Benoit Freyens

Measuring Global Poverty: Why PPP Methods Matter

We present theory and evidence to suggest that, in the context of analyzing global poverty, the EKS approach to estimating purchasing power parities yields more appropriate international comparison of real incomes than the Geary-Khamis approach. Our analysis of the 1996 and 2005 International Comparison Project data confirms that the Geary-Khamis approach substantially overstates the relative incomes of the worlds poorest nations, and this leads to misleading comparisons of poverty across regions and over time. The EKS index of real income is much closer to being a true index of economic welfare and is therefore preferred for assessment of global poverty.

Shared or exclusive radio waves? A dilemma gone astray

Ever increasing demand for commercial wireless applications has forced a rethink of radio wave coordination arrangements. Attempts to reform prescriptive centralised approaches have targeted a model of exclusive usage rights through ownership and markets, and a regime of shared usage through free access and collaborative platforms. Both have been quite successful. However, the diametrically opposed ideological nature of these two alternatives has also polarised the reform movement. Multidisciplinary approaches and the purely conceptual nature of existing policy research have only exacerbated these differences. I argue here that this policy dilemma has erred. At a conceptual level, the focus on two reform regimes mischaracterises the true set of policy choices. At a practical level, the emphasis on extreme views of these two regimes is an inaccurate depiction of actual policy reforms. Furthermore, the implied incompatibility between the two reform regimes belies their complementary nature.

Managing skill shortages in the Australian public sector: Issues and perspectives

Acute skills shortages increasingly affect governments’ capacity to conduct policy. Yet, responses to the challenge remain patchy. In Australia, as elsewhere, the public service is facing growing d...

Opportunities for white space usage in Australia

We discuss the scope and nature of opportunities for white space devices to operate in the UHF band in Australia after the digital dividend. We identify opportunities for white space usage in the reduced UHF band to be used for television services as well as in nearby guard bands. We extend the discussion to the longer-term by examining scenarios in which broadcasting services could use the synergistic effects of white space devices to either voluntarily migrate out of the UHF band or secure their occupation of this important spectrum beachhead.

Digital switchover and regulatory design for competing white space usage rights

There has been sustained regulatory support for the development and use of ‘white space’ devices on UHF broadcast spectrum, particularly to provide wireless broadband services on a secondary or ‘unlicensed’ basis. However, as regulators reallocate UHF spectrum released by the digital switchover to new services requiring a high degree of licence certainty (e.g. cellular networks) there will be incompatibilities between the rights of the new licensees and those of unlicensed white space users. What becomes of entrenched secondary usage rights if broadcast spectrum is reallocated to telecommunications and re-licensed on far more exclusive conditions than those currently prevailing for white space devices operating on a secondary basis to broadcasting services? Wide-spread deployment of white space devices could seriously complicate the reallocation of UHF band primary services from broadcasting to higher value users. This article considers Australian regulatory arrangements in light of this issue and suggests licensing reforms required to manage competing white space usage rights in the future.

Dismissal Costs and Their Impact on Employment: Evidence from Australian Small and Medium Enterprises*

The influence of labour market regulation on employment is intensely debated across the OECD. In Australia, the focus is currently on the employment impact of recent changes to unfair dismissal provisions. There is surprisingly little research on the magnitude and structure of dismissal costs, and this paper presents new data from a major survey of small- and medium-sized Australian enterprises. Dismissal costs are compared for different types of separations, including redundancy, uncontested fires and complex fires. Using the data and a simple labour demand model, we estimate the direct employment impact of Australias changes to unfair dismissal protection. The impact is found to be modest.

Multidisciplinary knowledge transfer in training multimedia projects

Purpose – Training multimedia projects often face identical knowledge‐transfer obstacles that partly originate in the multidisciplinarity of the project team. The purpose of this paper is to describe these difficulties and the tools used to overcome them. In particular, the aim is to show how elements of cognitive psychology theory (concept maps, semantic networks) and instructional theory (the Gagne taxonomy) combined with mainstream epistemological research help formalise and transmit industrial knowledge through the design of training multimedia.Design/methodology/approach – The paper reports on action research spanning over ten years, taking stock of the experience gathered through 15 training multimedia projects in three large European organisations and their subsidiaries. Knowledge formalisation and transfer methods are illustrated with various examples and industrial applications.Findings – Provided certain conditions and criteria are respected, these tools help unlock various knowledge transfer ba...

Wireless Regulations and Dynamic Spectrum Access in Australia

Australia assigns and allocates spectrum using three broad types of regulatory approaches; command and control, property rights and open access. Each approach entails numerous pros and cons, buttressed by uncertainties over future consumer demand, interference management, barriers to entry, and technological evolution. The development and commercialisation of dynamic spectrum access technologies (DSA) requires new regulatory approaches. This article discusses an array of intermediary, dynamically efficient spectrum management approaches, which may make better use of DSA opportunities. The article then discusses the practical hurdles and legal challenges posed by their adoption and regulation in an Australian context.

Measures of Training Costs in Australia

Purpose – To evaluate past and recent research on the costs of training human resources in Australia and to compare the merits of different research methods used to measure these costs. The discussion is situated in a general context of low employer contribution to training provision in Australia and acute policy debates on public training provision.Design/methodology/approach – The article presents the aggregate results of two recent quantitative surveys of training costs in Australian organizations. Both surveys adopt an economic definition of the costs and concentrate on firm‐specific skills acquired up until new recruits reach average productivity.Findings – Survey results suggest that the informal costs of training human resources outstrip direct training expenditure and average training costs are much larger than commonly assumed in the policy debate in Australia.Research limitations/implications – Ideally, the surveys reported upon should be extended to include continuing training costs and a measu...

Macro-, Meso- and Microeconomic considerations in the delivery of social services

Purpose - In the wake of public service liberalisation in many OECD countries, economic interventions into the purpose and implementation of social policies have gained a lot of interest in recent years. The prime aim of this paper is to describe the nature of these interventions. The paper examines the reasons for pursuing elusive efficiency objectives in the conduct of public policy, rationales for purchaser-provider splits, evaluation of cost-quality relationships, service costing and pricing, and the influence of “external” economic variables. Design/methodology/approach - The paper breaks the analysis of public policy down to three layers of economic interventions: macroeconomics (allocative efficiency, intervention rationales and macroeconomic environment), mesoeconomics (economics of delivery in “social industries”) and microeconomics (agent behaviour, contracting, pricing and evaluation). Each level of economic intervention is illustrated with examples, mainly taken from Australian public policy and mainstream social economic research. Findings - Some of the most critical questions in policy implementation (outsourcing, pricing, contracting and agency problems) can be traced back to economic reforms. Experiments with new modes of service delivery are driven by a changing economic context, yet the efficiency gains from these innovative approaches may come at the expense of service quality. Practical implications - Changing macro-, meso- and microeconomic variables profoundly alter the parameters of service delivery. Designers and managers of service delivery systems need to be aware of – and skilled in – the practical application of economic principles, concepts and methods. Originality/value - Except for the health sector, there is a lack of consistent research on the interrelationships between the standard economics toolkit and the delivery of public services. Yet the two are profoundly intertwined. The paper helps distinguish these relationships by putting together elements of conceptual analysis and fieldwork.