This Productivity Commission staff working paper (by Andrew Barker, Tim Murray and John Salerian) was released March 2010. Urban water and its management have been the subject of much public debate. The timing and choice of investments to augment water supply, different approaches to water...

This Productivity Commission staff working paper (by Matthew Forbes, Andrew Barker and Stewart Turner) was released March 2010. <p>Human capital theory supports the view that people with higher levels of education and lower incidences of chronic illness should have higher labour productivity....</p></p>

This Productivity Commission staff working paper (by Jacqueline Crowle and Erin Turner) was released in October 2010. Being overweight or obese as a child has implications for the child’s health now and as an adult. It is a policy concern in Australia and for governments internationally....

This Productivity Commission staff working paper (by Paula Barnes) examines sectoral investment in intangible assets in Australia following on from a previous paper on an examination of intangibles assets in the market sector as a whole. It highlights some significant issues relating to the...

This Productivity Commission staff working paper (by Anthony Shomos) was released in October 2010. Literacy and numeracy skills are key components of human capital, which is an important driver of economic growth. This paper utilises data from a 2006 survey on the literacy and numeracy skills of...

This inquiry report was released on 27 May 2010. The Australian anti-dumping system, which is based on agreed WTO rules and procedures, benefits a small number of import competing firms, but imposes greater costs on the rest of the economy. <p>However, this net economic cost is likely to be very...</p>

This inquiry report was released on 23 June 2010. Gambling was substantially liberalised in most Australian states and territories in the 1990s. Subsequent years saw not only a surge in gambling expenditure and industry growth, but also adverse impacts on many Australians and their families. The...

Australia is largely a nation of immigrants. From the First Fleet to the post-war wave of assisted passages, to the present day, migration has always been at the centre of this country’s development. As time has passed, however, and our population has grown and spread, it is natural that the...

The Productivity Commission has made recommendations on how the Australian Government’s buyback of water entitlements in the Murray Darling Basin could be improved, in a report released today. The buyback and a larger irrigation infrastructure program are being used to recover water for the...

The Commission has been requested to report every two to three years to COAG on the economic 'impacts and benefits' of COAG reforms. The Commission is also required to consider the extent to which Australia's reform potential is being achieved and opportunities for improvement. <p>In preparation...</p>