 | Author's Name: Deborah Cobb-Clark Date: Tue 12 Feb 2019 |
Deborah Cobb-Clark
Professor Deborah Cobb-Clark
Deborah Cobb-Clark is Professor of Economics at the University of Sydney. She is Director of the Program in Gender and Families at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn, Germany; a Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course; and an elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.
Deborah earned a PhD in Economics from the University of Michigan (1990). Prior to joining the University of Sydney, she was the Ronald Henderson Professor and Director of the Melbourne Institute at the University of Melbourne. She has also held positions at the US Labor Department, Illinois State University, and the Australian National University where she was the founding director of The Social Policy Evaluation, Analysis and Research (SPEAR) Centre. Her research agenda centres on the effect of social policy on labour market outcomes including immigration, sexual and racial harassment, health, old-age support, education and youth transitions. She has published more than four dozen academic articles in leading international journals and is a former co-editor of the Journal of Population Economics.
Subject Area Expertise
Applied micro-economics; social and economic policy
Website
http://sydney.edu.au/arts/economics/staff/profiles/deborah.cobb-clark.php
Responses (13)
Promoting vaccination uptake in Australia
Poll 49
"What measures should Australian governments adopt to promote demand for vaccination once supply is no longer a constraint?"
Photo credit "Wes Mountain/The Conversation, CC BY-ND"
Lotteries with cash or prizes for the vaccinated;Vaccine passports for higher-risk settings (eg. flights, restaurants, major events);Mandatory vaccination for higher risk occupations;National advertising campaigns
October Budget 2020 - preferred four programs
Poll 42
"The October budget will see the government announce additional policies to support recovery. Please nominate the four programs you think would be the most effective (for an intervention of a given size) over the next two years"
Photo Credit: Wes Mountain/The Conversation, CC BY-ND
Expanded investment allowance, Wage subsidies or hiring bonuses (beyond JobKeeper), Infrastructure projects, Social housing
My view is that the best options for supporting economic recovery are those which target employment growth and the creation of new jobs. This includes supporting large public infrastructure projects (including social housing) and facilitating job creation in the private sector through wage subsidies and incentives to invest.
The legislated increases in compulsory super contributions should...
Poll 41
"The legislated increases in compulsory super contributions, which are set to climb from 9.5% of wages to 12% over the next five years should...."
Photo Credit: Wes Mountain/The Conversation, CC BY-ND
Be deferred
9
Policies to deliver higher wage growth
Poll 48
Our panellists were asked
"Higher wages growth is now a top priority of the RBA in its efforts to sustain stronger economic growth. Please identify the three of these government policies you think would best help deliver higher wages growth".
Photo credit "Wes Mountain/The Conversation, CC BY-ND"
.
Measures to boost productivity growth;Measures to boost business investment;Maintaining high governm
Government Debt during the COVID19 Crisis
Poll 40
"Governments should provide ongoing fiscal support to boost aggregate demand during the economic crisis and recovery, even if it means a substantial increase in public debt"
Photo Credit: Wes Mountain/The Conversation, CC BY-ND
Strongly agree
10
Wage freeze for economic recovery
Poll 39
"A freeze in the minimum wage will support Australia's economic recovery"
Photo credit: Wes Mountain/The Conversation, CC BY-ND
Agree
9
Social Distancing Measures, May 2020
Poll 38
"The benefits to Australian society of maintaining social distancing measures sufficient to keep R<1 for COVID-19 are likely to exceed the costs"
Agree
8
Transition to electric cars
Poll 47
This month, our panellists were asked whether Australia should take action to speed the transition to electric cars.
"As part of efforts to reduce carbon emissions, Australian governments should take action to accelerate the take up, or take no action to accelerate the take up of electric cars"
Photo credit "Wes Mountain/The Conversation, CC BY-ND"
.
3
Motherhood, caring and the careers of Australian women - April 2019
Poll 37
Proposition 1: "Without changes to existing public policy or private sector practice in Australia, motherhood will always negatively affect a woman's career."
Proposition 2: "In Australia, fathers are more restricted than mothers in fulfilling a caring role while in employment."
Part 1 - Strongly disagree
8
Part 2 - Disagree
8
The Federal Budget May 2021
Poll 46
"On May 11, the government delivered a budget designed, in the Treasurer's words, to 'secure Australia's economic recovery and build for the future'. What grade would you give the budget given that objective, A, B, C, D, E, F?"
Photo credit Wes Mountain/The Conversation, CC BY-ND
.
C
It's good to see spending levels maintained given the current pandemic. However, the spending could have been more targeted towards economic recovery, job creation, and supporting industries and workers particularly hard hit by the crisis.
Top economists want JobSeeker boosted by $100+ per week and tied to wages
Poll 44
"Ahead of a decision about any permanent increase expected early next year, The Conversation and the Economic Society of Australia asked 45 of Australia’s leading economists where they thought JobSeeker should settle."
Be indexed in line with wages
Indexing the JobSeeker benefit to wages rather than the CPI would be useful in ensuring that it kept pace with the changes in wages and living standards among workers. It would not necessarily need to be indexed at the same rate as the age pension which has a different objective.
Does the budget rebuild our economy and create jobs?
Poll 43
"On 6 October, the Government delivered a budget designed, in the Treasurer's words, to 'rebuild our economy and create jobs'. What grade would you give the budget given the objective? A, B, C, D, E, F"
Photo Credit: Wes Mountain/The Conversation, CC BY-ND
C
My overall rating is Average. There are a lot of missed opportunities to target job growth more directly. It's not clear how much of the tax cut will actually be spent rather than saved given the general uncertainty around COVID-19.