviable record of contract research and publication in all aspects of labour market and education research. The Centre organized the December, 2008, Australian Labour Market Workshop which was held in partnership with the Law, Employment and Work Conference and hosted by the Victoria University of Wellington. This was the first time that the conference was held outside Australia. During 2008, the Centre published four issues of the Australian Journal of Labour Economics, the editorship of which changed from Paul Flatau to Boyd Hunter during the course of the year.
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9. Visitors
The Economics Program was pleased to welcome four official visitors during 2008. During their visits, they presented seminars and collaborated with members of the Program on research. Details on each visitor are provided below. Professor Patricia Fraser is the Aberdeen Asset Management (AAM)
Professor of Finance and Investment Management at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, a position she has held since 1995. She has previously taught at the University of Dundee and the University of Stirling. Professor Fraser has been a regular visitor to UWA, with numerous visits since 1997 to undertake joint research with Associate Professor Nic Groenewold. Many of their published papers have focused on aspects of the behaviour of asset prices and their interaction with macroeconomic forces. She visited Perth from late October until early December, spending time at UWA and Curtin University. She worked with Nic Groenewold (UWA) and Greg Costello (Curtin) on a project decomposing house price changes into permanent and temporary components using a model of asset prices previously developed with Nic Groenewold and applied to share prices.
Mr Li Guanzheng is a PhD student in the College of Finance at Hunan
University in China. He visited UWA for the second half of 2008 on a Chinese central government scholarship, administered by the China Scholarship Council, to work with Associate Professor Nic Groenewold. They have previously worked on a project investigating the relationship between financial deregulation and economic growth in China together with other researchers at Hunan University. During his visit to UWA, Li continued work with Nic Groenewold on growth and financial liberalisation in China as well as on a project modelling bank risk.
Professor Ron Oaxaca is the McClelland Professor of Economics, Department
of Economics, at the University of Arizona. Professor Oaxaca is currently conducting research on laboratory tests of job search models and laboratory evaluation of structural econometric models of market models. He is also engaged in research on alternative decompositions of gender wage differentials as well as on using econometric models for intra-firm equity salary adjustments. Another major research area for Professor Oaxaca is on institutional and faculty responses to shifting revenue sources in higher education. Professor Oaxaca was Co-editor, Economic Inquiry, 2003 – 2007 and also Co-editor, Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Review, 1989 – 2007. He has published numerous articles, including articles in journals such as the American Economic Review, Economic Journal, International Economic Review, Economic Inquiry, Journal of Econometrics, and the Review of Economics and Statistics. His 1973 paper, entitled “Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets” in the International Economic Review (Vol. 14(3), p.693, 17 pp.) has received over 1 800
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citations. Professor Oaxaca was visiting Professor Paul Miller and Dr David Butler. He also offered research advice to existing and potential PhD students in economics at UWA.
Ms Huang Xi is a lecturer in Economics at Yunnan University of Finance and
Economics, Kunming, China. She has taught Economics for four years and has published five papers in Chinese-language journals. She visited UWA for a year from November 2007 to November 2008, on a Chinese government scholarship, to work with Associate Professor Nic Groenewold on a comparative study of Economics education between China and Australia.
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10. Research Grants
The Economics Program was highly successful in 2008 in obtaining new UWA Research Grants and continuing Australian Research Council Linkage Grants.
Recipient Project Title Amount (p.a.) Australian Research Council: Continuing Linkage and Discovery Grants Prof. P.W. Miller
Examining Overeducation and Undereducation in the Immigrant Labour Market: An international case study approach.
$175,583
Prof. P.W. Miller, Dr E. Birch and Dr A.T. Le
Wage Determination and the New Household Economics.
$80,000
Prof. K.W. Clements International Comparisons of Consumption, Incomes and Prices
$32,217
A/Prof. G. Kingston, A/Prof. H.J. Bateman, A/Prof. L.A. Fisher, Dr. S.J. Thorp and Prof. K.W. Clements
Security in Retirement: Forecasting and Managing Macro Investment Risks
$108,050
UWA Research Grants Dr E. Birch The Importance of Job Attributes in
understanding the Public-Private Sector Earnings Gap in Australia
$16,243
Dr A Williams Does Foreign Aid Make Governments Less Transparent?
