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Jenny Corbett

Leading the leaders

22 May 2017

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Professor Jenny Corbettt is Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and Research Training) at ANU. She is also Reader in the Economy of Japan at the University of Oxford, a Research Fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR, London) and a Research Associate of the Centre for Japanese Economy and Business at Columbia University.

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One of the region’s most respected economists, Crawford School’s Professor Jenny Corbett, has been appointed the new head of the Arndt-Corden Department of Economics (ACDE).

Distinguished Professor Corbett, an expert in the Japanese economy as well as financial and banking regulation in Asia, will take charge of the department until the end of the year with the specific task of working with colleagues to develop a new strategy for Asia-Pacific Economics at Crawford School.

Professor Corbett will work alongside new ACDE Deputy Director Dr Creina Day, and Associate Professor Blane Lewis who will take on the role of the Indonesia Project at ACDE.

The Arndt-Corden Department was named after two of Australia’s economic legends – development economist Heinz (HW) Arndt, and trade policy economist Max Corden. The Department was founded in the early 1960s and was initially led by Sir John Crawford. The Department’s academic purpose was unique in Australia: to study the ‘economies of the Pacific and Southeast Asia’. For more than five decades the Department has been a global leader in studying the economies of the region. It now works on theoretical and applied problems of international economics and development, covering macroeconomics and finance, agriculture, industrialisation, the economics of poverty, labour migration, environmental policy, decentralisation, and international trade and capital flows while maintaining its emphasis on the countries of Southeast, Northeast and South Asia, and the Southwest Pacific.

In her new role, Professor Corbett will work with ACDE colleagues to review current activities, identify the school’s considerable strengths and develop a strategy to help the school meet the emerging needs of a rapidly-changing region.

“This is a great honour for me,” said Professor Corbett.

“ACDE isn’t just an academic area, it’s also one of the fundamental pillars in the creation of the University. For many decades it has produced the finest scholarship that has helped academics, students, and – importantly – policymakers make sense of the world’s most dynamic and rapidly-developing region. The Department brings a unique blend of country expertise with discipline strength to its research, teaching and policy work.

“ACDE is home to some of the world’s leading expertise on the economies of Asia. But this a changing region, and we need to ensure that the purpose and strategy for the department is able to address these changes. I’m very much looking forward to working with such a talented group to develop the study of Asia-Pacific Economics at ANU and to contribute to economic understanding of the major issues facing the global economy.”

Crawford School Director Professor Helen Sullivan said the strategy would build on the great tradition of ACDE and enhance the linkages between specialist expertise and broad, fundamental economics research across Crawford School.

“It is appropriate that the department is led by such a distinguished scholar and experienced university leader as it approaches the next phase of its development,” said Professor Sullivan.

“It is important that we honour the legacy of all those who have led and worked in ACDE. The new strategy will be developed with that in mind and informed by the views of our stakeholders in the region who have always played a big part in the life of the department.”

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