Australian PhD Conference in Economics and Business

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November 18-20

About the Conference

The annual PhD Conference in Economics and Business offers advanced PhD students in the fields of Economics and Finance at Australian universities opportunities to present their research and receive comments from prominent scholars in the area.

The Conference has three distinct aims. Firstly, it provides PhD students in economics, business and related areas with an opportunity to present their work in front of a world-class group of students and academics. Secondly, the Conference brings together students and academics with a wide range of backgrounds and interests. Finally, the Conference helps students and potential employers interact with each other in a relaxed atmosphere.

The conference was initiated in 1987 and is now a joint venture between the Australian National University, Monash University, the University of Melbourne, the University of Queensland, the University of New South Wales and the University of Western Australia. The conference is co-funded by these universities.

For any questions related to the conference please direct your enquiries to lenny.irwin@anu.edu or alternatively enquiries.rse@anu.edu.au

Conference Program

Program

Monday 18 November

TIME	Event
4:00 – 5:15pm	Welcome Reception Fred Gruen Economics Seminar Room HW Arndt Building 25A, The Australian National University, Kingsley Pl, Acton ACT 2601

TIME

Event

4:00 – 5:15pm

Welcome Reception

Fred Gruen Economics Seminar Room

HW Arndt Building 25A, The Australian National University, Kingsley Pl, Acton ACT 2601

Tuesday 19 November

Location: Floors 5 and 6, Marie Reay Teaching Centre (MRTC), 155 University Ave, Canberra ACT 2601

Session 1A – 3A: 5.02 MRTC
Session 1B – 3B: 5.04 MRTC
Session 1C – 3C: 5.05 MRTC
Panels, Catering, Group Photo & Housekeeping Chat: MRTC 6th Floor