$14,371
School Research Grants A/Prof. A. Siddique The Impact of Reduction in External
Debt on Economic Growth: Empirical evidence from the HIPC countries
$12,500
Other Research Grants Dr.R.Gabbay
Australia and the Middle East: A socio-economic and political study: 1945-2005
$15,000
Dr P. McLeod Socio Economic Evaluation of Ecosystem Based Fishery Management
$138,993
Dr E. Birch The Impact of Peer Assisted Study Sessions on Academic Performance
$6,133
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11. Teaching
Enrolments in several of the Economics Program’s key units remained large, with 1 298 students enrolled in Microeconomics, Prices and Markets 1101, and 721 in Macroeconomics, Money and Finance 1102. 12 other courses had enrolments in excess of 100 students, and a further four had 50 or more students. A list of units offered by the Program in 2008, together with course co-ordinators and enrolments, follows. Unit Code Unit Name Semester Co-ordinator(s) Enrolments
ECON1101 Microeconomics, Prices & Markets 1 Dr A. Williams 1 298
ECON1102 Macroeconomics, Money & Finance 2 Dr P. Crompton 721
ECON1106 Rise of Capitalist Society 1 Dr A. Williams 95
ECON1111 Quant Methods for Business & Economics 1 Dr M. McLure 387
ECON1111 Quant Methods for Business & Economics 2 Dr S. Tang 118
ECON1141 Australian Economic Foundations 1 Dr M. McLure 106
ECON2203 Asia in the World Economy 1 Dr A.T. Le 129
ECON2204 Finance and Economics for Minerals and Energy 2
Dr P. Crompton Prof. R Da Silva Rosa
A/Prof. A. Tarca 85
ECON2210 Monetary Economics 1 Prof. K. Clements 222
ECON2233 Microeconomics: Policy & Applic 1 Dr D. Butler 301
ECON2234 Macroeconomics: Policy & Applic 2 Dr S. Tang 226
ECON2235 International Trade 2 Dr A.T. Le 163
ECON2236 International Finance 1 A/Prof. N. Groenewold 284
ECON2245 Business Economics 2 Dr Elisa Birch 132
ECON2260 ASEAN Economic Development 1 Dr Abu Siddique 39
ECON2270 Middle East Economies 1 Dr Rony Gabbay 49
ECON2271 Business Econometrics 1 Prof Yanrui Wu 318
ECON2272 Mathematics for Economists 2 Dr Juerg Weber 100
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Unit Code Unit Name Semester Co-ordinator(s) Enrolments
ECON3310 History of Economic Ideas 2 Dr Michael McLure 16
ECON3350 Money, Banking, Finance Markets 2 Dr Juerg Weber 139
ECON3364 Microeconomic Theory 1 Dr Paul McLeod 62
ECON3365 Macroeconomic Theory 2 Dr Juerg Weber 57
ECON3371 Econometrics 2 Dr Duy Tran 14
ECON3372 Mathematics for Economists 1 Prof. Darrel Turkington 16
ECON7402 Microeconomic Theory 1 Prof Paul Miller Dr David Butler 11
ECON7405 Public Economics 2 Dr Paul McLeod 4
ECON7408 Topics in Econ Development 2 Dr Abu Siddique 9
ECON7413 Topics in Applied Econometrics 1 Dr Duy Tran 1
ECON7415 International Finance 2 Prof Ken Clements 36
ECON7418 Macroeconomic Theory 2 A/Prof Nic Groenewold 12
ECON7450 Topics in International Economics 1 Prof Yanrui Wu 8
ECON7470 Middle East Economies 1 Dr Rony Gabbay 9
ECON7491 Microeconomic Theory (with ECON 3364) 1 Dr Paul McLeod 6
ECON7492 Macroeconomic Theory& Application 2 Dr Juerg Weber 11
ECON7507 Topics in History Economic Ideas 1 Dr Michael McLure 3
ECON8501 Resource Economics 2 Dr Paul McLeod 6
ECON8513 Topics in Applied Econometrics 1 Dr Duy Tran 1
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12. PhD Students’ Topics
The Economics Program had 14 students enrolled in the PhD program during 2008. Details on the students, their topics and arrangements for supervision were as follows:
A. Al-Said, Economic Aspects of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s Integration, supervised by Dr M.A.B. Siddique and Professor K.W. Clements.
M. Chen, The Economics of World Commodity Prices, supervised by Professor K.W. Clements.
T.S. Cheong, Inequality in Contemporary China, supervised by Professor Y. Wu.
H. Dillon, Investing in Logistical Mining Infrastructure Within Developing Countries, supervised by Dr P. Crompton and Associate Professor R. da Silva Rosa.
D. Fu, Exporting and Productivity Growth in China, supervised by Professor Y Wu.
X. Gao, Essays in International Economic Measurement, supervised by Professor K.W. Clements.
A. Hakim, Modelling the Interactions across International Stock, Bond and Foreign Exchange Markets, supervised by Professor D. Turkington.
D. Hendrie, An Economic Evaluation of Healthway’s Sponsorship Program, supervised by Dr P. McLeod and Mr M. Knuiman (Dept. of Public Health).
I. Kristoffersen, Happiness and Economics, supervised by Professor P.W. Miller.
Syaifullah, Predicting the Economic Crisis in Indonesia supervised by Professor Y. Wu and Associate Professor N. Groenewold.
F.A.L. Tan, Inter-Sectoral Labour Mobility in Korea: Its Origins and Relationship with Unemployment, supervised by Professor P.W. Miller.
H. Wibowo, Poverty and Inequality in Indonesia, supervised by Dr M.A.B. Siddique and Professor Y. Wu.
The Economics Program was pleased to have the following students complete the PhD degree in 2008. N. Ali, Corruption and Its Impact on Economic Growth: Is East Asia special?,
supervised by Dr M.A.B Siddique and Professor Y. Wu. D. Vo, Fiscal Decentralisation and Economic Growth, supervised by Dr M.
McLure and Professor K.W. Clements.
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13. Activities of Recent PhD Graduates
One of the factors contributing to the reputation for excellence of the Economics Program is the record of its recent PhD graduates. The following provides some information on the activities and achievements of recent graduates. M. Chandra completed his PhD thesis, entitled Modelling Volatility Transmission and
Correlation Structure Across International Equity Markets, in 2006. Dr Chandra is currently an Associate Professor of Finance and is the Associate Dean, International and Commercial, at the Faculty of Business and Law at Edith Cowan University. Dr Chandra specialises in statistics, applied financial econometrics and corporate finance with research interests in conditional correlation modelling, modelling ultra-high frequency data and time-series analysis. Dr Chandra is currently collaborating with Dr Angeles Carnero of the University of Alicante (Spain) on using ultra-high frequency data to explain stock market behaviour using realized and stochastic volatility and correlation models. His work has been published in the Journal of International Finance and Economics, the Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting and the Review of Pacific Based Financial Markets and Policies.
