Inflation Targeting and the Inflation Process: Lessons from an Open Economy

In an open economy inflation-targeting framework, whether policy makers should target aggregate or non-traded inflation depends on the structural relationships in the economy. This paper shows that in a small empirical model of the Australian economy, it makes little difference which measure is targeted. This conclusion is reinforced by the significant changes to the inflation process that the paper suggests have occurred over the past two decades: the effect of exchange rate changes on inflation appears to have become more muted and the inflation process appears to have become better anchored.

IS FAMILY THERAPY THE MOST EFFECTIVE TREATMENT FOR ANOREXIA NERVOSA?

Introduction: Anorexia nervosa is a mental health disorder characterised by deliberate weight loss (through restrictive eating, excessive exercise and/or purging), disordered body image, and intrusive overvalued fears of gaining weight. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence recommends that family interventions that directly address the eating disorder should be offered to children and adolescents with anorexia nervosa. Aims: To perform a literature review to assess whether family therapy is a more effective intervention than other treatments in the management of adolescents with anorexia nervosa. Method: Search of PubMed, The Cochrane Library and NHS Evidence for randomised controlled trials that compared a family intervention with another treatment for anorexia nervosa in adolescence. Results and discussion: This literature search revealed only six randomised controlled trials investigating the use of family therapy in the treatment of adolescents with anorexia nervosa, and these all had small sample sizes. Some, but not all, of these trials suggest that family therapy may be advantageous over individual psychotherapy in terms of physical improvement (weight gain and resumption of menstruation) and reduction of cognitive distortions, particularly in younger patients. Due to the small sample sizes and the significant risk of bias (particularly information bias) in some of the studies the evidence in favour of family therapy over individual therapy is weak. In the future, larger randomised controlled trials with long term follow-up are required to assess whether family therapy is the most effective treatment for anorexia nervosa in adolescence

Internationalisation and Pricing Behaviour: Some Evidence for Australia

Standard trade theory suggests that internationalisation of an economy should lead to increased competitive pressures and an improvement in the efficiency with which domestic goods are produced and priced. We examine a number of ways in which the pricing behaviour of the Australian manufacturing industry has changed over the past couple of decades, and relate this to the substantial opening up of the economy which has occurred. Using disaggregated industry-level data, we find evidence that, when measured in the same currency, prices of Australian-produced goods have fallen relative to foreign-produced goods in many of Australia’s manufacturing industries. We attribute this, in part, to increased international competition driving inefficient domestic producers from the market. We also find, not surprisingly, that domestic price setters tend to be more sensitive to changes in foreign prices in the traded sector than in the non-traded sector, and that the more open the industry the higher the sensitivity to foreign prices.

The Provision of Financial Services – Trends, Prospects and Implications

The paper considers recent trends in the provision of finance and the factors that are likely to influence its future course. It emphasises how the interaction between the allocation of household wealth and the financing needs of firms shape the structure and evolution of financial systems. The paper focuses on the experiences of banks, and argues that as the 1990s proceed they will face increased competition on both sides of their balance sheets. However, several factors are likely to provide banks some competitive advantage. The most important is that a large pool of borrowers cannot raise funds other than through banks. On the asset side of their balance sheets, the intermediation of funds to small and medium-sized businesses is thus a core function which differentiates banks from other financial institutions and the securities markets generally. But banks also have advantages on the liabilities side of their balance sheets, as they offer depositors a safe and highly liquid repository for their funds. The paper argues that the extent to which banks remain the institutional core of the financial system will depend on their ability to perform their traditional lending role. It concludes by speculating about the implications for the stability of the financial system of the structural changes which have occurred.

Research on performance pay for teachers

This report falls into three main sections, in accordance with the project brief. The first provides an overview of current pay arrangements and collective enterprise bargaining agreements for teachers in Australian schools. Within these arrangements, the report gives particular attention to provisions for performance-based pay schemes and to identifying potential impediments to the introduction of performance-based pay for teachers. The second part of the brief called for an overview of recent Australian and international research on the attitudes of stakeholders to performance-based pay schemes for teachers and the impact of these schemes on, for example, teacher retention, improved teaching standards, improved student outcomes and recognition of accomplished teachers. The third part of the brief asked for gaps in the Australian and international evidence base on performance pay to be identified and for suggestions about further research that would be valuable in assessing the value and/or acceptance of performance-based pay for teachers in the Australian context

Australia’s Real Exchange Rate – Is it Explained by the Terms of Trade or by Real Interest Differentials?

