Michael Dockery

Biography

Professor Mike Dockery is a Principal Research Fellow at the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre. From 2011 to 2017, Mike led the Population Mobility and Labour Markets Project for the CRC for Remote Economic Participation, and was Director of the Centre for Labour Market Research from 2010 to 2013. He has worked extensively on competitive research grants and contracted research for a wide range of government departments, policy agencies, and private organisations.

Mike’s research focuses on improving labour market, education, and wellbeing outcomes for marginalised groups within society. He has produced seminal works on the positive effects of cultural engagement and identity on wellbeing for Indigenous Australians and published over 60 papers in national and international journals, plus numerous book chapters and research reports.  Other areas of focus include the economics of education, subjective wellbeing and ‘happiness’, and links between housing, health, and socio-economic outcomes. Much of his research involves the application of longitudinal (panel) data, including data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey (HILDA), the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth, and Longitudinal Studies of Australian Children and of Indigenous Children.

Mike is frequently called upon to provide input into policy formulation by bodies such as the Productivity Commission and Fair Work Commission and won numerous competitive grants with the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute and National Centre for Vocational Education Research. His current projects include an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant on precarious housing, an AHURI Inquiry into the financing of Indigenous housing, and analysis of the effects of in-prison education and training on recidivism.  Mike is also on the editorial boards of the Australian Journal of Labour Economics and the Journal of Happiness Studies.