533 research outputs found
Solar adoption and the decisive role of the feed-in tariff policy
No full textAvailable online 20 April 2023Abstract not availableLuan Thanh Nguyen, Shyama Ratnasiri, Liam Wagner, Dan The Nguyen, Nicholas Rohd
Evidence of the rebound effect from installing rooftop solar in a developing country
No full textSession A9. Renewables 1Luan T. Nguyen, Nicholas Rohde, Shyama Ratnasiri, Liam Wagne
Child gender and differences in risky health behavior among parents
No full textThis paper documents differences in health outcomes and behaviors between parents who raise daughters and those who raise sons. Using Australian panel data from 2001 to 2019, we use OLS regression models to show that parents with daughters are physically healthier, a result linked to a reduced tendency to engage in risky behaviors such as binge drinking and smoking. The random nature of child gender implies our outcome gaps are likely to be causal, and the estimates survive a collection of diagnostics related to identification. We search for evidence that these effects occur via a general change in risk aversion, but this hypothesis is not supported. Fathers with daughters are actually more risk-seeking in both their broader life attitudes, and in their views on financial investment. We argue that this heterogeneity may come from a “breadwinner” effect, as part of a set of gender-varying norms around socially acceptable risk-taking.No Full Tex
Endgame the betrayal and fall of Srebrenica, Europe's worst massacre since World War II
No full textIn Endgame: The Betrayal and Fall of Srebrenica: Europe's Worst Massacre Since World War II, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Rohde follows the experiences of seven central characters - three Muslims in Srebrenica, two Dutch peacekeepers charged with defending the surrounded town, and two Serb Army soldiers attacking it - through the ten-day period that changed the course of the war in Bosnia and was arguably the darkest hour in United Nations history. Drawing on previously undisclosed accounts of top-level UN meetings, internal documents, and hundreds of interviews with participants on all sides, Rohde exposes how the United States, France, Great Britain, the United Nations, and the Bosnian government - out of incompetence or cynicism - allowed 40,000 Muslims to fall into the hands of their potential executioners. Part of an apparent Serb endgame to win the war, Srebrenica's fall ended up playing a crucial role in the Clinton administration's "endgame strategy" that halted the conflict. The most comprehensive book to date on the subject, Endgame is a tale of cynical power politics in the post-Cold War era, a case study in genocide, and a disturbing testament to the power of propaganda and self-delusion
transition countries
No full textThis paper studies the impact of remittance flows on the size of informal economies in post-Soviet countries. We compile a unique data set from a cluster of transition economies and use panel data econometric models to estimate effect sizes. Identification comes from varying macroeconomic conditions in Russia, which are plausibly exogenous to currency demand in remittance–recipient countries. Our estimates indicate that, across our models, it seems plausible that around 25% of all remittances flow into the informal economies of the region. Since shadow economies facilitate numerous illegal activities (such as organised crime, informal money lenders and money laundering), stronger regulatory and institutional frameworks accompanied with provision of incentives for informal firms to be integrated in the formal economy are likely to curb undesirable economic behaviour.Full Tex
Economic insecurity : A socioeconomic determinant of mental health
No full textThe authors thank the anonymous referees of this journal, Paul Allanson, Nicholas Rohde, and participants at the IARIW 34th General Conference for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council [ES/J500136].Peer reviewe
Essays on Inequalities in Health
No full textThis thesis comprises four empirical essays on the different aspects of health inequality. These four chapters are written in the form of self-contained articles.
Chapter 3 explores the effects of inherited socioeconomic characteristics on markers of unhealthy body weight. Taking Australian microdata from 2007 to 2013, we show that approximately 4% of the variation in outcomes is determined by factors beyond an individual’s control, such as their race, gender and social class. Paternal socioeconomic status is the primary explanatory factor, with those born to more affluent fathers slightly less likely to be overweight in adulthood. Decompositions reveal that only 20%–25% of this effect is attributable to advantaged families exhibiting better health behaviours, implying that unobserved factors also play an important role. Since diseases associated with unhealthy weight significantly strain public healthcare systems, our results have implications for the provision of treatment when resources are constrained.
