Our research

Applied macroeconomics deals with the issues of an economy as a whole, rather than those of individual agents or specific markets. It's concerned with understanding aggregate phenomena such as economic growth, business cycles, unemployment, inflation, and international trade, among others. These topics are of particular relevance for the development and evaluation of economic policy.

Agricultural economics plays an important role in understanding the development opportunities in less developed countries and in improving rural livelihoods across the globe. Researchers in this field study decision-making and resource allocation in the production, distribution and consumption of agricultural goods and services. Areas of research interest include the allocation and use of land and water resources, climate variability and adaptation, managing risk and uncertainty, resource use externalities and public goods.

Economic development and growth is a multi-dimensional concept relating to improvements in human welfare. Researchers in this field are concerned with levels of poverty, inequality, health, education, social justice and unemployment. They investigate legal, institutional and other barriers to the development of efficient production and distribution systems for goods and services. They view economic growth as necessary but not sufficient condition for economic development.

Energy economics deals with the generation, transmission and distribution of energy in economic systems, both nationally and internationally. How contractual and trading systems determine the prices of different forms of energy is a central concern. In relation to this, the design of regulatory regimes and energy policies are of key interest. The environmental impacts of energy consumption have received increasing attention, particularly in relation to the debate concerning the impacts of carbon emissions.

Environmental economics is concerned with the negative consequences of human actions leading to environmental problems including air pollution, deterioration in land and water quality, toxic substances, solid waste, and climate change. Valuation of the environment to enable evaluation of projects when there are environmental impacts is an important component. Natural resource economics is a broader field, encompassing the economically efficient and sustainable allocation of renewable resources and the economically efficient extraction of non-renewable natural resources.

Experimental economics is a branch of economics that uses controlled experiments to test the validity of economic theories and behavioural assumptions, investigate the performance of different market mechanisms and, ultimately, prompt new behavioural theories to better explain and predict economic behaviour. Experiments make use of monetary incentives and may be conducted in the laboratory or in the field.

Health economists are concerned with the allocation of scare healthcare resources. Research in this field tends to focus on the demand for and supply of health care services and measurement issues in health outcomes. This research is used to inform health care policy relating to health insurance, healthcare financing and the efficiency of health service provision. Applied health economics across the lifespan and applied health econometrics methodology are central to providing causal effects and policy evidence for decision makers in healthcare and industry.

Macroeconomics is a branch of economics that deals with the issues of an economy as a whole, rather than those of individual agents or specific markets. Macroeconomics is concerned with the understanding of aggregate phenomena such as economic growth, business cycles, unemployment, inflation, and international trade among others. These topics are of particular relevance for the development and evaluation of economic policy.

International economics is the field of study to understand the causes and consequences of economic interaction between countries. Researchers in the international trade field focus on gains from trade and factor movements (e.g. immigration, outsourcing), the impact of trade on economic growth, and effects of trade policy including tariffs, regional and multilateral trade agreements (e.g. NAFTA and WTO). International macroeconomics deals with the balance of payments, exchange rates and macroeconomic policies including optimum currency areas and global financial crises under the open-economy.