In 2022, the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) and The Australian National University (ANU) conducted a joint call for research proposals from early career researchers—final year PhD up to maximum five years post-PhD – to conduct empirical economics research on Pacific Island countries. The three main goals of the call were to (a) encourage the use of promising new microdata for the region, (b) encourage early-career economists to take an interest in and work on the region, and (c) grow the evidence base related to pertinent development issues. The Workshop on the Microeconomics of Development in the Pacific shares the seven selected papers from emerging scholars, provides an update on recent developments in the Pacific data ecosystem, and offers two exciting international keynote presentations of frontier research in development economics.
Program
Day 1: Tuesday 14 February
9.00–9.15am – Opening remarks
Paul J. Burke, Professor of Economics, Head of the Arndt-Corden Department of Economics, and Deputy Director of the Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU
Ryan Edwards, Deputy Director, Development Policy Centre, ANU
Daniel Suryadarma, Research Fellow, ADBI
9.15–10.00am – Keynote: The psychology of poverty
Victoria Baranov, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Melbourne
Moderator: Paul J. Burke, ANU
10.00–10.45am – Paper 1: Mother education and child well-being: evidence from four Pacific countries
Joseph Marshan, ANU
Moderator: Paul J. Burke, ANU
Discussant: Tristram Sainsbury, ANU
10.45–11.10am Morning tea
11.10–11.55am – Paper 2: Family size and domestic violence: an instrumental variable analysis in the Pacific
Dyah Pritadrajati, ANU
Moderator: Huiyuan (Sharon) Liu, ANU
Discussant: Daniel Suryadarma, ADBI
11.55am–12.40pm – Paper 3: Does biomass cooking fuel use affect early childhood development? A case study from Kiribati
Ashar Awan, University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir
Moderator: Huiyuan (Sharon) Liu, ANU
Discussant: Debasish Das, ANU
12.40–1.50pm – Lunch
1.50 – 2.35pm – Data Session 1: Introducing the Pacific Observatory
David Gould, Lead Economist, World Bank
Utz Johann Pape, Senior Economist, World Bank
Moderator: Daniel Suryadarma, ADBI
2.35 – 3.20pm – Paper 4: Global value chains in the Pacific Island countries: patterns and structure
Upalat Korwatanasakul, Waseda University
Moderator: Daniel Suryadarma, ADBI
Discussant: Abyaya Neopane, ANU
3.20–3.40pm – Afternoon tea
3.40–4.25pm – Paper 5: How does the Vessel Days Scheme impact tuna catch in the Pacific?
Champa Bati Dutta, University of New South Wales
Moderator: Daniel Suryadarma, ADBI
Discussant: Eko Sumando, ANU
4.25 – 4.30pm – Closing
Daniel Suryadarma, Research Fellow, ADBI
6.30pm – Conference dinner (by invitation only)
Lemongrass Thai, Melbourne Building (65 London Circuit)
Day 2: Wednesday 15 February
9.00–9.10am – Welcome
Professor Helen Sullivan, Dean of the College of Asia and the Pacific, ANU
9.10 – 9.50am – Keynote: Cash Transfer Timeliness, Mental Health, and Food Insecurity in Pandemic Times
Teresa Molina, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Hawaii at Manoa
Moderator: Daniel Suryadarma, ADBI
9.50 – 10.35am – Paper 6: The UN-REDD Programme for conserving tropical rainforests in Papua New Guinea
Warnakulasooriya Lakmini Priyanthi Fernando, Institute of Policy Studies
Moderator: Daniel Suryadarma, ADBI
Discussant: Ryan Edwards, ANU
10.35–11.00am – Morning tea
11.00–11.45am – Paper 7: Natural disasters, extension, and agricultural productivity in Papua New Guinea
Rifai Afin, Doctoral School of Economics, Institute of Statistical and Mathematical Modeling, Corvinus University of Budapest
Moderator: Ryan Edwards, ANU
Discussant: : Thomas Wangi, ANU
11.45am–12.30pm – Data session 2: Situation and possibilities for the Pacific Data Hub Microdata Library
Peter Ellis, Director, Statistics for Development Division, Secretariat of the Pacific Community
Moderator: Ryan Edwards, ANU
12.30–1.45pm – Closing, followed with lunch
Ryan Edwards, ANU
END OF WORKSHOP
2.00–3.30pm – Special ACDE Seminar, open to the public (optional)
Weston Theatre
Using technology to prevent fraud in high stakes national school examinations: evidence from Indonesia
Daniel Suryadarma, ADBI
Moderator: Ryan Edwards, ANU