TIME	Event
8:15 – 8.30am	Registration - Level 5 Lobby
8:30 – 8:55am	Welcome Remarks - Marie Reay 5.02 MRTC Teaching Room (Level 5) Chair: Cagri Seda Kumru ANU RSE Speaker: ANU CBE Dean Professor Steven Roberts
1A Health Economics I: 5.02 MRTC Chair: Teyu Cho, NCCU-Taiwan
9:00 – 9:45am	Is Children’s Mental Health Affected By Exposure To Natural Disasters? Evidence From Australia Presenter: Trang Huyen Dang, U of Adelaide Discussant: Gigi Foster, UNSW
9:45 – 10:30am	Parental Economic Uncertainty and its Effects on Child Behaviour and Well-being Presenter: Patrick Duenow, UQ Discussant: Giovanni van Empel, ANU
1B Public Finance: 5.04 MRTC Chair: Chung Tran, ANU RSE
9:00 – 9:45am	Tax Planning Under Pressure: The Impact of Carbon Management Post-Paris Agreement Presenter: Sistine Sun, UWA Discussant: Maria Racionero, ANU RSE
9:45 – 10:30am	Does Deterrence Treatment Have a Dynamic Impact on Tax Compliance? Evidence From Experimental Study in Indonesia Presenter: Agung Satyadini, ANU ACDE Discussant: Shawn Chen, UWA
1C Game Theory and Applications I: 5.05 MRTC Chair: Ruitian Lang, ANU RSE
9:00 – 9:45am	Does the Leader Selection Mechanism Affect Leaders' Behaviour? Presenter: Muhammad Arslan Iqbal, Uni Melb Discussant: Evan Calford, ANU RSE
9:45 – 10:30am	Cooperation, Growth, and Inequality: An Analysis of Punishment under Imperfect Public Monitoring using the Dynamic Public Goods Game Presenter: Sanket Sen, Auckland Discussant: Virginie Masson, U of Adelaide
10:30 – 10:55am	Morning Tea – Marie Reay 6.02 Teaching Room (Level 6 Super Floor)
10:55 – 11:00am	Group Photo – Marie Reay 6.02 Teaching Room (Level 6 Super Floor)
11:00 – 12:20pm	Panel 1: Job Market – Marie Reay 6.02 Teaching Room Chair: Ken Clements, UWA Catherine de Fontenay, PC Jerome Fahrer, ACIL Allen Paul Kofman, UniMelb
12:25 – 1:55pm	Lunch – Marie Reay 6.02 Teaching Room (Level 6 Super Floor)
2A Econometrics - Theory and Applications: 5.02 MRTC Chair: Thomas Yang, ANU RSE
2:00 – 2:45pm	Under the Water: Flood Impacts and Economic Dynamics in Northern Peru Presenter: Jose Cobian-Alvarez, ACDE Discussant: Denzil Fiebig, UNSW
2:45 – 3:30pm	Causal Interpretation of Least Square Estimand under Model- and Design-Based Specification Presenter: Fangzhou Yu, UNSW Discussant: Rodney Strachan, UQ
2B Applied Microeconomics I: 5.04 MRTC Chair: Bruce Chapman, ANU RSE
2:00 – 2:45pm	Post-Pandemic Labour Reallocation, Size-Dependent Distortions, and Digitalization Presenter: Pakasa Bary, UNSW Discussant: Matthew Lilley, ANU RSE
2:45 – 3:30pm	Crime in the Digital Age: Do Cyber Attacks Lead to Identity Theft? Presenter: Keshini Muthukuda, UQ Discussant: Ashley Craig, ANU RSE
2C Consumption-Saving-Wages: 5.05 MRTC Chair: Sephorah Mangin, ANU RSE
2:00 – 2:45pm	Policy Tree Descendant Algorithm for Solving Consumption-Savings Problems with Safety Net Presenter: Wending Liu, ANU RSE Discussant: Petr Sedlacek, UNSW
2:45 – 3:30pm	Regional Minimum Wage and the Gender Wage Gap Presenter: Hang Anh Nguyen, Wollongong Discussant: Elena Capatina, ANU RSE
3:30 – 3:55pm	Afternoon Tea – Marie Reay 6.02 Teaching Room (Level 6 Super Floor)
3A Health Economics II: 5.02 MRTC Chair: Yijuan Chen, ANU RSE
4:00 – 4:45pm	Long-Term Exposure to Emotional Cues and Domestic Violence Presenter: Sara Hutchinson Tovar, Monash Discussant: Bruce Chapman, ANU RSE
4:45 – 5:30pm	Individualized Disability Support Schemes and their Impact on Autism Diagnoses Presenter: Maathumai Ranjan, ANU ACDE Discussant: Steeve Marchand, UniMelb
3B Labor Economics: 5.04 MRTC Chair: Sarah Dong, ANU ACDE
4:00 – 4:45pm	Robots and the Gender Wage Gap: A Cross-Country Analysis Presenter: Erica Lukas, UWA Discussant: Kailing Shen, ANU RSE
4:45 – 5:30pm	Decomposing Earnings Inequality: Accounting For Changes in Labor Market Composition in Pakistan, 2001-2020 Presenter: Waseem Akram, Wollongong Discussant: Sutanuka Roy, ANU RSE
3C Financial Economics: 5.05 MRTC Chair: Teyu Cho, NCCU-Taiwan
4:00 – 4:45pm	Navigating ESG Storms: ESG Incidents and Earnings-based Incentives in CEO Compensation Presenter: Shuying Wu, UniMelb Discussant: Frank Liu, UWA
4:45 – 5:30pm	Stand to Your Post: An Assessment of Retention Bonuses in the Australian Army Presenter: James Plummer, USyd Discussant: Motohiro Kumagai, ANU RSE

TIME	Event
6:00 - 8:00pm	Welcome Dinner Fred Gruen Economics Seminar Room HW Arndt Building 25A, The Australian National University, Kingsley Pl, Acton ACT 2601

