Improving SME tax compliance without increasing revenue? Evidence from a population-wide randomized controlled trial in Papua New Guinea (Cancelled)

‘Nudges’ have increased tax revenue in settings with high rates of compliance and effective enforcement, but can they work in countries that lack these conditions? The study tests this through a population-wide randomised control trial of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Papua New Guinea — a setting where no one has faced criminal charges for non-compliance and where 95 per cent of registered SMEs do not make the required monthly Salaries and Wages Tax (SWT) lodgements.

Long-term effects of Agent Orange on health capital in Vietnam

This study examines the long-term health consequences of the spraying of deforestation chemicals by the US military during the Vietnam war. One of these was Agent Orange, which contained highly toxic dioxins, the harmful effect of which on humans is through food, water and soil contamination. The study exploits spatial variation in the intensity of spraying to provide evidence of the long-term effect of these dioxins on health capital, as measured by the prevalence of disability among exposed civilians.

Book launch: Hybrid public policy innovations

Politics remains mired in ideological preconceptions about what is optimal, often landing us in bad policy. Too often we see a simplistic and false dichotomy between partisan claims that markets are the best policy tool because they are efficient, or that government should lead because this ensures equity. This is a major drag on our progress and prosperity because today’s policy challenges typically require hybrid policy solutions: sophisticated combinations of government and market tools that promote both efficiency and equity simultaneously.

Exploring the applications of a sophisticated stochastic volatility model

In this seminar Beili Zhu will provide an overview of her recent paper, Bayesian analysis of a moving average stochastic volatility model with leverage and heavy-tailed distributions using scale mixtures.

Internal and external balance: A new paradigm for resource-rich developing countries

Resource rich developing countries are identified by the high share of resource exports in GDP or total exports, and low levels of income per capita. We suggest two further typical features: that resource sectors are enclaves, and that foreign ownership of the resources sector is high (net factor income is large and negative). We incorporate these new features into a simple model of internal and external balance, and using this framework we suggest a new paradigm for policy-setting in resource-rich developing countries.

Takeover: foreign investment and the Australian psyche

Join The Australian’s Economics Editor David Uren as he discusses his latest book Takeover (published by Black Inc.) with economist and Shadow Assistant Treasurer Andrew Leigh MP.

Together they’ll explore the history of foreign investment in Australia – both the economics and the politics. From the fights between the protectionists and free traders of the nineteenth century to our relationships with the US, Britain, Japan and China, and on to the rise of Google and Uber.

The economics of hydropower: integrating downstream externalities and multiple water uses into dam operator decision-making

In this thesis proposal review, Paul Wyrwoll will present research that applies economic theory and modelling to the problem of maximising social benefits from hydropower dams and reservoirs. Dams disrupt natural river flow regimes and can impose large negative costs on downstream ecosystems and economic sectors, including fisheries, agriculture and industry. Water stored in reservoirs can be directed towards beneficial uses aside from energy, such as irrigation and water supply.