A. Williams completed his PhD thesis, entitled The Link Between Institutional Quality and
Economic Growth: Evidence from a panel of countries, in 2007. He was promoted to Lecturer with the Economics Program and currently teaches and coordinates a diverse range of economics subjects, including the first-year Microeconomics unit and British Economic History. His research interests include the long-run determinants of economic growth, concentrating particularly on the institutional capabilities of countries.
M.C.K. Wong completed his PhD thesis, entitled Information and Communications
Technology (ICT), Productivity and Economic Growth in China, in 2007. He is currently a lecturer for Diploma of Business and Foundation Studies at the Phoenix Academy, where he delivers lectures and tutorials in Economics, Business Statistics and Mathematics. His academic research on ICT and economic growth has been published in the Wirtschafts Politische Blätter and as a chapter in "The Chinese Economy: Trade, Reforms, Corporate Governance and Regional Development".
G. Verikios completed his PhD thesis, entitled Understanding the World Wool Market:
Trade, Productivity and Grower Incomes, in 2007. He joined the consulting firm Access Economics in 2007 as a Senior Economist and became a Principal Economist in 2008. During this time he worked on a diverse range of consultancies. In late 2008 he joined the Centre of Policy Studies at Monash University as a Research Fellow. He is currently involved in a major project that develops the MONASH model for analysing health sector issues. Other current research includes the welfare effects of structural change and factor mobility, and the treatment of international capital accumulation, mobility and ownership and the effects of structural change.
D. Vo completed his PhD thesis, entitled The Economics of Measuring Fiscal
Decentralisation”, in 2008. He is currently a Senior Projects Officer at the Economic Regulation Authority, where he undertakes research into the pricing of regulated industries. His academic research on fiscal decentralisation has been published in the Rivista di Diritto Finanziario e Scienza delle Finanze and as a chapter in "The Chinese economy: Trade, Reforms, Corporate Governance and Regional Development". He also has an article forthcoming in the Journal of Economic Surveys (UK).
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14. Honours and Masters Students’ Topics
The Economics Program had 14 students enrolled in the Honours, Masters and Postgraduate Diploma programs in 2008. Details on the students, their dissertation titles and arrangements for supervision are as follows: HONOURS STUDENTS B. Davis, The Water Market: Demand side management, supervised by Ken
Clements. C. Jones, House Prices, supervised by Ken Clements. R. Petchey, Nuclear Power as a Substitute for Coal Power in Australia
supervised by Paul McLeod. E. Bensley, The effect of Terms-of-trade Shocks in Australia under Different
Exchange Rate Regimes supervised by Nic Groenewold. K. Lane, The Monetary Dynamics of Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe supervised by
Ken Clements. M.A.H. bin Rahmat, Extracting Market Expectations of Future Rate Changes
from 90-day Australian Bank Accepted Bills Futures Options to Address the Limitations of the SFE Target Rate Tracker, supervised by Juerg Weber.
M. Garner, The Demand for Perth International Arts Festival Events supervised by Paul Miller.
D.Y.H. Han, A Comparison of Fundamental and Technical Analysis in Exchange Rate Forecasting supervised by Nic Groenewold.
MASTERS STUDENTS G. Anderson, Expected and Unexpected Monetary Policy Actions and their
Impact on Stock Prices in Australia supervised by Nic Groenewold. J. Fong, Agriculture and Industrialization: A case study of Malaysia supervised
by Abu Siddique. K. Knight, Methodological Individualism in Theoretical Welfare Economics: a
Comparison of the approaches adopted by A. C. Pigou and J. R. Hicks, supervised by Michael McLure.
S. Mera, From Delhi to Canberra: Spinning the wheel of fortune supervised by Abu Siddique.
R. Priyati, Dutch Disease Economics: A case study of Indonesia, supervised by Ken Clements.
S. Tafazzoli, The Economic Impact of Joining China into Carbon Emission Trade supervised by Paul McLeod.
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15. Publications by Recent Honours, Masters and PHD Graduates
Carter, L. Labour Market Responses to the Abolition of Compulsory Superannuation, Australian Journal of Labour Economics, 8(4), December 2005, pp. 351-364.
Chan, G. (with Miller, P.W. and Tcha, M). Happiness in University Education,
International Review of Economics Education, 4(1), 2005, pp. 20-45. Chia, G. (with Miller, P.W.) Tertiary Performance, Field of Study and Graduate
Starting Salaries, Australian Economic Review, 41(1), March 2008, pp.15-31.
Fogarty, J. The Nature of the Demand for Alcohol: Understanding elasticity,
British Food Journal, 108, 2006, pp. 316-32. Knezevic, M. Estimating the Long-Term Costs of Diabetic Kidney Disease: An
economic approach, Applied Economics Letters, 2008. Lan, Y. (with Clements, K.W.) Exchange Rates, Productivity, Poverty and
Inequality, Applied Economics, 39, 2007, pp. 471-76. Soh, L. The Market for Australian Vice-Chancellors, Australian Journal of
Management, 32, 2007, pp. 29-55. Verikios, G. Understanding the World Wool Market: Trade, Productivity and
Growers’ Incomes, Australian Economic Papers, 46, 2007, pp. 88-107. Verikios, G. The Costs of Global Tariff Barriers on Wool Products: 1997–2005,
Agricultural Economics, 39, 2008, pp. 87-101. Vo, D. Fiscal Decentralisation and Economic Growth, in The Chinese Economy:
Trade, Reforms, Corporate Governance and Regional Development, edited by Yanrui Wu, 2005, Perth: University of Western Australia Press.
Voon, D. (with Miller, P.W.) Undereducated and Overeducated in the Australian
Labour Market, Economic Record, 81(Special issue), September 2005, pp. 22-23.
Win, R. (with Miller, P.W.) The Effects of Individual and School Factors on
University Students’ Academic Performance, Australian Economic Review, 38(1), March 2005, pp. 1-18.
