Public Infrastructure and Private Sector Productivity, Tasmania 1990-2015

The study utilises the recent advances in development of capital stock data at subnational level for Australian states and applies the series for analysis of the effect of the public infrastructure on the private sector productivity in Tasmania. The study employs a version of an aggregate production function to estimate the elasticity of private capital productivity with respect to the public infrastructure. The results of analysis indicate that, in the long run, contrary to the expectations, the public infrastructure contributes negatively to the private sector productivity in Tasmania. There is also some evidence that Tasmanian government is engaged in countercyclical public investment activities

Public Infrastructure and Private Sector Productivity, Tasmania 1990-2015

This is an abstract of a paper delivered to the 45th Australian Economics Conference, held at Flinders University 11-13 July 2016The study utilises the recent advances in development of capital stock data at subnational level for Australian states and applies the series for analysis of the effect of the public infrastructure on the private sector productivity in Tasmania. The study employs a version of an aggregate production function to estimate the elasticity of private capital productivity with respect to the public infrastructure. The results of analysis indicate that, in the long run, contrary to the expectations, the public infrastructure contributes negatively to the private sector productivity in Tasmania. There is also some evidence that Tasmanian government is engaged in countercyclical public investment activities

Estimates of Net Capital Stock and Consumption of Fixed Capital for Australian States and Territories, 1990–2013

Being an important input for many economic models and being widely used in economic decision making by the federal and regional government, capital stock data are not readily available at the sub-national level for most countries, including Australia. The study closely follows the methodology of the Australian Bureau of Statistics and presents a complete set of capital stock data for the states and territories of Australia for the period 1990–2013. The robustness of the method is assessed by comparing the aggregated data by type of asset estimates for the states, with the capital stock data by type of asset for Australia as a whole published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics

Estimates of Net Capital Stock and Consumption of Fixed Capital for Australian States and Territories, 1990–2013

Being an important input for many economic models and being widely used in economic decision making by the federal and regional government, capital stock data are not readily available at the sub-national level for most countries, including Australia. The study closely follows the methodology of the Australian Bureau of Statistics and presents a complete set of capital stock data for the states and territories of Australia for the period 1990–2013. The robustness of the method is assessed by comparing the aggregated data by type of asset estimates for the states, with the capital stock data by type of asset for Australia as a whole published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics

KNOWLEDGE AND HIGHER EDUCATION: PUBLIC/PRIVATE ‘GOODS’ DIVIDE

While it is generally understood that higher education is a mixed private/public good, researchers rarely look at what within this mix is, or at least can become, private goods or private goods. Knowledge as a product of higher education is generally considered a predominantly public good. However, frequently researchers ignore rivalry and excludability in obtaining knowledge and often confuse positive externalities in education with the characteristics of a public good. Disaggregating knowledge into stocks and flows of knowledge and, further disaggregating flows into processes of acquiring knowledge and the process of expanding the knowledge base might help in solving the private/public ‘good’ divide puzzle. This paper also looks at the economic properties of the operational functions of a higher education institution and discusses their potential of becoming predominantly public or even global goods. The study considers implications of the public/private nature of knowledge and education for higher education reform

Economic structure of educational process and its implications for the higher education reform

Playing a pivotal role in the development of the modern society, higher education industry has reached its capacity at least a decade ago and since then has lost its former characteristics of a public good. Funding challenges and non-consistency in quality of output dominate the modern discussion on tertiary education policies in search for the optimal way of reforming the sector. None of the policies so far had a close look at the operational structure of colleges and universities from the economic perspective, which by the author’s opinion is the reason behind the lack of progress in reforming the sector. This study presents a discussion on economic structure of different functions within the higher education process and suggests the levels of competition and regulation most appropriate for each of these functions. The proposed option for the higher education reform allows greatly reducing the costs of obtaining a post-secondary qualification, while simultaneously addressing the quality issues