Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research - Research Publications
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ItemNo Preview AvailableA randomised controlled trial of email versus mailed invitation letter in a national longitudinal survey of physicians(PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE, 2023-08-22)Despite their low cost, the use of email invitations to distribute surveys to medical practitioners have been associated with lower response rates. This research compares the difference in response rates from using email approach plus online completion rather than a mailed invitation letter plus a choice of online or paper completion. A parallel randomised controlled trial was conducted during the 11th annual wave of the nationally representative Medicine in Australia: Balancing Employment and Life (MABEL) longitudinal survey of doctors. The control group was invited using a mailed paper letter (including a paper survey plus instructions to complete online) and three mailed paper reminders. The intervention group was approached in the same way apart from the second reminder when they were approached by email only. The primary outcome is the response rate and the statistical analysis was blinded. 18,247 doctors were randomly allocated to the control (9,125) or intervention group (9,127), with 9,108 and 9,107 included in the analysis. Using intention to treat analysis, the response rate in the intervention group was 35.92% compared to 37.59% in the control group, a difference of -1.66 percentage points (95% CI: -3.06 to -0.26). The difference was larger for General Practitioners (-2.76 percentage points, 95% CI: -4.65 to -0.87) compared to other specialists (-0.47 percentage points, 95% CI: -2.53 to 1.60). For those who supplied an email address, the average treatment effect on the treated was higher at -2.63 percentage points (95% CI: -4.50 to -0.75) for all physicians, -3.17 percentage points (95% CI: -5.83 to -0.53) for General Practitioners, and -2.1 percentage points (95% CI: -4.75 to 0.56) for other specialists. For qualified physicians, using email to invite participants to complete a survey leads to lower response rates compared to a mailed letter. Lower response rates need to be traded off with the lower costs of using email rather than mailed letters.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableFor worse? Financial hardships and intra-household resource allocation among Australian couples(Elsevier, 2023-02-01)This article investigates differences in husbands' and wives' experiences of financial hardships. It develops and estimates a structural collective household model of expenditures on individual-specific necessities and hardship reporting where each partner has distinct preferences and the household makes Pareto efficient decisions. Using data from the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey with unique questions on individual financial hardships, we examine whether differences in preferences, bargaining power, or other characteristics within households affect the distribution of hardships. Wives in our data report more financial hardships than husbands. Estimates from our structural model indicate that wives have weaker preferences than husbands for expenditures on necessary goods for themselves, but there is no evidence of differences in bargaining power. Estimates further indicate that hardships increase with the number of children and spouses' disability status and decrease with spouses’ ages and subjective financial capabilities.
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ItemNo Preview Available"It's not a one operation fits all": A qualitative study exploring fee setting and participation in price transparency initiatives amongst medical specialists in the Australian private healthcare sector.(Elsevier BV, 2023-11-04)The Australian government, through Medicare, defines the type of medical specialist services it covers and subsidizes, but it does not regulate prices. Specialists in private practice can charge more than the fee listed by Medicare depending on what they feel 'the market will bear'. This can sometimes result in high and unexpected out-of-pocket (OOP) payments for patients. To reduce pricing uncertainty and 'bill shock' faced by consumers, the government introduced a price transparency website in December 2019. It is not clear how effective such a website will be and whether specialists and patients will use it. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore factors influencing how specialists set their fees, and their views on and participation in price transparency initiatives. We conducted 27 semi-structured interviews with surgical specialists. We analysed the data using thematic analysis and responses were mapped to the Theoretical Domains Framework and the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation and Behavior model. We identified several patient, specialist and system-level factors influencing fee setting. Patient-level factors included patient characteristics, circumstance, complexity, and assumptions regarding perceived value of care. Specialist-level factors included perceived experience and skills, ethical considerations, and gendered-behavior. System-level factors included the Australian Medical Association recommended price list, practice costs, and supply and demand factors including perceived competition and practice location. Specialists were opposed to price transparency websites and lacked motivation to participate because of the complexity of fee setting, concerns over unintended consequences, and feelings of frustration they were being singled out. If price transparency websites are to be pursued, specialists' lack of motivation to participate needs to be addressed.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableRethinking the Laffer Curve From an Individual Approach: Evidence from the Spanish Income Tax(Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, 2023-08-24)Why it is important to revise the Laffer Curve today? Some may argue that the Laffer Curve is an outdated concept in fiscal policy, but in the current scenario of fiscal finances, it may be useful to revisit the Laffer Curve.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableRaising children in the lucky country: Understanding the income penalty and poverty at childbirth(The Power to Persuade, 2023-10-12)For Anti-Poverty Week 2023, Dr Ana Gamarra Rondinel (Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research and Life Course Centre) and Dr Anna Price (The University of Melbourne and Centre for Community Child Health, Murdoch Children's Research Institute) explore the interplay between first time parenthood, financial security, and early child development.
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ItemTwelve months later: Most Australians facing high levels of challenges covering housing and/or food costs(The University of Melbourne & Roy Morgan, 2023-11-08)Since August 2022, we have asked respondents questions related to food and housing security and found many were reporting high levels of insecurity. This Taking the Pulse of the Nation (TTPN) report compares responses from the surveys conducted in August 2022, February 2023, and August 2023.
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ItemNot able to save for a rainy day(Melbourne Institute, The University of Melbourne, 2023-11-08)Are Australians saving for a rainy day? For those not facing challenges covering everyday bills, most would draw from savings or assets if faced with a financial emergency. But for those with current financial challenges, being able to cover an emergency expense is more challenging.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableSelf-control and unhealthy body weight: the role of impulsivity and restraint(Melbourne Institute, 2022-01-01)We examine the relationship between trait self-control and body weight. Data from a population representative household survey reveal that limited self-control is strongly associated with both objective and subjective measures of unhealthy body weight. Those with limited self-control are characterised by reduced exercising, repeated dieting, unhealthier eating habits, and poorer nutrition. We propose an empirical method to isolate two facets of self-control limitations—high impulsivity and low restraint. Each has differential predictive power. Physical activity, dieting, and overall body weight are more strongly associated with restraint; impulsivity is more predictive of when, where, and what people eat.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableThe rural-urban poverty gap in England after the 2008 financial crisis: exploring the effects of budgetary cuts and welfare reforms(ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2023-01-01)