TIME

Event

6:00 -

8:00pm

Welcome Dinner

Fred Gruen Economics Seminar Room

HW Arndt Building 25A, The Australian National University, Kingsley Pl, Acton ACT 2601

Wednesday 20 November

Location: Floors 5 and 6, Marie Reay Teaching Centre (MRTC), 155 University Ave, Canberra ACT 2601

Session 4A – 5A: 5.02 MRTC
Session 4B – 5B: 5.04 MRTC
Session 4C – 5C: 5.05 MRTC
Panels , Plenary talk, and Catering: MRTC 6th Floor

TIME	Event
8:30 – 8:55am	Housekeeping Chat – Marie Reay 6.02 Teaching Room (Level 6 Super Floor)
4A Game Theory and Applications II: 5.02 MRTC Chair: Evan Calford, ANU RSE
9:00 – 9:45am	(In)complete Information Bargaining Presenter: Toan Le, UniMelb Discussant: Simon Grant, ANU RSE
9:45 – 10:30am	Leveraging Benchmarks via Information Design Presenter: Christopher Teh, UNSW Discussant: Idione Meneghel, ANU RSE
4B Macroeconomics and Finance: 5.04 MRTC Chair: Bruce Chapman, ANU RSE
9:00 – 9:45am	Housing Market Dynamics and Systemic Risk Presenter: Rerotlhe B. Basele, Macquarie Discussant: Patrick Beissner, ANU RSE
9:45 – 10:30am	Addressing the Rising Revenue Requirements with Minimal Welfare Consequences Presenter: Khademul Chowdhury, ANU RSE Discussant: Paul Gretton, ANU ACDE
4C Trade: 5.05 MRTC Chair: Bob Gregory, ANU RSE
9:00 – 9:45am	Marine Fishing Explains Large-scale Behavioral and Psychological Differences in Japan and Worldwide Presenter: An Huang, Monash Discussant: Yu Sheng, ANU ACDE
9:45 – 10:30am	Market Size and the Evaluation of Future Trade Agreements: The Role of Population and TFP Growth Presenter: Kumuthini Sivathas, U of Adelaide Discussant: Glenn Withers, ANU ACDE
10:30 – 10:55am	Morning Tea – Marie Reay 6.02 Teaching Room (Level 6 Super Floor)
11:00am – 12:20pm	Plenary Talk – Marie Reay 6.02 Teaching Room Chair: Cagri Seda Kumru Title: Bang for the Buck: Aggregate Impact of Firm Level R&D Incentives Speaker: Professor Petr Sedlacek, UNSW
12:25 – 1:55pm	Lunch – Marie Reay 6.02 Teaching Room (Level 6 Super Floor)
5A Game Theory and Applications III: 5.02 MRTC Chair: Idione Meneghel, ANU RSE
2:00 – 2:45pm	When Speed is of Essence: Perishable Goods Auctions Presenter: Cong Tao, UTS Discussant: Jose Rodrigues-Neto, ANU RSE
2:45 – 3:30pm	Family Time and Income Allocation Problem Presenter: Rongzhao Zhu, ANU RSE Discussant: Marco Faravelli, UQ
5B Development Economics: 5.04 MRTC Chair: Ken Clements, UWA
2:00 – 2:45pm	An Examination of Centralized Local Governance and Development Through Turkey’s New Mega-Municipalities Presenter: Ramazan Bora, UQ Discussant: Paul Burke, ANU ACDE
2:45 – 3:30pm	Is Knowledge Diffusion from Breakthrough Innovation Geographically Localised? Presenter: Mohammad Danish, Swinburne Discussant: Reshad Ahsan, UMelb
5C Applied Microeconomics II: 5.05 MRTC Chair: Yurui Zhang, ANU RSE
2:00 – 2:45pm	Do Australian Consumers Prefer Accessing Oral Contraceptive Pills Over the counter? A Discrete Choice Experiment Presenter: Zobaida Ahmed Piu, Macquarie Discussant: Yijuan Chen, ANU RSE
2:45 – 3:30pm	Citations to the Editorial Board: Analysing the Transformation of Working Papers into Articles in Economics Journals Presenter: Ivan Aranzales Acero, QUT Discussant: David Stern, ANU ACDE
3:30 – 3:55pm	Afternoon Tea – Marie Reay 6.02 Teaching Room (Level 6 Super Floor). Awards Voting Opens.
4:00 – 5:20pm 5:20 - 5:30pm	Panel 2: Publishing in Academic Journals - Marie Reay 6.02 Teaching Room (Level 6 Super Floor) Chair: Bob Gregory, ANU RSE Professor Simon Grant, ANU RSE Professor Renée Fry-McKibbin, ANU ACDE Professor Xin Meng, ANU RSE Awards Ceremony - Marie Reay 6.02 Teaching Room (Level 6 Super Floor). Presented by Cagri Seda Kumru.
6:00 – 9:00pm Conference Dinner & Dinner Talk Location: Peninsula Room (National Museum of Australia, 1 Lawson Cres, Acton ACT 2601)