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16. Prizes
There are a number of prizes awarded to students in Economics and the Program is very grateful to the donors. The following is a list of prizes awarded in 2008.
Prize Awarded to Australian Finance Conference Prize in Monetary Economics Monetary Economics 2210
Mr Ian Johnston
Dr Andrew M. Houston Memorial Prize in Economics Highest aggregate of marks in first year of BEc
Ms Penelope Chia
Economic Society of Australia Honours Prize Best student completing the BEc with Honours
Mr Callum Jones
Economic Society of Australia (WA Branch) Prize BEc students with Highest marks in Microeconomics 1101 & Macroeconomics1102
Mr Aaron Walker
McGraw-Hill Prize BEc student with highest marks in Microeconomics 1101 and Macroeconomics 1102
Mr Phillip Boger
Hartley Estate Prize Student with highest mark in Business Economics 2245
Mr Thomas Devitt Ms Clare Wood
Pearson Education Australia Prize in International Finance Best student in International Finance 2236
Ms Alexandra Kofanova
Pearson Education Australia Prize in International Trade Best student in International Trade 2235
Ms Rebecca Star Mr Daniel Boland
Thomson Learning Prize Highest marks in Microeconomic Theory 3364 and Macroeconomic Theory 3365
Mr Simon Edmonds
W E G Salter Memorial Prize in Economics BEc Student with highest aggregate marks in third year
Ms Sarah Zhang
Chamber of Commerce and Industry of WA Prize Highest average mark in the units comprising the final 48 points of BEc
Mr Ee Aun Tan
Convocation, UWA Graduates Association Prize in 2nd year Economics Highest aggregate mark in the most recently completed units to the value of 48 points, in second year.
Mr Oliver Gierymski
Convocation, UWA Graduates Association Prize in 3rd year Economics Highest aggregate mark in the most recently completed units to the value of 48 points, in third year.
Mr Ee Aun Tan
BHP Billiton Honours Prize Highest average mark in the honours course in UWA Business School
Mr Callum Jones
J. A. Wood Memorial Prize Most outstanding graduate of the year of those completing an honours course in UWA Business School
Mr Callum Jones
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17. Vargovic Memorial Fund
In 1956, the UWA Press published a book by Christopher A. Vargovic, entitled A Survey of Structural Changes in the Western Australian Economy: A statistical interpretation. Mr Vargovic wrote the following words in acknowledgement: “Without the financial assistance of the Research Fund of the University this study would have been impossible. I desire, therefore, to acknowledge the opportunity created in this way.” Against this background, Mr Vargovic left a generous bequest to the University to support research students in economics when he died in 1987. The interest earnings from the estate have been used over much of the past decade to assist students financially at honours, masters and PhD to complete their research by providing them with bursaries ranging from $2 000 to $6 000. The Economics Program, as well as the students involved, greatly values the generosity and foresight shown by Mr Vargovic in establishing this fund, which has had the effect of substantially boosting the Program’s ability to attract and nurture promising young researchers in economics. Mr Vargovic was born in Yugoslavia in 1920. Professor Alex Kerr, Vargovic’s mentor at UWA who is thanked very warmly in the Acknowledgements of his book, describes how he escaped from Yugoslavia after World War II by swimming across the sea to Trieste. He arrived penniless in Australia and went on to complete a BA with honours at UWA in the early 1950s (prior to the introduction of the BEc). After finishing at UWA, Mr Vargovic worked as Economic Research Officer for a number of years at the WA Employers’ Federation, which later became the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of WA. Professor Kerr says that Mr Vargovic had a successful career built on perseverance and hard work, and was very fond of the University that he felt helped establish him in Australia. The Vargovic Fund financed bursaries to the following students from 2006 to 2008:
2006 2007 2008 Grace Chia Michael Bathgate Benjamin Davis Anton Hallan Sarun Kunakool Callum Jones Owen Ho Weijie Li Megan Garner Caley Horner Emily Liang Alexandra Kofanova Giridihar Parameswaran Maxwell Maesepp Kevin Lane David Shackles Nina Yiannopolous Maxwell Maesepp Paul Wyroll Stefan Mero Cassandra Winzar
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18. Publications by Staff
During 2008, staff of the Economics Program published work in a substantial number of books, journals, and as contributions to books. A list of these publications is presented below. BOOKS AND EDITED BOOKS Gabbay, R., Ogunmokun, G. and Janelle, R. (eds.) (2008), Managing and
Marketing Organizations in an Era of Global Complexity, Vol.3, Academy of World Business, Marketing and Management Development, 2008. ISBN 978-09752-272-2-0.
Ghosh, R.N. , K. R. Gupta and P. Maiti, eds, (2008) Development Studies vol. 2,
Atlantic Publishers, New Delhi, pp. i-xiii and 1-240 Ghosh, R.N. , K. R. Gupta and P. Maiti, eds, (2008) Development Studies vol. 3,
Atlantic Publishers, New Delhi, pp. i-xii and 1-220 Groenewold, N., Chen, A., and Lee, G, (2008) Linkages between China’s
Regions: Measurement and Policy, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK, 192 pp. ISBN 978-184720-242-0
McLeod, P. and Lindner, B. (2008) A Review and Impact Assessment of
ACIAR's Fruit-fly Research Partnerships - 1984 to 2007, ACIAR Impact Assessment Series Report No. 56. 161 pp., Canberra: ACIAR. ISBN 978-192153-106-4 (print).
