Melbourne Institute News March 2010 ISSN 1442-9500 (print)
ISSN 1442-9519 (online)
Print Post Approved PP381667/01204
Issue 27
New Director for Melbourne Institute Professor Deborah Cobb-Clark has been appointed Director of the Melbourne Institute and Ronald Henderson Professor at the University of Melbourne, with her appointment commencing on 27 April 2010.
Professor Deborah Cobb-Clark and Professor Margaret Abernethy
HILDA Survey The HILDA Survey, Australia’s only nationally representative household panel survey of work and family life, enters its tenth wave of data collection, with the first eight waves of the data currently available to researchers. Page 3
PricewaterhouseCoopers Melbourne Institute Asialink Index The latest release of this Index shows that the growth of Australia’s engagement with Asia outpaces its interactions with the rest of the world. Page 4
Pacific Rim Innovation Conference 2010 This inaugural conference fostered an interdisciplinary exchange of knowledge on the economics, management and law of innovation. Page 4
Professor Cobb-Clark was previously Head of the Economics Program at the Research School of Social Sciences, and inaugural Director of the Social Policy Evaluation, Analysis and Research (SPEAR) Centre at the Australian National University. A world expert on the effects of public policies on labour market outcomes, much of Professor Cobb-Clark’s research has focused on immigration policy and how this might affect the labour market outcomes of migrants. She has also examined how the receipt of income support affects young people’s decisions to engage in risky behaviour and the role of gender in promotions, occupational choice and wages. She is currently leading the innovative Youth in Focus project, a longitudinal survey funded by the Australian Research Council and the Commonwealth Government. Professor Margaret Abernethy, Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics, says the Faculty is delighted to have attracted a person of Professor Cobb-Clark’s background and extensive experience as Director of its widely-respected Melbourne Institute. “Professor Cobb-Clark is a world leader in her field. Her prodigious talent for research will build on the Melbourne Institute’s already outstanding research record.” These sentiments have been strongly endorsed by Professor Mark Wooden, who has been Acting Director since the resignation of the former Director in mid-2009. “The Melbourne Institute has been extremely fortunate to secure the services of Professor Cobb-Clark”, said Professor Wooden. “Her research interests are strongly aligned with the Institute’s mission, and I look forward to working with her in the years ahead.”
www.melbourneinstitute.com Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research - Page 1