6:20 – 7:00pm	Dinner Panel – A Brave New World of an Avalanche of New Data Chair: Bob Gregory, ANU RSE Speaker 1: David Gruen, ABS Speaker 2: Professor Robert Breunig, ANU ACDE

Housekeeping

Important Session information for Chairs, Discussants & Student Presenters, please see document.

Conference Organizers

Associate Professor Cagri Seda Kumru

Cagri S Kumru is an Associate Professor of Economics, an Associate Investigator at the Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research and a Research Associate at the ANU Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis. His research spans macroeconomics, public economics and behavioral economics. Cagri is mainly interested in the macroeconomic implications of various tax and social insurance programs. He also works with large scale computational models, often enriching them with insights taken from the behavioral economics literature. Some of Cagri’s work has been funded by the Australian Research Council and the US Social Security Administration Michigan Retirement Centre. Cagri’s research appears in top-ranked economics journals including Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, European Economic Review, Journal of Macroeconomics, Journal of Public Economic Theory, Economic Inquiry and Macroeconomic Dynamics.

Professor Bob Gregory

Bob Gregory began his career in economics at University of Melbourne graduating with a B.Com. with 1st class Honours in Economics in 1961. In 1967 he received his PhD from the London School of Economics. He commenced at the Department of Economics at the Research School of Social Sciences at ANU in 1969, was made a Professor in 1981, and has been Head of Department since 1987.

Professor Gregory has made major contributions to the development of economic policy in Australia. From 1985-95 he was a member of the Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia, and from 1986-91 he was a member of the Australian Sciences and Technology Council.

Professor Gregory is an elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (1979), and has been nominated the Economic Society of Australia Distinguished Fellow (2001). In 1983-84 he held the Chair in Australian Studies at Harvard University. In 1996 Professor Gregory was awarded the Order of Australia Medal.

Outside of his time at ANU, Professor Gregory has also held positions as Visiting Professor at Northwestern University and University of Chicago, as a Visiting Scholar at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington D.C., and at the Industries Assistance Commission. He has been President of the Economic Society of Australia (1997-99), and Editor of the Economic Record, the leading Australian economics journal, as well as serving on Editorial Boards of numerous international journals.

Conference Advisor

Professor Kenneth Clements

I have been at UWA since 1981 as a Professor of Economics (1981-2018), BHP Research Fellow (2008-2017) and Emeritus Professor and Senior Honorary Research Fellow (2019-). I have expertise in international finance, monetary economics and applied microeconomics. My research has been supported by a series of grants from BHP, the ARC and other sources. I have published research in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, European Economic Review, International Economic Review, Journal of Business, Journal of International Economics, etc. Cambridge University Press has published two of my books, Economics and Marijuana (with X. Zhao, 2009) and Currencies, Commodities and Consumption (2013).

