Australian Economic Review最新文献

{"title":"Working From Home: The Australian Experience","authors":"Inga Laβ,&nbsp;Mark Wooden","doi":"10.1111/1467-8462.70010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8462.70010","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This article reviews the experience in Australia with working from home (WFH). It briefly examines what is meant by WFH, highlighting the distinction between extension and replacement WFH and the importance of identifying those who work full days from home. It then presents evidence on the changing incidence of WFH in Australia and the types of workers who are most likely to work from home following the pandemic. It shows that around one in four workers regularly worked at least one full day from home in 2023, with hybrid work arrangements being more prevalent than working all days from home. Furthermore, WFH was concentrated in high-skilled white-collar office jobs. Finally, the growing body of research on the impacts of WFH on both workers and employers is reviewed. While there are both benefits and drawbacks, the Australian evidence mostly points to beneficial outcomes of WFH for workers. Far less is known about the impacts on employers, with Australian research being especially scarce.</p>","PeriodicalId":46348,"journal":{"name":"Australian Economic Review","volume":"58 2","pages":"154-162"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1467-8462.70010","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144244459","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Have Changes in the Australian Labour Market This Century Contributed to Rising Voter Disaffection?","authors":"Roger Wilkins","doi":"10.1111/1467-8462.70012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8462.70012","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Drawing on HILDA Survey data, this article provides an overview of changes in the Australian labour market since 2001 with a view to identifying whether these changes have the potential to contribute to a rise in disaffection in the community. Over the period since 2001 as a whole, employment and wage growth have been relatively broadly experienced across the community. However, some deterioration in labour market outcomes is evident for young men, and there is tentative evidence of rising disaffection among low-wage employees. Moreover, while the post-pandemic period has seen strong employment growth, real after-tax wages declined appreciably between 2021 and 2023, although these wage declines have been broadly felt.</p>","PeriodicalId":46348,"journal":{"name":"Australian Economic Review","volume":"58 2","pages":"140-153"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1467-8462.70012","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144245045","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Perception and Reality of Energy Poverty in Australia: Do They Shape Voting Intentions?","authors":"Kushneel Prakash,&nbsp;Sefa Awaworyi Churchill,&nbsp;Russell Smyth","doi":"10.1111/1467-8462.70011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8462.70011","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This study examines how energy poverty shapes voting intentions in Australia. We compare support for the major parties (Labor and the Liberal National Coalition) with support for the minor parties. We also examine how energy poverty influences two-party preferred voting intentions between the two major parties (Coalition and Labor). We find that energy-poor households have 8 percentage points lower probability of supporting either major party compared to alternatives and that energy poor households are 1.4 times more likely to intend to vote for right wing populist minor parties than other minor parties or independents. When comparing Labor and the Coalition directly, energy poverty reduces support for Labor by 3.7 percentage points, reflecting Labor's stronger climate policies that voters likely associate with higher energy costs, while the Coalition's fossil fuel-aligned stance appears to resonate more with energy stressed households. The findings contribute to economic voting theories by demonstrating how sector-specific financial stress can reshape political behaviour.</p>","PeriodicalId":46348,"journal":{"name":"Australian Economic Review","volume":"58 2","pages":"131-139"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1467-8462.70011","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144245044","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Disaffection in Australia","authors":"John P. de New,&nbsp;Elizabeth Webster","doi":"10.1111/1467-8462.70013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8462.70013","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;Support for minor parties and independents at Australian Federal elections more than doubled in two decades from 15% in 2007 to 33% in 2025. Relatedly, there has been consistent rises in popularist parties around the world, especially right-wing parties, this century. This includes Italy, France, Greece, Sweden, Netherlands, Hungary, Austria, Germany, USA, Poland, Belgium, and for a short period, the UK. In this policy forum, we examine whether this drift from centralist Australian political parties parallels the trends and drivers present in other Western economies.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Populism typically presents enticingly simple answers to address complex problems. The binary populist narrative of the ‘pure people’ against the ‘corrupt elite’ undermines democratic systems and erodes the rule of law (Hisarciklioglu et al. &lt;span&gt;2022&lt;/span&gt;; Aktas &lt;span&gt;2024&lt;/span&gt;). Studies suggest several motives: cultural conservativism (coupled with anti-immigration); distrust of institutions and elite experts; and economic insecurity from declining employment opportunities, globalism and poor career paths. These can be summarised as the loss of one's self-perceived ‘entitled’ status (Ali et al. &lt;span&gt;2023&lt;/span&gt;; Friedrichs &lt;span&gt;2025&lt;/span&gt;; Aktas &lt;span&gt;2024&lt;/span&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The less economically secure strata of society, those on low wages; the long-term unemployed, and people from declining industries, see elections as an opportunity to punish the political and economic mainstream. This anger is often fuelled by candidates who play into this antagonism – somewhat reminiscent of Europe post-WWI. Aktas (&lt;span&gt;2024&lt;/span&gt;) claims that the disaffected strata in Europe are frustrated with mainstream political parties' responses to economic and social problems.