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ACE2019
ACE2019, hosted by the Victoria branch of ESA, will be held from 14-16 July at the Pullman Melbourne on the Park. The call for Submissions is now open and you are invited to submit a paper or extended abstract for presentation at ACE2019. Guidelines and all information is on the Conference Website. Early Bird Registration is also now open - click here to register.
Professional accreditation of economists
NEP poll 36 - March 2019 - For our second Poll this year, our panellists were asked to comment on the following two propositions:
Proposition 1: "Professional accreditation for the economics profession would attract more people to economics as a career."
Proposition 2: "The benefits of professional accreditation for current and prospective economists would exceed any possible costs"
Creating a level playing field: evidence from three field experiments - A conversation with Andreas Leibbrandt
Creating a level playing field - evidence from three field experiments
About 50 years ago the landmark equal pay case in Australia introduced principles for equal pay for men and women. Despite our efforts, women still earn substantially less than men. Recent statistics published by Workplace Gender Equality Agency indicate that the average full-time base salary gender pay gap was 16.2% in 2017-18 (source:https://www.wgea.gov.au/topics/gender-pay-gap)
This is the second of two ESA podcasts that explore current research into the drivers of the gender wage gap. It additionally explores research on reducing the wage gap for minority groups.
In this podcast, Professor Andreas Leibbrandt discusses his field experiments that examine how seemingly minor differences in real job ad descriptions affect the behaviour of applicants. With this experimental framework he has investigated contextual factors that affect: whether women sort out of competitive workplaces, whether women initiate salary negotiations and whether equal opportunity statements increase applications from minority groups. We discuss the possible mechanisms behind his field experiment results, and implications for organisations aiming to reduce wage gaps.
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Does confidence really advance women’s careers? A conversation with Leonora Risse
About 50 years ago the landmark equal pay case in Australia introduced principles for equal pay for men and women. Despite our efforts, women still earn substantially less than men. Recent statistics published by Workplace Gender Equality Agency indicate that the national wage gap was 14.6% in August 2018 (source: https://www.wgea.gov.au/addressing-pay-equity/what-gender-pay-gap).
In this podcast, Dr Leonora Risse discusses her research into a common piece of advice for women – to be more confident in the workplace. Dr Risse explains how she estimated the relationship between confidence and pay and promotions, separately for men and women, using the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey data. We discuss her unexpected findings, as well as the implications of her research for Australians and organisations working towards reducing the gender pay gap.
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Bank Royal Commission (II)
NEP poll 35 - February 2019
In the first poll of 2019 – following on from our Banking Royal Commission poll last year about the risk of a credit squeeze, and before the Commission’s Final Report was released – our panellists were asked for their opinions on the following proposition:
"There is no way to significantly increase the degree to which Australian retail banks act in the interests of consumers."
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Congestion Pricing
For our November poll, panelists were asked the following: "In general, using more congestion charges in crowded transportation networks — such as higher tolls during peak travel times in cities, and peak fees for airplane takeoff and landing slots — and using the proceeds to lower other taxes would make citizens on average better off."
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Banking Royal Commission and the Credit Crunch
For our October Poll we asked the panel to comment on two propositions relating to the Banking Royal Commission and the Credit Crunch.
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The rise of protest politics – a conversation with Danielle Wood
Voters are abandoning the major parties. More than one-in-four Australians voted for anyone except the ALP, LNP, or the Greens in the Senate in 2016, compared to just over one-in-ten voters in 2007.
Why are Australians so disillusioned with the political mainstream? And are there similarities with the rise of ‘outsider politics’ in other countries including the Trump presidential victory and Brexit?
In this podcast Danielle Wood discusses her research on voting patterns, which draws on techniques from economics, psychology and political science to understand the rising minor party vote in Australia.
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Awards 2018
There were a number of prestigious awards bestowed upon worthy economists at the recently held ACE2018 in Canberra, including the inaugral Trevor Swan Memorial Prize.