In 2024 I was named Distinguished Fellow of the Economic Society Award. I received the Austin Holmes Award Awarded in 2018 from the WA Branch of the Economic Society of Australia for contributions to the profession. I am a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia (since 1998); received a Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning from the Australian Learning and Teaching Council in 2009; and served as a Member of the ERA 2015 Economics and Commerce Research Evaluation Committee, Australia Research Council.

Plenary Speaker

Professor Petr Sedlacek

Petr is a Professor of Economics at the UNSW Business School. Prior to joining UNSW, he was a Professor at the University of Oxford, where he is still an Associate Member. His research primarily focuses on labor markets, worker and firm heterogeneity and the influence of startups and young businesses on the rest of the economy. Petr has advised the European Commission and his research has attracted several grants and awards.

Panel 1 – Job Market

Panel moderator: Professor Kenneth Clements

Panel speakers

Catherine de Fontenay

Commissioner, Productivity Commission
President, Economic Society of Australia

Catherine de Fontenay commenced a 5 year term as a full time Commissioner with the Productivity Commission in July 2019. After completing her PhD in 1998 at Stanford University, Catherine taught at the University of New South Wales. She joined the University of Melbourne in 2001, and held roles in the Business School and the Economics Department. She has held visiting positions at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, Stanford University, and the Stern School of Business, New York University. Most recently she was an Associate Professor of Economics at the Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne.

Her research has been published in a number of international journals, including the American Economic Review, the RAND Journal of Economics, and the Journal of Industrial Economics. In competition economics, her research has focused on firm-to-firm negotiations, and how mergers or exclusive dealing contracts will affect negotiated outcomes. She has also researched topics from organisational economics and development economics.

https://www.pc.gov.au/about/people-structure/commissioners/catherine-de-fontenay

Jerome Fahrer

Director, ACIL Allen Consulting

Prior to joining ACIL Allen in 1995, Jerome was a senior official of the Reserve Bank of Australia. He was a member of the Tasmanian Government’s Expert Review Panel on the Electricity Industry.

Jerome was educated at University of New South Wales and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours), Master of Public Affairs Administration, Master of Arts, and PhD.

https://acilallen.com.au/our-people/fahrer-jerome

Paul Kofman

Dean, Business & Economics

University of Melbourne

Professor Paul Kofman holds a PhD in Economics (1991) from Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He came to Australia in 1994 as a Lecturer in Econometrics at Monash University.

After subsequent positions at UNSW and UTS, he was appointed as Professor of Finance at The University of Melbourne in 2001 and was Head of Department from 2006 until 2010. Following two years as Deputy Dean (Faculty), he became Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics in May 2012. Professor Kofman currently holds the Sidney Myer Chair of Commerce. His main research interest is in quantitative finance and the ethics of finance, but he has also published papers in international trade, econometrics, and actuarial journals, including the Financial Analysts Journal, the Journal of Applied Econometrics, the Journal of Banking and Finance, the Journal of International Economics, and the Journal of Business and Economic Statistics. He has received numerous research grants including ARC discovery and linkage grants. He is an associate editor of the Journal of International Money & Finance, the International Journal of Managerial Finance, the Review of Futures Markets and JASSA.

https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/profile/7994-paul-kofman

Panel 2: Publishing in Academic Journals

Panel Moderator: Professor Bob Gregory

Panel Speakers

Renée Fry-McKibbin

Renée Fry-McKibbin is a Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis (CAMA), Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. She has two decades of expertise in analyzing policy-relevant research questions around international macroeconomic and financial market shocks and their effects, mainly for small, open, resource-rich economies like Australia. She directs three research programs in CAMA, is a research associate in both the Centre for Applied Macro and Petroleum Economics (CAMP) at the BI Norwegian Business School (2012-) and the H.O. Stekler Research Program in Forecasting at George Washington University in Washington, DC (2014-). She was Interim Director of Crawford School of Public Policy in 2022 and has been Associate Dean (Research) for the College of Asia and the Pacific, Director of CAMA in 2012-2014 and Deputy Director in 2010-2012.