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Despite Australia's largely absolute rejection of extreme right platitudes in the 2025 federal election, which resembled right-wing politicians in the USA and Canada, it is clear that Australia must remain vigilant. Botha et al. (&lt;span&gt;2025&lt;/span&gt;) argue that although Australia has not yet experienced the extreme polarisation and democratic erosion observed elsewhere, current trends put Australia on a similar trajectory. The three studies in this Policy Forum use unit record (person-level) data over an extended period to identify the disaffected citizens who are attracted to the minor parties and to investigate which factors appear to be driving these views.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The first study by Prakash et al. (&lt;span&gt;2025&lt;/span&gt;) finds a negative association between experiencing energy poverty and voting intentions. They find that energy-poor households are 8 percentage points less likely to support either major party compared to alternatives and that energy-poor households are 1.4 times more likely to vote for right-wing populist minor parties compared with other minor parties or independents. They believe that experiencing energy poverty reduces support for renewable climate policies due to the perception that they raise","PeriodicalId":46348,"journal":{"name":"Australian Economic Review","volume":"58 2","pages":"115-116"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1467-8462.70013","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144245046","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Rational Disaffection? The Economic Origins of Minor-Party Voting in Australia","authors":"Ferdi Botha,&nbsp;William Nolan,&nbsp;Viet Hoang Nguyen,&nbsp;Kyle Peyton","doi":"10.1111/1467-8462.70008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8462.70008","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Support for minor parties and independents in Australia doubled from 15% in 2007 to 30% in 2022, ending decades of relative electoral stability. Using nearly 30 years of monthly consumer survey data, we examine whether this realignment is rooted in economic disaffection. Since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), growth in real GDP and GDP per capita has slowed markedly, while consumer sentiment—reflecting individuals' retrospective and prospective evaluations of their personal finances and the broader economy—has fallen to record lows. This increase in economic pessimism is evident across major demographic groups, suggesting that disaffection is broad-based rather than confined to particular constituencies. Voters with negative economic expectations are significantly more likely to support minor parties or independents, and this association has strengthened since the mid-2010s. The Greens have gained disproportionate support from younger voters, while other minor parties and independents have attracted more support from older cohorts. These findings show that declining economic prosperity—both real and perceived—has played an important role in Australia's post-GFC shift away from the two major parties. This is consistent with the view that voters are responding rationally to unmet policy demands and long-standing dissatisfaction with government performance.</p>","PeriodicalId":46348,"journal":{"name":"Australian Economic Review","volume":"58 2","pages":"117-130"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1467-8462.70008","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144245117","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The ATO ALife Family File","authors":"Daniel Fischer,&nbsp;Justin Holland,&nbsp;Marc Chan,&nbsp;Cain Polidano,&nbsp;Ha Vu,&nbsp;Roger Wilkins","doi":"10.1111/1467-8462.70004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8462.70004","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The ATO ALife Family File (ALife-Family) combines rich family connections and administrative superannuation and tax data that opens new opportunities for understanding joint financial decisions between partners, intergenerational income mobility and some aspects of wealth mobility. In this study, we describe the construction of the ALife Family File, compare it to the HILDA Survey and demonstrate its value as a tool for intergenerational analysis. Our analysis shows that the characteristics of couples in ALife-Family are consistent with those in HILDA but that the former has the advantage of better coverage of superannuation and income data. Preliminary analysis highlights both opportunities and challenges of using ALife-Family when examining intergenerational issues.</p>","PeriodicalId":46348,"journal":{"name":"Australian Economic Review","volume":"58 2","pages":"163-172"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1467-8462.70004","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144245047","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impact of Post and Hold Regulation on Retail Petroleum Prices","authors":"Christopher P. Adams","doi":"10.1111/1467-8462.70002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8462.70002","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This article uses data from Byrne and de Roos (2019) to understand the pricing behaviour of petrol stations under WA's post and hold policy. The article uses annual average pricing from 2008 to estimate demand parameters for petrol brands in WA. The estimated parameters are used to predict profit margins under the assumption that petrol stations were colluding. Analysis suggests that the observed profit margins of stations in WA between 2009 and 2012 are inconsistent with noncollusive pricing. The article asks whether similarities and differences between the WA policy and the proposed Victorian policy will lead to similar pricing behaviour.