Chapter 4 specifies a multigeneration inequality-of-opportunity (IOP) model to study multigenerational health transmission mechanisms in Australian panel data. By applying IOP models, we demonstrate that grandparental socioeconomic status (SES) is an important determinant of personal health, even after controlling for health and SES at the parental level. Our findings hold over a range of mental and physical health outcomes and appear to be especially sensitive to educational outcomes on the father’s side. Since ingrained socioeconomic (dis)advantages that persist over multiple generations may be indicative of “social class,” our results suggest that subtle attitudinal and behavioural characteristics associated with this variable may be a key driver of health disparities.
Chapter 5 examines the effects of knowledge of HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus/ acquired immune deficiency syndrome) on HIV prevalence, instrumenting individuals’ knowledge of HIV using the level of maternal education. We use pooled Demographic and Health Surveys data from 21 countries in sub-Saharan Africa to show that knowledge about HIV transmission effectively reduces infection rates. Our results persist across a variety of indicators and are plausibly causal. Since educational attainment is passed across generations, the empirical findings of this chapter suggest that individuals born to educated mothers are safer from HIV than those born to less educated mothers.
Chapter 6 presents new evidence of the causal effect of air pollution on Australian health outcomes, using the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009 as a natural experiment. This event was one of the largest bushfires in Australian history and emitted approximately four million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. We use data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia panel and compare the health status of individuals living in affected and unaffected regions before and after the event. Using a triple differences procedure, we further examine whether there is a difference in vulnerability to bushfire smoke by comparing people living in urban and regional areas. The findings of this chapter demonstrate that ambient air pollution had significant negative effects on health and that the magnitudes were higher for individuals residing in urban areas.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)Dept Account,Finance & EconGriffith Business SchoolFull Tex
The Trimmed Bootstrap: A new empirical simulation technique for pension finance researchers
No full textEmpirical simulation in pension finance literature has gained prominence in recent
years. However, to date, the merit in applying such methodologies to pension finance
research has not been robustly examined. My research examines this issue and identifies that
contemporary non-parametric simulation methods used in the literature are frequently highly
inaccurate. To circumvent this issue, I derive a new methodology entitled the trimmed
bootstrap. This significantly more accurate technique can aid pension finance researchers in
deriving sound advice for plan members.
Further, through an optimisation test, this research finds evidence that the optimal asset
allocation technique for plan members is dynamic over time. More specifically, this research
identifies that the optimal technique de-risks towards retirement, akin to a target-date style
asset allocation. However, beyond retirement date, and once withdrawals commence in the
portfolio, the optimal technique returns risk to the asset allocation. This creates a ‘V’ shaped
asset allocation glide path.
Finally, the trimmed bootstrap methodology is robustly examined in a variety of
international markets. Through a series of out-of-sample tests and a novel forward-looking
measure, I show evidence that the trimmed bootstrap should become the default empirical
simulation technique for pension finance researchers. The trimmed bootstrap provides
researchers with a powerful tool to better predict future market states to optimise retirement
outcomes: this is the main contribution of this research to the pension finance literature.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)Dept Account,Finance & EconGriffith Business SchoolFull Tex
An "Economic" Ranking of Batters in Test Cricket
No full textThere is much debate within the cricket community over the relative greatness of various batters. Attempts to guide this debate using statistical techniques have thus far been unsatisfying due to difficulties in determining appropriate trade-offs between certain performance criteria. By applying the concepts of opportunity cost and supernormal profit to batting performance we are able to produce a cardinal ranking system that uses non-arbitrary weightings to rank players. The proposed method is used to score past and current players and we find that the Australian batsman Sir Donald Bradman is the highest performer with India's Sachin Tendulkar a close second. We also note that there is little public awareness of the greatest women batters and rank England's Rachael Heyhoe-Flint and Australia's Betty Wilson in the first two positions.Griffith Business School, Department of Accounting, Finance and EconomicsNo Full Tex
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