Renee holds several leadership positions in the wider economics and social sciences community. In 2022-2023, she was one of three panelists who conducted an independent review of the Reserve Bank of Australia, with most of the 51 recommendations adopted by the institution and the Australian government. In 2022, the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia appointed her as the Chair of the Disciplines of Business and Economics. In 2023, she was elected to the Regional Standing Committee of the Econometrics Society for Australasia. She is a member of the Economics Society of Australia Central Council (2021-) and a board member of the Australasian Macroeconomics Society (2014-). She is also a member of the Go8 Economics Advisory Group. She has editorship positions at several journals, including Editor of the Economic Record (2021-), following six years as Co-Editor (2015-2020). She is/was an Associate Editor for three international journals, including the International Review of Economics and Finance (2019- ), Finance Research Letters (2016-) and the Journal of Banking & Finance (2014-2019). In 2018, she was a member of the ARC Research Excellence Committee to evaluate the Excellence in Research Australia (ERA) submissions for the Economics and Commerce for all universities in Australia for the Australian Research Council.

Professor Simon Grant

Simon Grant is a Professor and John C. Harsanyi Chair of Economics. He is also an Elected Fellow of The Econometric Society, The Australian Academy of Social Sciences, and The Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory. Simon’s research interests are broadly in microeconomics, decision theory and game theory. In particular, Simon looks at developing theories of rational decision in the presence of uncertainty and/or unawareness. He has also worked on: applying non-expected utility theory to games, bargaining and social choice; and examining and modelling boundedly rational decision makers with limited awareness in the presence of uncertainty, and applying these models to economic settings involving strategic interactions and social choice. Simon has written on these topics and his research has appeared in leading academic journals including Econometrica, American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy and Journal of Economic Theory.

Professor Xin Meng

Xin Meng is Professor of Economics. Xin is also a member of Australian Academy of Social Sciences, and member of various economic associations and societies. Xin’s research spans four main themes: 1.

The Chinese labour market during transition, including changes in income distribution and poverty, the impact of labour market rigidities on economic development, and the effect of economic shocks on consumption; 2. The influence of institutions and culture on gender discrimination in developing and developed countries; 3. The economic implications of rural-urban migration in developing countries and the economic assimilation of immigrants in developed countries; and 4. Economic and behavioural implications of major catastrophes, such as the impact of the Chinese famine and Cultural Revolution on life time earnings and welfare of individuals and families. Xin spent over ten years leading a major research project on the Rural-Urban Migration in China (the RUMiC). The project conducted a panel survey of rural-urban migrants for nine consecutive years (2008-2016) and the first three waves of data are available publically. Xin’s research has been supported by multiple funders including the Australian Research Council’s Discovery and Linkage Project schemes on five occasions, as well as by organisatons such as the Australian Government Department, AusAID, the Ford Foundation and World Bank. Xin’s work has been published in leading journals including Science, Review of Economic Studies, The Economic Journal, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Journal of Labour Economics, Journal of Development Economics, Labour Economics, Journal of Public Economics, Oxford Economic Papers, Economic Development and Cultural Change, Review of Income and Wealth, Journal of Comparative Economics and Journal of Population Economics.

Dinner Speakers

Dr David Gruen AO, Australian Statistician

Dr David Gruen was appointed Australian Statistician on 11 December 2019. As Agency Head of the Australian Bureau of Statistics, he is accountable for the functions and operations of the Bureau.

David was previously the Deputy Secretary, Economic and Australia’s G20 Sherpa at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Before joining the Department in September 2014, he was Executive Director of the Macroeconomic Group at the Australian Treasury.

