Faced with an ageing population, governments are shifting the financial responsibility for retirement to their citizens. Employers, too, are shifting this responsibility to employees, with most now offering defined-contribution retirement plans. Yet it is widely acknowledged that consumers do...

It is common for comparisons to be made of output growth and inflation across groups of countries, yet such comparisons can result in inconsistencies. We address two problems: (i) how to measure aggregate real output and inflation for groups of countries and (ii) how to construct measures of...

This paper constructs a quantitative general equilibrium lifecycle model with uninsurable labor income to account for the differences in the pattern of wealth accumulation across two countries, Korea and the United States. The model incorporates the differences in the housing market institution...

We consider the impact of the recent trend in immigration policies towards selecting migrants on the basis of skills. The analysis uses an inter-temporal general equilibrium model with endogenous skill formation. The model is calibrated to a steady state benchmark that represents Australia in...

While smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death in Australia, existing policy options, except for bans on smoking at public places, seem to have limited scope for expansion. Eight new smoking bans, introduced in six different Australian jurisdictions over 2003 and 2005, provide a...

Childhood obesity has increased dramatically in the developed world. One cause of this trend, suggested by studies in the United States, is the increase in maternal employment. This paper explores if the causal relationship exists in Australia. Using recent data from the Longitudinal Survey of...