Publications

The decades-long dispute over scale effects in the theory of economic growth Steven Bond-Smith The so-called ‘new growth theory’ is characterized by the now Nobel Prize winning insight that ideas are a non-rival input to and output from endogenous investment in innovation. Non-rivalry implies increasing returns to scale, but this also unintentionally creates an... Read article 1 March 2019Working Papers Read More
The social and economic sustainability of WA’s rural volunteer workforce Kirsten Holmes, Amanda Davies, Leonie A. Lockstone-Binney Volunteering is critical to the survival and success of rural communities in Western Australia (WA). The past two decades have seen an increase in the community services delivered by volunteers and demand on the volunteer workforce has intensified. Yet, according to data collected... Read article 26 February 2019Feature Read More
Explaining the evolution of ethnicity differentials in academic achievements: The role of time investments Ha Nguyen, Luke B. Connelly, Huong Thu Le, Francis Mitrou, Catherine L. Taylor, Stephen R Zubrick Children of Asian immigrants in most English-speaking destinations have better academic outcomes, yet the underlying causes of their advantages are under-studied. We employ panel time-use diaries by two cohorts of children observed over a decade to present new evidence that... Read article 15 February 2019Working Papers Read More
Enhancing niche tourism Kerry Brown, Subas Dhakal, Mirjam Wiedemann, Lisa Daniel This research builds a profile and understanding of the capacity of regions to benefit from extending their traditional industrial base to include value-added niche activities. These investigations into locally based agri-food systems and niche tourism deliver research findings to support goals to capitalise... Read article 13 February 2019Feature Read More
BCEC Monthly Labour Market Update – January 2019 Alan Duncan, Rebecca Cassells, Yashar Tarverdi Welcome to the January 2019 edition of the BCEC Monthly Labour Market Update. Produced monthly, this economic commentary explores the latest labour force data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), providing expert insights and analysis around key labour market indicators. We’ve... Read article 5 February 2019Monthly Labour Market Updates Read More
BCEC Newsletter Summer 2019 Edition Kelly Pohatu, Joanne Peckitt Welcome to our first tri-annual newsletter for 2019. This year is set to be another strong year for BCEC and we look forward to reporting these highlights to you in the months to come. In this edition, we look back... Read article 31 January 2019Corporate Publications Read More
The impact of compatibility on innovation in markets with network effects Steven Bond-Smith This article analyses the relationship between compatibility and innovation in markets with network effects using a model of competition with endogenous R&D, commercialization and compatibility. Compatibility is a mutual decision between firms and demand is partially dependent on overall consumption... Read article 31 January 2019Journal Articles Read More
Self-assessed versus statistical evidence of racial discrimination: The case of indigenous Australians Alan Duncan, Astghik Mavisakalyan, Yashar Tarverdi This paper provides new insights on the labour market discrimination faced by indigenous Australians – one of the most disadvantaged indigenous populations in developed countries. Combining two large, nationally-representative datasets, we decompose the employment gap between indigenous and non-indigenous populations as of 2014-2015,... Read article 8 January 2019Journal Articles Read More
Gender and climate change: Do female parliamentarians make difference? Astghik Mavisakalyan, Yashar Tarverdi This paper investigates whether female political representation in national parliaments influences climate change policy outcomes. Based on data from a large sample of countries, we demonstrate that female representation leads countries to adopt more stringent climate change policies. We exploit... Read article 1 January 2019Journal Articles Read More
Macroeconomic Fluctuations in Home Countries and Immigrants’ Well-Being Ha Nguyen, Alan Duncan This article exploits plausibly exogenous changes in macroeconomic conditions across home countries over time and panel individual data to examine the causal impact of home countries’ macroeconomic conditions on immigrants’ well-being in Australia. We present new and robust evidence that... Read article 18 December 2018Journal Articles Read More
To Health and Happiness Steven Bond-Smith, Alan Duncan, Astghik Mavisakalyan, Richard Seymour, Yashar Tarverdi We often hear that an ageing Western Australian population will have a profound impact on our labour market and economy. However, it is the pressure that this changing demographic is placing on our health system that may cause the largest social impact of... Read article 7 December 2018Focus on Industry Read More
BCEC Quarterly Economic Commentary – December 2018 Alan Duncan, Daniel Kiely, Silvia Salazar This Western Australia Quarterly Economic Commentary analyses the most recent data on economic and social indicators for WA, as at Q4 2018. This quarter we we see that the WA economy has returned to positive growth, driven by the strength of a... Read article 6 December 2018Quarterly Economic Commentary  |  Economic Commentary Read More