David joined the Treasury in January 2003, before which he was the Head of the Economic Research Department at the Reserve Bank of Australia from 1998 to 2002.

Before joining the Reserve Bank, David worked as a research scientist in the Research School of Physical Sciences at the Australian National University.

With financial support from a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship, David was visiting lecturer in the Economics Department and the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University from August 1991 to June 1993. He holds PhD degrees in physiology from Cambridge University, England and in economics from the Australian National University.

David was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (General Division) in 2022 for distinguished service to public administration, economic research, business, and education.

Robert Breunig

Robert Breunig is the director of the Tax and Transfer Policy Institute at the Crawford School of Public Policy. From 2015 to 2016 he was the Director of the Crawford School of Public Policy.

Professor Breunig is one of Australia’s leading Public Policy Economists. He has published in over 75 international academic journals in economics and public policy. Professor Breunig has made significant policy impact through a number of his research projects: the relationship between child care and women’s labour supply; the effect of immigration to Australia on the labour market prospects of Australians; the effect of switching to cash from food stamps in the U.S. food stamp program and the inter-generational transmission of disadvantage.

Professor Breunig’s research is motivated by important social policy issues and debates. His work is characterized by careful empirical study and appropriate use of statistical technique.

Professor Breunig’s research agenda has led to many partnerships with government organizations in Australia and overseas. He works regularly with the Australian Treasury, the Department of Employment, the Department of Education, the Department of Industry, the Department of Communication and the Arts, the Productivity Commission, the Australian Bureau of Statistics as well as many other agencies. He has been a consultant to the private sector on marketing, mergers, bank competition and customer loyalty programs.

Robert Breunig particularly enjoys interaction outside of typical academic circles and takes pleasure in helping those who don’t usually use economics or statistical analysis to better understand and make use of these tools in their work. He has an extensive track record of helping the Australian public service to build research capacity which he views as a particularly important activity.

Taxis/Uber

Canberra has three major economy taxi companies and Uber. These are ACT Cabs, Canberra Elite Taxis, Cabxpress, and Silver Service Taxis. To book one of their taxis, please refer to the contact details below.

ACT Cabs: 02 6280 0077

Canberra Elite Taxis: 02 6126 1600

Silver Service Taxis: 13 31 00

Uber is a popular alternative to taxis in Canberra. To order an Uber you need to download the Uber app onto a smartphone and register an account. You can then book an Uber through the app using your credit or debit card.

Accommodation

An exclusive deal has been negotiated with Novotel Canberra for presenters seeking accommodation in Canberra. Please see here for more details.

If you have been confirmed as a presenter, we encourage you to book ASAP!

Canberra

Canberra is a rare treat among Australian cities, providing a kaleidoscope of colour, activity and experiences based around our four distinct seasons. Whatever time of year you visit, you’re sure to find plenty of things to do in Canberra.

The weather does change markedly from season to season. Temperatures in summer average 27oC (80.6oF), while they drop to daily winter averages of 12°C (53.6oF). Canberra generally has low humidity, with dry heat in summer and cool winters. Given the city’s average elevation of 570m (1870 feet), frosts are common in winter and UV radiation can be high.

Make sure you pack clothing for a wide range of temperatures, and that you have access to water for hot days. Canberra water is safe to drink from the tap unless signed otherwise, and can be purchased bottled from most shops.

Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) from the sun can also reach extreme levels. Exposure to UVR can be damaging to health, leading to skin cancer and eye damage. If UVR levels are 3 or higher you should protect yourself from the sun. The Bureau of Meteorology (or BOM) provide current and predicted UVR levels for each day in their weather forecast.

Marie Reay Teaching Centre

We will be hosting the conference on floors 5 and 6 of the Marie Reay Teaching Centre, at the heart of the ANU campus’s Kambri Precinct.

The Kambri Precinct offers a collection of world-class spaces, meeting areas, shops, and cultural activities.