Wu, Y, (2008) Productivity, Efficiency and Economic Growth in China, Palgrave:
London, pp.169+x. ISBN 978-0230-202-122. CHAPTERS IN BOOKS Chiswick, B.R. and Miller, P.W. (2008) “Immigrant Enclaves, Ethnic Goods and
the Adjustment Process”, in Barkan, Elliott R., Diner, Hasia and Kraut, Alan M. (eds.) From Arrival to Incorporation: Migrants to the U.S. in a global era, New York University Press: New York, pp. 80 -93.
Crompton, P.L. and Xiarchos, I.M. (2008) “Metal Prices and the Supply of
Storage”, in Schaeffer, P. (ed) Commodity Modeling and Pricing: Methods for Analyzing Resource Market Behavior, Wiley Finance: New Jersey.
Davies, M. (2008) “Claude Albo de Bernales – ‘Wizard’ of Australia’s Golden
West” in Dumett, R. (ed) Mining Tycoons in the Age of Empire, 1870 – 1945 Entrepreneurship, High Finance, Politics and Territorial Expansion; Ashgate Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-0-7546-6303-4.
Ghosh, R.N., (2008), “Introduction” to Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations,
Atlantic Publishers, New Delhi, pp. xiii-lxiv
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McLeod, P., Nicholls, J., and Lindner, R. (2008) “Socially Optimal Allocation of Fish Resources Among Competing Uses”. In Nielsen, J. L., Dodson, J. J., Friedland, K., Hamon, T. R., Hughes, N., Musick, J., and Verspoor, E. (eds) Reconciling Fisheries with Conservation: Proceedings of the fourth world Fisheries Congress. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland. ISBN: 978-1-888569-80-3.
Weber, E.J. (2008), “The Role of the Real Interest Rate in U.S. Macroeconomic
History.” Book 3, Sixth World Congress of Cliometrics, Edinburgh, 155-165.
JOURNAL ARTICLES Birch E.R. and Miller P.W. (2008), “The Impact of Income Contingent Provisions
on Students’ Loan Taking Behaviour”, Journal of Economic Studies, Vol. 35, No. 1, pp. 4-25.
Birch E.R. and Miller P.W. (2008), “HECS: Some missing pieces”, Australian
Universities Review, Vol. 50, No.1, pp. 30-36. Chia G. and Miller P.W. (2008), “Tertiary Performance, Field of Study, and
Graduate Starting Salaries”, Australian Economic Review, Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 15-31.
Chiswick B.R and Miller P.W. (2008), “Why is the Payoff to Schooling Smaller
for Immigrants?”, Labour Economics, Vol. 15, No. 6, pp.1317-1340. Chiswick B.R. and Miller, P.W. (2008), “Modelling Immigrants’ Language Skills”,
Research in Labor Economics, Vol. 27, pp. 75-128. Chiswick B.R. and Miller P.W. (2008) “A Test of the Critical Period Hypothesis
for Language Learning”, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 16-29.
Chiswick B.R. and Miller P.W. (2008) “Occupational Attainment and Immigrant
Economic Progress in Australia”, Economic Record, Vol. 84 (Special Issue), pp.S45-S56.
Chiswick B.R., Liang L.Y. and Miller P.W. (2008) “Immigrant Selection Systems
and Immigrant Health”, Contemporary Economic Policy, Vol. 26, No. 4, pp. 555-578.
Chiswick, B.R., Le, A.T. and Miller, P.W. (2008) “How Immigrants Fare Across
the Earnings Distribution: International Analyses”, Industrial & Labor Relations Review, Vol.61, No.3, pp. 353-373.
Clements, K.W. (2008) “Price Elasticities of Demand are Minus One-Half.”
Economics Letters, Vol. 99, pp. 490-93.
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Clements, K.W. and Izan H.Y. (2008) “The Stairway to the Top: The Remuneration of Academic Executives” Australian Journal of Management, Vol. 33, pp. 1-30.
Clements, K.W. and Fry R. (2008) “Commodity Currencies and Currency
Commodities” Resources Policy, Vol. 33, pp. 55-73. Clements, K.W., Lan, Y., and Roberts J. (2008) “Exchange-Rate Economics for
the Resources Sector” Resources Policy, Vol. 33, pp.102-17. Crompton, P. (2008) “The Diffusion of New Steelmaking Technology.” Resources
Policy, Vol. 27, pp. 87-95. Crompton, P.L. and Lesourd. J.B. (2008) “Economies of Scale in Global Iron-
making”, Resources Policy, Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 74-82. Groenewold, N., Tang, S.H.K., and Wu, Y. (2008) “The Profitability of
Regression-based Trading Rules for Shanghai Stock Market”, International Review of Financial Analysis, Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 411-30.
Groenewold, N., Lee, G., and Chen, A. (2008) “Inter-Regional Spillovers in
China: The Importance of Common Shocks and the Definition of the Regions”, China Economic Review, Vol. 19. No. 1, pp. 32-52.
Groenewold, N., Peng, J., Li, G., and Fan, X. (2008) “Financial Liberalisation or
Financial Development? Tests using a delphi-based index of liberalisation for China”, International Journal of Banking and Finance, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 95-116.
Groenewold, N., and Hagger, A.J. (2008) “Regional Unemployment Disparities:
An evaluation of policy measures”, Australian Economic Papers, Vol. 47, No. 4, pp. 355-375.
Hallam A. and Weber E.J. (2008) “Labour Taxes and Work Hours in Australia”,
Australian Journal of Labour Economics, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 117-128. Kristoffersen I., Gerrans P., and Clark-Murphy M. (2008) “Corporate Social
Performance and Financial Performance”. Accounting, Accountability and Performance, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 45-88.
Le, A.T. (2008) “Location, Location, Location: Where do immigrants reside in
Australia?” Journal of International Migration & Integration, Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 345-362.