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":46348,"journal":{"name":"Australian Economic Review","volume":"58 2","pages":"109-114"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144245086","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Battlers and Billionaires: The Updated Story of Inequality in Australia by Leigh, Andrew 2024","authors":"Roger Wilkins","doi":"10.1111/1467-8462.70000","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8462.70000","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;Economic inequality is an important issue deserving of the considerable attention it now receives among applied economics researchers, reflecting the reality that the distribution of economic output is almost as important to community wellbeing as the total quantity of output. While many questions remain unanswered, there is now a substantial body of Australian research on the topic and a correspondingly improved understanding of the nature, causes and consequences of inequality in Australia.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;However, the translation of this body of knowledge to the general public was somewhat lacking until Leigh's &lt;span&gt;2013&lt;/span&gt; book, Battlers and Billionaires (Leigh &lt;span&gt;2013&lt;/span&gt;), which provided an accessible overview of the evolution of inequality in Australia, its drivers and consequences, and proposals for ways to reduce it. It therefore provided a valuable resource for informing public discourse on this important subject.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In Leigh (&lt;span&gt;2024&lt;/span&gt;), the author provides an update to Leigh (&lt;span&gt;2013&lt;/span&gt;). As would be expected of an “update,” much of the material in this book is the same as in the original book. The main differences are the addition of more recent data and a few extra graphs, discussion of new research published since the first book was published, a few tweaks to the stories told and the way the material is explained, and the addition of two recommendations for “what is to be done.” The general story and the key messages have not changed and therefore the book is probably targeted at people who have not read the first book.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As with Leigh (&lt;span&gt;2013&lt;/span&gt;), this is a highly enjoyable read, with Leigh complementing the well-researched empirical facts with engaging and often entertaining historical facts, stories and anecdotes. The book is written for a general audience, with technical details and sources consigned to endnotes. It succeeds in being accessible to non-experts, although I suspect much of it will nonetheless be somewhat heavy going for many readers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The book contains eight chapters, the first three of which describe the evolution of inequality in Australia from pre-colonization to the present day. Chapter 4 then examines the drivers of inequality, mainly focusing on recent decades. Chapter 5 discusses the consequences of inequality; Chapter 6 addresses the issue of intergenerational economic mobility and Chapter 7 discusses community attitudes to inequality. He concludes in Chapter 8 with a list of recommendations for addressing inequality.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In broad terms, the story told in the first three chapters of the evolution of inequality in Australia is correct: inequality levels and trends pre-federation are uncertain, but inequality was probably very high over most of the nineteenth century. Inequality then decreased between federation and the 1970s, and then subsequently increased.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The description of inequality trends is most balanced over the period to the early 1980s, when data avai","PeriodicalId":46348,"journal":{"name":"Australian Economic Review","volume":"58 2","pages":"173-176"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1467-8462.70000","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144244116","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Jobs for Economics PhDs in Government","authors":"Catherine de Fontenay","doi":"10.1111/1467-8462.12589","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8462.12589","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>One possible career path for an economics PhD is a role in government. About 37% of PhD students obtain jobs in government after graduation. This article details a few personal reflections on the types of opportunities, the rewards of such opportunities and the skills required.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":46348,"journal":{"name":"Australian Economic Review","volume":"58 1","pages":"53-56"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143564779","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Rise of Social Media and the Fall in Mental Well-Being Among Young Australians","authors":"Andrew Leigh,&nbsp;Stephen Robson","doi":"10.1111/1467-8462.12584","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8462.12584","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Using multiple sources, we document a substantial worsening in the mental well-being of Australians aged 15–24 years, as measured by surveys, self-harm hospitalisations and suicide deaths. The shift began around 2007–2010 and is worse for young women than for young men. Although several factors could be to blame, we present six pieces of evidence suggesting that smartphones and social media may have played a causal role in damaging the mental health of young Australians.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":46348,"journal":{"name":"Australian Economic Review","volume":"58 1","pages":"33-38"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143564777","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}