We use time series techniques to examine the behaviour of Australia’s real exchange rate from 1969 to 1990. The real exchange rate exhibits non-stationary behaviour over this period, in contrast to simple purchasing power parity theory. We find weak evidence that the real exchange rate exhibits a stable long run relationship with the terms of trade. There is no stable long run relationship between the real exchange rate and either short or long real interest differentials between Australia and its major trading partners. Since the float of the Australian dollar and the world-wide deregulation of financial markets, we find some evidence that the real exchange rate exhibits a stable relationship with the terms of trade alone, and with long real interest differentials alone. The evidence for a stable relationship is clearest with long real interest differentials. After the float, we also find evidence that the terms of trade and long real interest differentials together help to explain the Australian real exchange rate. We estimate the number of independent long run relationships between the real exchange rate, the terms of trade and long real interest differentials and, for some specifications, find evidence of two independent relationships. Since the float, our best estimates are that a 1 per cent improvement in the terms of trade leads to an appreciation of the Australian real exchange rate of about 0.3 to 0.5 per cent, while an increase of 1 percentage point in the differential between Australian and world long real interest rates is associated with an appreciation of the Australian real exchange rate of about 2 to 3½ per cent.

Pursuing a response by repairing an indexical reference

Prior conversation analytic research has demonstrated that when, following a sequence-initiating action, a response is relevantly missing (or is forthcoming but is apparently inadequate), speakers may use a range of practices for pursuing a response (or a more adequate response). These practices—- such as response prompts, preference reversals, or turn extensions—treat the missing (or inadequate) response as indicative of some problem, and they may either expose or mask the response pursuit and the problem they attempt to remediate. This article extends this prior research by showing that speakers can also use repair technology—specifically, repair of an indexical reference—as a resource for pursuing a response. It demonstrates that speakers can use repair of indexicals, particularly when no uncertainty as to the referent seems possible, in order to pursue a response while obscuring some other possible source of trouble. Initiating repair on an indexical reference in transition space claims that a missing response is due to a problem of understanding or of recognizing the reference, and by repairing it, the speaker makes available another opportunity for a response without exposing recipient disinclination as the possible source of the trouble. Likewise, repairing an indexical reference in the third turn can pursue a more adequate response, while avoiding going on record as doing so, by treating the sequence-initiating turn as the source of the trouble. We show that, by ostensibly dealing with problems of reference, repairs on indexicals manage (covertly) other more interactionally charged issues, such as upcoming disagreement or misalignment between interlocutors

Prevalence of Campylobacter spp. in diarrhoea samples from patients in New South Wales, Australia

Campylobacteriosis is a leading cause of bacterial foodborne disease in many industrialized countries including Australia. New South Wales (NSW) is the most populous state in Australia yet the lack of any Campylobacter species surveillance programs has led to a knowledge gap in the importance of these pathogens as causes of diarrhoea. The data collected in this study demonstrated a need for such programs. In this study, 400 human clinical fecal samples were collected from two NSW locations, Western Sydney and Wagga Wagga, and tested for the presence of Campylobacter spp. Patients were clustered by location, age and gender to assess Campylobacter spp. prevalence within these groups between the two regions. The frequency of Campylobacter spp. was higher in males compared to females in the age groups 0–4 and 5–14 years; 6.4% and 1.0%, and 8.2% and none, respectively (P < 0.05). A second peak was noted in elderly adults compared with those in younger age groups. Based on the findings of the quantitative PCR analysis it was estimated that the age-adjusted prevalence of Campylobacter spp. associated diarrhoea was 159 cases per 100,000 persons. [Int Microbiol 2016; 19(1):33-37]Keywords: Campylobacter species · campylobacteriosis · foodborne diseases · prevalence of pathogens · New South Wales, Australi

ISSUES IN BIOTECHNOLOGY TEACHING - Riverina high school students' views of biotechnology

A survey investigating the knowledge and perception of biotechnology by high school students living in the rural Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, was undertaken. Data relating to the student' preferred and trusted information sources was also gathered. This study has demonstrated that at least two-thirds of students had a good knowledge of medical biotechnology issues, however, a significant proportion of the students did have concerns about the use and/or safety of biotechnology. Nearly 90% of the respondents would like further information on biotechnology. In agreement with other surveys, the students reported an apparent lack of trust in articles from the lay press (newspapers, television, radio) and yet still report that these media as the preferred information source. Interestingly, the high school students demonstrated a higher than national average acceptance of biotechnology

Feeding behaviour, risk-sensitivity and response control:Effects of 5-HT2C receptor manipulations

People, like animals, tend to choose the variable option when given the choice between a fixed and variable delay to reward where, in the variable delay condition, some rewards are available immediately (Laura-Jean et al. 2019 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B374, 20180141. (doi:10.1098/rstb.2018.0141)). This bias has been suggested to reflect evolutionary pressures resulting from food scarcity in the past placing a premium on obtaining food quickly that can win out against the risks of sometimes sustaining longer delays to food. The psychologies mediating this effect may become maladaptive in the developed world where food is readily available contributing, potentially, to overeating and obesity. Here, we report our development of a novel touchscreen task in mice allowing comparisons of the impact of food delay and food magnitude across species. We show that mice exhibit the typical preference, as shown by humans, for variable over fixed delays to rewards but no preference when it comes to fixed versus variable reward amounts and further show that this bias is sensitive to manipulations of the 5-HT2C receptor, a key mediator of feeding and impulse control. We discuss the data in terms of the utility of the task to model the psychologies and underlying brain mechanisms impacting on feeding behaviours. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Risk taking and impulsive behaviour: fundamental discoveries, theoretical perspectives and clinical implications’