Productivity and Innovation

The National Innovation and Science Agenda has committed significant amounts of funding to twenty eight action areas, which include de-risking start-ups; investing in STEM; attracting and keeping overseas entrepreneurs; and improving university-industry connectedness, amongst others. These measures signal that promoting a culture of innovation is essential to Australia’s economic growth and future prosperity.

Projects under this theme explore the opportunity and challenges for businesses, individuals and government to drive prosperity through improved productivity and innovation. Research under this theme investigates issues such as barriers and enablers to productivity, and the impacts of infrastructure development and investment, public services, as well as tax and regulatory burdens on economic growth in WA, and opportunities and barriers to innovation for micro-businesses and SMEs, which make up a significant proportion of all businesses in the Australian economy.

Related Publications

See All
Forecasting the stock-cryptocurrency relationship: Evidence from a dynamic GAS model Kris Ivanovski, Abebe Hailemariam The impact of cryptocurrency on other assets has become a subject of intense research, given the rise of digital currency over the last decade. However, unlike traditional assets, cryptocurrency has been subject to extreme movements in price and volatility. As... Read article 15 March 2023Journal Articles Read More
Understanding utility hardship Graham Hansen, Eva Perroni, Silvia Salazar Access to energy and water is essential for people’s health, wellbeing and security, and to meet all of their basic needs. This is recognised in the United Nations Development, 2030 Agenda for Sustainable which sets out the goals of ensuring... Read article 9 December 2022Research Reports Read More
Canning Vale Food Value Add Precinct Alex Buckland, Alan Duncan, Elizabeth Jackson, Silvia Salazar, Billy Sung The City of Canning engaged the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC) to assess the economic case and potential opportunities of a food value add precinct in the Canning Vale industrial area. This report, Canning Vale Food Value Add Precinct, assesses the economic... Read article 24 June 2022Research Reports Read More
BCEC Policy Briefing: Western Australia State Budget 2022-23 Alan Duncan This new BCEC Policy Brief assesses the Western Australia State Budget 2022-23 delivered by WA Premier and Treasurer Mark McGowan on 12 May. Premier McGowan took advantage of the state’s strong economic performance to hand down a measured budget that... Read article 13 May 2022Policy Insights  |  Economic Policy  |  Health and Wellbeing  |  Social Issues  |  Taxation and Welfare  |  Workforce and Skills Read More
Discretely innovating: The effect of limited market contestability on innovation and growth Steven Bond-Smith I consider the impact of market contestability on innovation and growth. To examine this, I use discrete entry (i.e. an integer number of firms) as a tool to vary contestability in each sector of a disaggregated multi-sector endogenous growth model.... Read article 24 November 2021Journal Articles Read More
Autonomous vehicles and cycling: Policy implications and management issues Simone Pettigrew, John D. Nelson, Richard Norman Cycling as a form of active transport has great benefits for individuals and society, yet prevalence rates in many countries are low. The advent of autonomous vehicles (AVs) is likely to have substantial implications for cyclists, however little is known... Read article 11 August 2020Journal Articles Read More