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Live recording: Commonwealth Budget Review 2018/19
This podcast is a live recording of the recent Commonwealth Budget Review for 2018/19. On May 16th 2017, Peter Martin (Fairfax Media), Danielle Wood (Grattan Institute) and Lisa Gropp (Business Council of Australia) shared their perspectives on the budget, digging into topics such as the income tax package, infrastructure spending and budget forecasting. Thanks to Brendan Coates (Grattan Institute) for hosting.
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Technology & Competition laws: A conversation with Dr Stephen King
"If you are not paying for it, you're not the customer; you're the product being sold."
twitter.com/andlewis/status/
There is little doubt that consumers have benefited from zero price services from the likes of Facebook, Google and even Visa and Mastercard. But is there such a thing as a free emoji? In this podcast Dr. Stephen King explains the two-sided nature of the markets in which these companies compete. He also discusses how economists have grappled with the complexity of these markets in problems ranging from the misuse of market power to ownership of personalised data.
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Will robots take our jobs? A conversation with Professor Jeff Borland
The robots are coming. The world of human work is fast disappearing. This is the future according to the doomsayers who seem at present to dominate discussion on the effects of computers in Australia. It’s a catchy story, and perhaps it fits with what we feel is happening around us. But it has rather a big problem. There is not much (or any) evidence to support it.
In the first of a new series of podcasts for members we ask Professor Jeff Borland: Will robots take our jobs?
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WEAI 15th International Conference
Event Type: Workshops/Conferences
Date: Thursday Mar 21, 2019, 12:00 am
The Western Economic Association International's 15th international Conference will be held in Tokyo in March 2019.
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Partner Event: The Economics of Cities
Event Type: Partner Event
Date: Monday Mar 25, 2019, 9:00 am
The Centre for Development Economics and Sustainability (CDES) at Monash Business School and Infrastructure Victoria invite you and your colleagues to a two-day workshop on the ‘Economics of Cities’.
The workshop will cover economic issues facing cities in both the developed and developing worlds. The workshop intends to bring together academics, economists, planners, modellers and geographers from the public and private sectors to explore the multifaceted theoretical and practical challenges of dealing with the emergence and growth of cities in a globalising world.
The workshop has been arranged to coincide with the visit of Professor Tony Venables to the CDES. Professor Venables is the BP Professor of Economics at Oxford University and Director of the Centre for the Analysis of Resource Rich Economies. He is one of the originators of the new economic geography, co-authoring the influential book The spatial economy: cities, regions and international trade with Paul Krugman and Masahisa Fujita, as well as numerous academic papers on spatial economics, international trade and natural resources.
The economics of digital disruption
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Tuesday Mar 26, 2019, 5:30 pm
Our thanks to Deloitte Access Economics for generously partnering with ESA-YP and WEN to host this event.
Professional Development Seminar on Gender Lensing with Miranda Stewart and Janine Dixon
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Thursday Mar 28, 2019, 12:30 pm
March's Professional Development seminar will be on Gender Lensing and presented by Professor Miranda Stewart and Associate Professor Janine Dixon. Following the success of WEN's Gender Lensing Masterclass at the recent Australian Gender Economics Workshop, this seminar will provide a "sampler" of what this type of analysis is about.
The objective of this seminar is to provide a brief demonstration of an applied analysis of how budgetary and other economic policy settings can be gender-patterned in their impacts and incentive effects. It aims to whet the appetite for more extensive learning about the Gender Lensing approach which would equip professional economists with the skills and insights to undertake a gender-sensitive evaluation of policy settings.
Policy in the Pub: April
Event Type: ESA Event
Date: Wednesday Apr 17, 2019, 5:30 pm
Please keep the date free for April's Policy in the Pub with further details to come.
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Welcome
Welcome to the Victorian Branch of the Economic Society of Australia
The Victorian Branch of the Economic Society of Australia was formed in 1925. As such the Society is one of the oldest professional associations in Australia, and the Victorian Branch one of the largest branches of the organization. The Economic Society of Australia is affiliated with the International Economics Association.
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