McLure, M. (2008) “The History of Economic Thought at UWA: A comparison of
1953 with 2003”, History of Economics Review, Vol. 47, pp. 72-85.
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McLure, M. (2008) “Manuale di Economia Politica, by Vilfredo Pareto edited by Aldo Monetsano, Alberto Zanni and Luigino Bruni”, Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 137-140.
McLure, M. (2008) “Considerations on the Fundamental Principles of Pure
Political Economy, by Vilfredo Pareto edited by Robert Marchionatti and Fiorenzo Mornati”, History of Economics Review, Vol. 47, pp. 155-158.
McLure, M. (2008) “Dibattito fra Economisti Italiani di Fine Ottocento, by Italo
Magnani”, History of Economics Review,Vol. 48, pp. 119-121. McLure, M. (2008) “Royalties for Regions: accountability and sustainability”,
Public Policy, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp 121-126. Siddique, A. and Williams, A. (2008) “The Use (and Abuse) of Governance
Indicators in Economics: A review”, Economics of Governance, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 131-175.
Tang, S., and Yung, L.C.W., (2008) “Does Rapid Economic Growth Accelerate
Democratization? Time-series evidence from high performing Asian economies”, Journal of Asian Economics, Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 244-253.
Tang, S., Groenewold, N., and Leung, C., (2008) “The Link between Institutions,
Technical Change and Macroeconomic Volatility”, Journal of Macroeconomics, Vol. 30, pp. 1520-1549.
Wang, B., Wu, Y. and Pengfei, Y. (2008) “Huanjing Guanzhi yu Quanyaosu
Shengchanli Zengchan: APEC de Shizhen Fenxi”, Economic Research Journal, Vol. 43, No. 5 (经济研究 Jingjin Yanjiu), pp. 19-32 (in Chinese).
Weber, E. J. (2008) “Money and Inflation in a Macroeconomic Model with
Indexed Bonds”, review article, History of Economics Review, Vol. 47, pp. 139-147.
Wu, Y. (2008) “The Role of Productivity in China Growth: New Estimates”,
Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 141-56.
Wu, Y. (2008) “Shengchanli dui Zhongguo Jingji Zengchan de Gongxiang: Xinde
Guji”, China Economic Quarterly, Vol. 7, No. 3,(经济学季刊 Jingjixue Jikan), pp. 827-842 (in Chinese).
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS Electronic Publication McLure, M. (2008) “Pareto’s Assessment of the Quantity Theory of Money”,
History of Economic Thought Society of Australia, Conference: The Study of the History of Economics: What does the Future Hold?, convened by the University of Western Sydney, 9-11 July 2008. http://www.hetsa2008.com .
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REFEREED ENCYCLOPAEDIA ENTRIES Electronic Publication McLure, M. (2008) “Fiscal Sociology”, in International Encyclopedia of Public
Policy: Volume 2, Economic Policy, Perth: GEPRE, pp 239-47, http://pohara.homestead.com/encyclopedia/volume-2.pdf
McLure, M. (2008) “Pareto Optimality, Second Best and Social Welfare”, in
International Encyclopedia of Public Policy: Volume 2, Economic Policy, Perth: GEPRE, pp 461-71,
http://pohara.homestead.com/encyclopedia/volume-2.pdf PUBLICATIONS NOT INCLUDED IN PREVIOUS REPORTS Ghosh, R. N., "Terence Wilmot Hutchison: My reminiscences", History of
Economics Review, No. 46, Summer 2007, pp.162-169.
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19. Discussion Papers
Research findings from the Economics Program were circulated in 2008 through the Economics Discussion Papers Series. These discussion papers are distributed to universities, government bodies and individuals throughout the world. In many instances they are distributed as part of reciprocal arrangements, ensuring a constant flow into the Program’s library of discussion papers from leading overseas and Australian universities. The titles of the 2008 series are listed below. Copies may be obtained from the Economics Program or via the Program web site at: http://www.business.uwa.edu.au/research/economics_discipline_group/econspapers No. Author(s) Title
08.01 Jiangang Peng, Nicolaas Groenewold, Xiangmei Fan, Guanzheng Li
Financial-System Reform and Economic Growth in a Transition Economy: The case of China, 1978-2004
08.02 Jiangang Peng, Nicolaas Groenewold, Jing He, Zhangfei Li, Yu Yi
Regional Finance and Regional Disparities in China
08.03 Barry R. Chiswick, Paul W. Miller
Occupational Attainment and Immigrant Economic Progress in Australia
08.04 Elisa Rose Birch, Ian Li, Paul W. Miller
The Influences of Institution Attended and Field of Study on Graduates' Starting Salaries
08.05 James Fogarty The Economics of Wine: Pricing, quality and rate of return, Part 1
08.06 James Fogarty The Economics of Wine: Pricing, quality and rate of return, Part 2
08.07 James Fogarty The Economics of Wine: Pricing, quality and rate of return, Part 3
08.08 James Fogarty The Economics of Wine: Pricing, quality and rate of return, Part 4
08.09 James Fogarty The Economics of Wine: Pricing, quality and rate of return, Part 5
08.10 Ernst Juerg Weber A Short History of Derivative Security Markets
08.11 Sam Tang Scientific Research and Growth Volatility 08.12 Ernst Juerg Weber Money and Inflation in a Macroeconomic
Model with Indexed Bonds 08.13 Duc Vo The Economics of Measuring Fiscal
Decentralisation, Part 1: An Overview of Recent Insights Into Fiscal Decentralisation
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08.14 Duc Vo The Economics of Measuring Fiscal Decentralisation, Part 2: New Fiscal Decentralisation Indices
08.15 Duc Vo The Economics of Measuring Fiscal Decentralisation, Part 3: Subnational Fiscal Inequalities: Implications for the measurement of fiscal decentralisation
08.16 Duc Vo The Economics of Measuring Fiscal Decentralisation, Part 4: Fiscal Decentralisation in Vietnam, China, and Selected Asean Nations
08.17 Kenneth W Clements, Mei Han, Callum Jones
Report on Mining and Energy Seminar
08.18 Michael McLure Pareto 1920-21 Manuscript on Money and the Real Economy
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20. Seminar and Conference Presentations by Staff
Staff of the Economics Program made numerous presentations of their research during 2008. Below are details of these presentations. Dr Elisa Birch presented a paper entitled “The Influences of Institution
Attended and Field of Study on Graduates’ Starting Salaries” at the Curtin Corner at Curtin University.
