1st Edition
Markets and the State Microeconomic Policy in Australia
This book illustrates essential microeconomic concepts and theories through the examination of related policy formulation in Australia since the 1980s. It provides a fresh approach to the subject of microeconomics from the perspective of both market and government failures.
By looking at how Australia has transformed over the course of time, the book traces and tracks these changes and relates them to the broader microeconomic reforms. It also looks at the structure of Australian economic public policy formulation and process. The book uses standard microeconomic techniques to analyse the impact of these Australian policies and examines the role of government in the implementation of these policies, making it a very useful teaching vehicle for learning about microeconomics and microeconomic policies.
PART I: THEMES AND METHODS
1. Introduction
2. The public policy process in Australia
3. Economic policy and efficiency
PART II: ECONOMIC POLICY
4. Industry policy
5. Agricultural policy
6. Government support for research and development
7. Trade Practices
8. The National Competition Policy
9. Government business enterprises and privatisation
10. Energy policy
11. Utility regulation in Australia
12. Infrastructure
13. Labour markets
14. Training and education markets
PART III: SOCIAL POLICIES, ENVIRONMENT AND TAXATION
15. Social policy and the welfare state in Australia
16. Healthcare
17. Revenue raising. tax policy
18. Environmental Policy
PART IV: CONCLUSION
19. Conclusion
Biography
Malcolm Abbott is Associate Professor of Economics at the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia.
‘Markets and the State is a much-needed addition to the applied economics literature in Australia. Diverse Australian policies are lucidly assessed using microeconomic techniques. This book has an excellent coverage of topics. These range from those focusing on business and industry to ones involving social welfare and the state of the environment. Markets and the State deserves to be widely used as a text and should also be of value for reference purposes. I wish there were more books like this applying economics to Australia’s situation.’— Clem Tisdell, Professor Emeritus, University of Queensland, Australia
‘Balancing the roles of market and state benefits much from a knowledge of the economics of each. Malcolm Abbott's book is itself a splendidly balanced guide to this area. It presents the essential economics accessibly and with surety. It applies the insights to the key areas that make up micro-economic policy. And it illustrates these for the highly informative case of Australia since the reform era of the 1980s.’ — Glenn Withers, Professor at Australian National University & University of New South Wales and President of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia
