Economics - Theses
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 10 of 21
-
ItemChallenges in early adulthood and the timing of nest-leaving( 2018)Recent young adult cohorts have delayed moving out from the parental home, reflecting social trends and macroeconomic conditions that undermine the affordability of independent living. This dissertation focuses on the timing of these nest-leaving transitions in relation to other significant decisions and events in early adulthood. Each of the three chapters investigates whether potentially adverse outcomes lead to earlier nest-leaving, which has been shown to be financially harrowing and disadvantaging. To address these research questions, I utilize longitudinal data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. Methodologically, I extensively apply event history models and focus on effects on the timing of nest-leaving events. I address potential endogeneity between the nest-leaving decision and other choices in early adulthood by estimating these simultaneously, accounting for selection effects through random effects models. The first essay considers how heavy drinking and cigarette smoking affect the timing of leaving home. As risky health behaviors, I find evidence that young adults who drink heavily leave home sooner than moderate or non-drinking counterparts. Among women, early initiation of alcohol or tobacco use by age 15 further compounds nest-leaving risks, showing that substance usage is far more consequential for their co-residence with parents. The second essay investigates human capital investment in tertiary education, to determine if graduation or dropout rates disfavor students who move out and maintain their own independent household. This chapter also considers whether parents condition their offer of co-residence on the young adult's enrollment. The results indicate that men clearly benefit while co-residing, as they graduate sooner than counterparts who live independently. However, women do not significantly benefit from co-residence in this way, and instead tend to move out around the time of graduation. The third essay examines the pathways out from the parental home -- either with or without a partner -- and how these may be affected by negative life events. Sudden illness or injury of the young adult or a family member, the death of a close friend or a relative, and victimization to violent or property crimes are unforeseeable events that can compromise the young adult's ability to navigate key transitions in adulthood. Results suggest that men are more likely to remain at home longer after a family member is in ill health, whereas women are more likely to leave home soon after the death of a close friend or experiences of property crime. The findings across these essays consistently emphasize women's short-lived co-residence with parents, surfacing from disaggregated analyses by gender. Several factors which contribute to earlier nest-leaving are themselves disadvantaging in nature, and thus raise a concern that negative experiences early in adulthood could beget further hardships later on. This dissertation contributes to the nest-leaving literature by highlighting potential precursors of disadvantage, even while the young adult co-resides and receives in-kind parental transfers.
-
ItemThree essays on skilled migration to Australia( 2018)This thesis contains three essays on diverse aspects of skilled migration in Australia. The first chapter uses novel administrative data to analyse the extent of out-migration for Australian permanent migrants across different skill measures and cohorts using survival data methods. The use of this dataset reduces estimation biases inherent in cross-sectional or panel datasets used in previous studies. This study finds that migrants from high-income countries are more likely to out-migrate than those from low-income countries. The analyses also indicate that out-migration is sensitive to the business cycle, as measured by the unemployment rate. However, out-migration is the highest for high-skilled migrants, with every year of education increases the hazard rate by around 4 percent. Moreover, migrants targeted by skill-based policies are more likely to leave. These results, therefore, highlight challenges in retaining skilled migrants recruited through points-based policies. The second chapter uses linked administrative and panel datasets to study associations between skilled temporary worker flows and the labour market outcomes of Australian workers. It finds no statistically significant negative effect of such migration on the either their wages or unemployment. However, the analysis reports a positive association between the wages of workers with a bachelor’s degree or above and skilled temporary worker flows. Further analysis studies how temporary migration induces occupational switching. Highlighting a possible channel through which immigration affects labour market outcomes, our results indicate that such migration induces Australian workers to specialise in communication skills. Focussing on a specific high-skilled occupation, medical practitioners, the third chapter enhances empirical evidence on policies aimed at resolving rural workforce shortages by evaluating the impact of the Districts of Workforce Shortage program, which restricts International Medical Graduates (IMGs) to under-served rural and remote areas of Australia. The analysis uses a difference-in-differences design to find that the program is effective at reducing the growth of inequality in affected regions. It also studies changes in medical workforce outcomes to finds a corresponding fall in workload measures, such as working hours or waiting times. However, no robust evidence of a fall in price measures, such as consultation fees or bulk billing rates, is observed. Last, there is suggestive evidence that the fall in workload, particularly in hours, is higher for IMGs. This finding highlights possible imperfect substitutability of natives and migrants even in narrow occupational groups.
-
ItemGay print media’s golden era: Australian magazines and newspapers 1970-2000( 2015)The late 20th century was a golden era for Australian gay print media: more than five million copies annually of gay and lesbian publications were printed at its peak, with revenues of nearly eight million dollars a year. Yet there was not even a leaflet before 1969 because homosexuals then did not dare to publish in the climate of active oppression. Growing liberal attitudes within sections of broader society, and, at a practical level, reform of censorship laws made gay publishing possible. The remarkable growth of this industry stands as testimony to the dramatic change in mainstream society’s attitudes towards homosexuality, and changes within the gay community itself, during the final decades of last century. From 1970 to 2000 nearly 100 significant magazines and newspapers were produced around the country. Publishers used print media to advance gay movement aims, despite pursuing a variety of visions and goals for how they saw a better world for gay and lesbian people. Their publications allowed discussion of what it meant to be gay or lesbian in Australia; provided an arena to present positive viewpoints regarding homosexuality that countered dominant mainstream attitudes; and brought people together through personal classifieds and information about bars and other community activities. In order to sustain their businesses, publishers took commercial opportunities presented to them. And they needed to expand their operation to attract readers and advertisers. This offered economic viability to the publications, and allowed publishers to sustain a reliable workforce and improve their product. All publishers were forced to deal with the business side of their operation, which often caused tension between their initial goals for a better world and the need to run the business. A key resolution of this tension came through adopting the promotion and defence of community as a primary political project. This allowed publishers to freely develop synergies with advertisers that helped build and develop community infrastructure, such as venues, festivals, and small businesses. Expansion of the sector magnified the impact of this synergy on the community’s growth. It allowed movement ideas and information on community activities to reach and influence a much wider audience, and the day-to-day pursuit of business activity, in particular advertising revenue and distribution outlets led to a myriad of direct relationships with mainstream society that challenged prejudice and helped normalise homosexuality.
-
ItemManagement accounting in Australia: an investigation into the reasons for the gap between theory and practice( 1991)Even a brief glance at a cross-section of the many text-books dealing with cost and management accounting makes it evident that there is almost universal agreement among academics as to the "body of knowledge° which constitutes the area known as Cost and Management or Managerial Accounting. Furthermore, an examination of the contents of any of these major textbooks, such as Horngren and Foster (1987) and Shillinglaw (1982), through their sequence of revised editions over more than twenty years will reveal very little substantial change in their Table of Contents. In fact, this remarkable consensus of material has led Scapens(1983a), who had compared the topics covered in twenty four management accounting textbooks published in the previous six years, to coin the phrase the "Conventional Wisdom" of management accounting, at least as it is understood by academic textbook writers. (From Introduction)
-
ItemEmployee participation and industrial democracy in Australian government employment: 1983-1988( 1990-05)The subject of employee participation in the public sector has been neglected in the academic literature of Australia. The present research aims to redress this deficiency. Its explicit focus is employee participation in Australian Government Employment (AGE) in the first six years of the Hawke Labor Government, that is, the period 1983-1988. The choice of this period is an important one. The election of the Hawke Government marks a turning point in Australian public administration: this was a government committed to the thoroughgoing reform of the public sector and employee participation was integrated into its reform agenda, albeit in the guise of industrial democracy. In the first part of the thesis the discussion clarifies the meaning and relationship between the concepts of employee participation and industrial democracy. This is followed by a review of the overseas literature on employee participation in public employment. In the second part, the development of employee participation in AGE is dealt with at a general level. This account spans the period 1901-1988, however, the account of the sub-period 1983-1988 is more detailed. In the third and fourth parts, the exposition becomes more specific. Detailed case studies of Australia Post and the Australian Taxation Office, which provide an account of the development of employee participation ranging from the national to the workplace level of each organization, are presented. In the final part, the discussion is drawn together and the lessons of the recent experience of employee participation in AGE are spelt out.
-
ItemMental health care roles and capacities of non-medical primary health and social care services: an organisational systems analysis( 2007-05)Top-down, centralised approaches to reform of mental health services implemented over the past 15 years in Australia have failed to achieve the widely shared aim of comprehensive, integrated systems of care. Investment to date has focused on the development and integration of specialist mental health services and primary medical care, and evaluation research suggests some progress. Substantial inadequacies remain however in the comprehensiveness and continuity of care received by people affected by mental health problems, particularly in relation to social and psychosocial interventions. Intersectoral collaboration that includes the diverse range of non-medical primary health and social care services is one of the most fundamental remaining challenges facing mental health system reform.
-
ItemDoes size matter?: employment relations in small firms( 2000-12)In this thesis an integrated approach to analysing small In this thesis an integrated approach to analysing small firm employment relations is proposed and used to investigate the image of industrial harmony in small firms. This approach accommodates small firm heterogeneity, provides an analytical framework for ordering the effect of a range of factors (not simply size) on employment relations, and incorporates a dialectical relationship between structure and agency. In Chapters 2 and 3 some of the key theoretical and methodological gaps in small firm research, particularly their employment relations, are highlighted. At the conclusion of Chapter 2, it is suggested that an analysis of small firm employment relations must start with the totality of economic and social relations in a particular sector, and its contradictory constituents, rather than the small firm per se. Rainnie’s (1989) heuristic device, drawing upon Marxist theory of combined and uneven development, is adopted to accommodate small firm heterogeneity. After reviewing studies of small firm industrial relations and human resource management, it is argued, in Chapter 3, that by incorporating the dialectical relationship between structure and agency with a labour process analysis, an explanation for why ‘industrial harmony’ appears to typify small firm employment relations can be sought. As such the integrated approach is applied to small firms operating in the software development sector of the information industry. In Chapter 4, some characteristics of the information industry in Australia are outlined in order to provide a context and rationale for more specifically focussing (in Chapter 5) on the nature of software development work, its organisation, and the strategies used to manage employment relations. A consideration is given to issues surrounding the management of software developers, while the distinction between primary and secondary software products is used to elaborate the contradictory trends in strategies to control the software development labour process. The critical social science basis of this integrated approach is discussed in Chapter 6, while the rationale for using multiple, complementary, quantitative and qualitative research methods is also elaborated. In Chapter 7, the structures within which employment relations are managed in the information industry are outlined using the results of a survey (N = 206). Where possible the data are analysed to draw out the effects of size, ownership characteristics, product market conditions and management style on the management of employment relations. Chapters 8 and 9 contain the detailed case studies of two small software development firms. In both cases, structure and agency are addressed and therefore the firm's development, product and labour market positions, type of work performed and by whom, how employment relations are managed and the workers' response are all explored. These two firms offer a number of points for comparison and contrast and in Chapter l0 a cross case analysis is conducted. Findings from this study are compared with others and future avenues for inquiry are suggested, while implications of the approach and findings for future small firm employment relations policy and research are addressed.
-
ItemThe corporate treasury function: risk management and performance measurement( 1997-05)The Australian financial system has changed dramatically in recent years, creating both threats and opportunities for value adding activities. Many large corporations have set up a separate treasury division or department to handle their financing requirements. This thesis derives the rationale for a separate treasury function from theory of the firm. A framework has been developed by drawing upon both the old theory of the firm (transaction cost economics) and the new theory of the firm (agency theory) to determine the appropriate governance structure to manage financial arrangements. Formal analysis of corporate treasury functions and performance measurement research has not kept pace with the growth of treasury activities. Appropriate benchmarks provide management with information to manage financial risk and to more accurately assess treasury performance. A benchmark is required for core treasury tasks, including debt portfolio management. Optimal treasury benchmarks are difficult to determine, due to the complexity involved in measuring financial exposures for firms which derive income from physical, rather than financial assets. The inter-relationships between financial risks, including maturity, interest rate and currency risk, further compounds the problem. Decomposition of financial risk into these respective elements allows identification of the firm specific factors that influence financial exposure. Appropriate benchmarks for managing repricing, refunding and foreign exchange risk depend upon the trade-off between transaction costs, agency costs and information signalling costs. Theory suggests growth options in real assets within the firm's investment opportunity set provide opportunities for natural hedges that offset financial risk. However, empirical analysis of share price sensitivity to interest rates and an analysis of debt maturity structure indicates growth options and agency factors are less important than firm specific characteristics when setting up benchmark portfolios to manage financial risk. Treasuries are often classified as either active or passive managers, but a continuum of strategies is possible when managing financial risk, rather than points at either end of a spectrum. Tolerance levels around the benchmark constrain activity within a relevant range - the more active the treasury, the broader the range. Constraints allow the degree of activity to be fine-tuned. The decision to actively manage risk depends upon whether value can be added in risk-adjusted terms. This is a function not only of whether opportunities exist, but also whether value can be added consistently, compared with a passive approach. The majority of practising treasurers describe themselves as 'active hedgers'. Subject to caveats outlined in the thesis, field experiments conducted over a three year period indicate the ability of corporate treasurers to add value to the firm through outperforming a passive benchmark portfolio of debt is limited. Respondents to an international survey on corporate treasury control and performance standards cited difficulty in setting benchmarks, particularly risk-adjusted benchmarks, as the major reason for not measuring treasury performance. Empirical determinants of benchmark structures for repricing risk, refunding risk and currency risk have been identified. A better understanding of the factors that determine financial risk will assist management when they are designing or refining benchmarks to manage financial risk and measure treasury performance.
-
ItemThe economics of the Australian press( 1951)This study represent an application of the techniques of economic analysis to the Australian newspaper industry. The questions may be summarised as follows: How does a newspaper viewed as a rational economic entity? maximise its profits? What is the present degree of monopoly in the Australian press? how has this degree of monopoly developed and what are its causes? Finally what are the economic prospects of the industry?
-
ItemForeign Direct Investment in Australia: determinants and consequences( 2005-12)Increased globalisation over the last two decades has led to strong growth of international business activity and FDI. Despite the considerable amount of research that has been undertaken to analyse the determinants and consequences of FDI, Australia represents a country with a substantial share of foreign ownership whose FDI experience has been largely overlooked in terms of a comprehensive economic analysis. Not only has Australia received a large amount of foreign investment so far, it is also competing for more FDI. Invest Australia, Australia’s national inward investment agency, is actively promoting Australia as a location for FDI, claiming that foreign investment has made a major contribution to Australia’s economic growth and living standards of all Australians. Instantly, two key issues arise. Firstly, assuming that FDI has positive effects, what causes the inflow of FDI, i.e. what are the determinants of FDI in Australia? Secondly, given the inflow of FDI, what is its actual effect on the Australian economy, i.e. what are the consequences of FDI in Australia? In order to analyse those questions, new and previously unused data on FDI inflows in Australia were explored by applying time-series and panel-data analysis. The time period ranges from 1981 to 2002, with differing coverage for the individual samples. A further contribution of the thesis is the search for new FDI data, bringing together and analysing datasets provided by the ABS and other statistical agencies (from the US, the UK, Japan and Germany). A detailed description of Australian FDI data was given to gain a better understanding of the Australian FDI experience and because no such comprehensive summary has been available. The first part of the analysis focused on the determinants of FDI. Determinants of FDI according to different theoretical models were discussed and tested using five types of datasets: aggregate quarterly data, country-specific annual data, industry-specific annual data, country- and industry-specific data (from the US, the UK, Japan and Germany and US) and US form-specific data. Australian FDI inflows were found to be driven by economic growth and market size, wages and labour supply (though the signs varied across models), trade and openness (though customs duties encouraged Japanese industry-specific FDI), interest rates, exchange rate appreciation, inflation rate (which had a unexpected positive effect) and the investing country’s overall FDI outflows. Corporate tax rates were only significant in the quarterly FDI model, but they had an unpredicted positive sign. Australian FDI was driven by longer term considerations and its determinants could not be fully explained by any single theory, but a variety of theoretical models. Furthermore investment decisions depend on factors such as investment origin, the industry in which the investment takes place and the form of the investment, making aggregation difficult. The second part of the analysis focused on consequences of FDI. Consequences of FDI according to different theoretical models were discussed and tested using two types of datasets: aggregate quarterly data and industry-specific annual data. FDI inflows had positive effects on economic growth and domestic investment, supporting the Australian government’s view that FDI is a favourable source of capital. However, the claim that FDI is favourable for Australia’s balance of payments position could not be supported by this analysis. FDI led to a reduction in export growth and no direct effect on import growth, though the effect of FDI on GDP growth led to increased import growth. Furthermore, industry-specific FDI in Australia had significant effects on employment growth (negative) and labour productivity growth (positive), while FDI growth had significant effects on real wage growth (negative) and industry concentration (positive). However, effects may differ depending on the FDI form, and Australia should focus more on attracting beneficial FDI (such as export-oriented or import-substituting FDI) rather than FDI in general.