Dr David Butler travelled to The University of Arizona a number of times over
the year and presented the following talks: “Imprecise Preferences” for the Department of Economics Seminar Series; “Epiphany in the Game of 21” for a Behavioural Economics Workshop on “Skill in Games”; “Imprecision in Choice Experiments” at an Economic Science Laboratory Breakfast Seminar; and “Noisy Responses” for the Institute of Behavioural Economics Seminar Series. He also presented “Imprecise Preferences” for Economics Seminar Series at the Australian National University, and “Epiphany in the Game of 21” for Monash University’s Economics Department Seminar Series.
Prof. Ken Clements presented talks on “The Financial Crisis: What it means to
you and the WA economy” at a seminar organised by the UWA Business School in October, and “Discovering Discovery Grants” at a session organised by the UWA Business School in October. He also acted as discussant of papers at two conferences: (i) the paper by B. Kilmer, R. Liccardo Pacula, M. Grossman and F. J. Chaloupka entitled “Risks and Prices: The role of user sanctions in marijuana markets” at Venice Summer Institute Workshop On Illicit Trade And Globalisation, Venice International University, San Servolo, 14-15 July 2008; and (ii) the paper by M. Nenycz-Thiel “The Influences of Private Label Purchasing on Perceptual Categorisation” at the PhD Conference in Economics and Business held at ANU in November. He also presented two papers: (i) “The Demand for Marijuana, Tobacco and Alcohol: Inter-Commodity interactions with uncertainty” (co-authored with Y. Lan and X. Zhao) at the Economic Measurement Group’s, UNSW, Workshop on Prices, Productivity and Services, which was held in Sydney in December; and (ii) “The BMI, Exchange Rates and Fundamentals” (co-authored with Y. Lan) at the Seminar on Mining and Energy, held at UWA in June.
Dr Paul Crompton presented a paper titled “Economies of Scale in Global iron-
making” at the Seminar on Mining and Energy, held at UWA in June. A/Professor Nic Groenewold visited Zhejiang University in China in October,
2008, where he was hosted by Professor Yao Xianguo, Dean of the College of Public Administration. He gave the paper, “Reducing Regional Disparities in China: Evaluation of alternative policies”, in Professor Yao’s seminar.
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Dr Paul McLeod presented three seminars in 2008. He presented a paper entitled “Modelling Recreational Fishing Behaviour Node 4.5.2” at the Western Australian Marine Science Institute in November, and a paper entitled “Issues in Minimally Managed Fisheries” (co-authored with R Lindner) at the Fisheries Research Centre in Perth in October. At UWA he presented a paper entitled “A Review and Impact Assessment of ACIAR’s Fruit-fly Research Partnerships – 1984 to 2007”. (co-authored with R Lindner) in August. He also presented a paper entitled “Challenges for Integrated Fisheries Management in WA Finfish Fisheries” (co-authored with R Lindner) to the 52nd Annual Conference of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society in Canberra in February.
Dr Michael McLure presented two papers to his academic peers in 2008: a
paper on "Pareto's Assessment of the Quantity Theory of Money", which was presented in July at the History of Economic Thought Society of Australia Conference, convened by the University of Western Sydney in July; and a paper on the "Second Generation Masters of the Lausanne and Cambridge Traditions", which was presented in December at the History of Public Economics conference convened at the University 'Pantheon-Assas' in Paris. He also presented a talk entitled "Historical Context: Great depressions past" at the UWA Business School's October seminar on 'The Financial Crisis: What it means to you and the WA economy'.
Professor Paul Miller presented “The ‘Negative’ Assimilation of Immigrants: A
special case”, at the 5th IZA Annual Migration Meeting in Bonn in May, and at the Annual Conference of Economists held on the Gold Coast in September.
Dr Abu Siddique. In collaboration with the Institute of Public Administration,
Australia, Dr Siddique convened a seminar on The Future of Corporate Governance in the Public Sector in June. He also presented three papers: (i) “A Quarter Century of Free Trade: The evolving pattern of Australia-New Zealand bilateral trade in a global perspective” (co-authored with S. Chatterjee) at the Department of Economics and Finance, Massey University in April, and at the Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, in May; (ii) “Globalisation and Shortages of Highly Skilled Labour in Australia” at the Institute for Development Studies, University of Auckland in May; and (iii) “Development Strategies in the ASEAN Transitional Economies: Dilemmas and options” at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, in June.
Dr. Sam Tang presented three seminars: “Does S&T Publication Reduce
Growth Volatility? Cross-country panel evidence”, at the Business School, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom, April 2008; and “Scientific Research and Growth Volatility” at Economics Program Seminar Series, UWA, August 2008 and at the School of Economics and Finance, Curtin University of Technology, September 2008.
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Dr. Juerg Weber presented a paper on “The Role of the Real Interest Rate in U.S. Macroeconomic History” at the 6th World Congress of Cliometrics in Edinburgh.
Professor Yanrui Wu delivered seminar presentations at Nottingham Trent
University (October), University of Bradford (October), University of Technology, Sydney (October), and National University of Singapore (December). He also presented a paper at the international conference on 30 Years of Economic Reforms in China: Retrospect and Outlook (July, James Cook University), 2008 International workshop on Chinese Productivity (September, Zhejiang University), International conference on Microeconomic Drivers of Growth in China (September, Oxford University), and International conference on China’s Three Decades of Reform and Development in Global Perspective (November, Singapore).
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21. Other Professional Activities
Staff members of the Economics Program have been very active in various additional professional capacities. A selection of these activities follows. Dr Elisa Birch is a member of the Economic Society of Australia. Dr Birch
acted as a referee for a number of journals including the Australian Economic Review, the Australian Journal of Labour Economics and the Economic Inquiry. She was also a discussant at the Australian Labour Market Research Workshop.
Dr David Butler is a member of the American Economic Association. Dr Butler also acted as a referee for a number of journals including the American Economic Review and the Economic Record.
Prof Ken Clements is a member of the Federal Treasury Academic Consultative Committee, and was a member of the Panel to choose the best article published in the Economic Record, 2008.
Dr Paul Crompton is the primary author of an introductory macroeconomics textbook, Macroeconomics: A contemporary introduction, published by Thomson Learning, and published in its third edition in 2006. Since its first release in 2002, over 10 000 copies have been sold, and it has been used in large undergraduate courses at The University of Western Australia, Curtin University, the University of New South Wales, the University of Sydney and the University of New England. Furthermore it has been used in postgraduate courses at the University of Queensland.
Mr Mel Davies was re-elected as Secretary/Treasurer of the Australian Mining
History Association in 2008, having filled those positions since 1994. He is also responsible for producing a quarterly newsletter and organising Annual Association Conferences, the most recent being held in Queenstown, Tasmania, in October 2008. He is editor of the Journal of Australasian Mining History, and has just completed the sixth volume. In the international sphere, he was a member of both the Program and Organising Committees for the 7th International Mining History Congress at Bhubaneswar, India, in December 2007, where he was re-elected at the Business Meeting to serve as Secretary and coordinator of the 2009 Congress, to be held in Redruth, Cornwall in June 2009.
Dr Robin Ghosh is Editor-in-Chief of a quarterly journal entitled the Atlantic
Journal of Development Studies published from New Delhi. He is also on the Editorial Board of two other journals, the International Journal of Development Issues published from Sydney University, and the Atlantic Journal of World Affairs published by Atlantic Publishers & Distributors. Robin Ghosh is also the current chairman of the Institute of Development Studies (Australia).
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A/Prof Nic Groenewold was a referee for the Review of Regional Studies, the International Review of Economics and Finance, the Journal of Macroeconomics, World Development, the Australian Economic Review, the Economic Record, Papers in Regional Science, Emerging Markets, Finance and Trade and the British Accounting Review. He was also a member of the editorial board for the Economic Record.
Ms Inga Kristoffersen is a PhD candidate at UWA, researching well-being,
satisfaction and happiness, and economics. She teaches first-year mathematics as well as a range of other undergraduate units. In 2008, she presented a paper at the 10th Australian Conference on Quality of Life held in Melbourne. Her earlier papers have been published in the International Journal of Business Studies, the Australian Accounting Review, and Accounting, Accountability and Performance. She has acted as a referee for the Economic Record.
Dr Tram Le is a Research Associate with the Centre for Labour Market
Research. Dr Michael McLure is editor (with Gregory Moore) of the History of Economics
Review, the journal of the History of Economic Thought Society of Australia and served as a referee for History of Political Economy and Public Policy. Michael is also a member of the Board for the Centre for Labour Market Research. Within the UWA Business School, Michael is a member of the Faculty Board and of the Teaching and Learning Committee.
Dr Paul McLeod acted as a referee for the Australian Journal of Agriculture and
Resource Economics and as an assessor for research grant project outcomes for the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research Membership of Node 4.5 (Socioeconomics) of the Western Australian Marine Sciences Institute. Dr McLeod was also a member of the Economics Panel of the Economic Regulation Authority. He participated as a member of the expert research panel in the FRDC’s Delphi study to determine future research funding priorities.
Prof Paul Miller continued both as Editor of the Economic Record during 2008 and on the Editorial Board of the Australian Journal of Labour Economics. Paul is a member of the Academic Reference Panel for the Treasury’s Participation Modelling Project.
Dr Abu Siddique is a member of AusAID’s Joint Selection Team (JST) for its
ADS and APS postgraduate scholarships. He is a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Business Studies, Vice-President of Bengali Music and Cultural Centre, State (WA) co-ordinator of Transparency International Australia, and member, Association of the Study of Australasia in Asia (ASAA). He also is Postgraduate Co-ordinator in Economics and is member of a number of bodies within the UWA Business School such as of the Faculty Board and of the Higher Degree by Research Committee. He is also involved in various national and international organisations, such as the Department of Foreign Affairs and
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Trade (DFAT), Austrade, AusAID, the United Nations, and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). He is a frequent contributor to local, national and international seminars and conferences.
Dr Sam Tang reviewed manuscripts for Australian Economic Papers and
Economic Record. Dr Jo Voola actively teaches in oil and gas economics in the UWA engineering
department. Dr Juerg Weber serves as the Honorary Consul for Switzerland in Western
Australia. Prof Yanrui Wu visited the East Asian Institute (National University of
Singapore), China Policy Institute (Nottingham University), and School of Management (China University of Science and Technology). He acted as an anonymous referee for several international journals (China: An international Journal, China Economic Review, Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, Review of Income and Wealth, and World Development). He was a reader for the ARC Discovery Grant applications.
