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Doctor

Paul Blacklow

Lecturer

Economics

Orcid identifier0000-0002-4177-7567
  • Lecturer
    Economics
  • +61 3 6226 2283 (Work)
  • Tasmanian School of Business and Economics, Economics, Private Bag 84, Hobart, TAS, 7001

BIO

"Evoking policy change from the Perspective of an Economist"

“Growing up in Burnie, a poor industrial town at the time, I wanted to know why some Australians were poor and others rich. I also wanted to know why unemployment existed and what factors influenced people’s decisions. Economics gave me the answers,” says Dr Paul Blacklow.

“I began my research into the change and disparity in incomes and spending through the 1980s and 90s using a range of macroeconomics models,” Dr Blacklow explains. “However, I found that macroeconomic models being based upon a single “average” Australian, were not sufficient to fully explain the phenomena, so, I turned to microeconomics where variations in demographics, income, spending and the cost of living could be modelled.


Using microeconomics of the household and econometrics to inform policy

Dr Blacklow studies the choices that people and households make and why they make them. When to start a family, whether to buy or rent, whether to work or study and how much to spend on each good are all examples of microeconomic household decisions. Changes in these choices can have significant impact upon the macro economy and society. Dr Blacklow believes that by better understanding these decisions, we are able to explain and predict how people respond to policy and changes in social and economic conditions.

“We need to know how people will alter their behaviour in response to policy changes in order to assess how effective policies will actually be”

Dr Blacklow primarily uses econometrics (the application of statistical methods to economic data) and large household surveys to test and validate economic models of household choice, and estimate how households respond to policy and social change.

Combining the models, econometrics and data allows Dr Blacklow to examine such topics as optimal labour and incomes taxes, the cost of living, education performance, gender wage differences, and the impact of caring on the development of human capital.

More recently, Dr Blacklow has begun working with UTAS colleagues in Experimental Economics, where unique data is collected from a controlled experiment that would not be possible to obtain from survey data. This has allowed him to use his econometric skills to answer questions about behaviour that challenge traditional economic models of behaviour. Developing new models and theories that include this non-standard economic behaviour, should result in better policy development, which more accurately predicts how people will respond.

“Better economic theories lead to better economic policies, which create better outcomes for Australia and the world.

Poverty and Policy

Dr Blacklow regularly participates in Australia’s Anti-Poverty Week. In 2017 at the Hobart event, he and others discussed the possibility of a universal basic income for Australia. Dr Blacklow noted that to pay an income of $30,000 to all Australians would require all taxation in the country to double! He also noted that it would drastically reduce the labour supply, particularly for low-paying and unpleasant jobs, leading to wage rises in those areas.

Through the University of Tasmania’s unique position, the Economic Society of Australia, and Dr Blacklow’s teaching and media engagements, he has formed special and close relationships with policy makers and community leaders in Tasmania. This has allowed Dr Blacklow to access real world data and investigate policy issues such as illicit drugs, gambling, workers compensation, default rates in microfinance, tax reform and the standard of living for Tasmanians.

Dr Paul Blacklow has taught at the University of Tasmania since 1995, lecturing since 1999. In 2002 he was appointed as an Associate Lecturer after submitting his PhD and promoted to Lecturer in 2005. Paul primarily teaches units in microeconomics and econometrics.

Paul's research interests include: household behaviour, taxation and welfare payments reform, price and cost of living indices, cost of children, inequality and welfare and has published papers in Australian academic refereed journals. He regularly presents papers at the Econometrics Society Association Meeting (ESAM) and the Australian Conference of Economists (ACE).

From 2004-2010 and 2019-2022 Paul was president of the Tasmanian Branch of the Economics Society of Australia and organised and chaired the Australian Conference of Economists in 2007 and in 2022. Paul has been interviewed by the media on topics such as prices rises and the CPI, the cost of living, the impact of children, government spending cutbacks, NAPLAN and regulation obesity.

Biography
After graduating Paul worked at the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), learning a lot about the ABS's methods and products. After a year he was successful in applying for UTAS PhD scholarship. He began investigating the then decline in Australia's Household saving rate and increase in consumption using a range of macroeconomics models. After a few years, changes in staff, and the failure of the macroeconomic models to explain the phenomena, Paul turned to microeconomics and investigated changes in demographics and the distribution of consumption and income. This work constituted his PhD thesis, which was submitted in 2002 and awarded in 2003. Paul had been tutoring and lecturing throughout his PhD candidature and was appointed as a tenured Associate Lecturer in 2002 and promoted to lecturer in 2005. Given Paul's limited job experience in the non-academic world, he tries to remain grounded by giving media interviews, public presentations, and provides consultancies to government, business and community sectors.

Memberships
Economic Society of Australia
Econometric Society of Australasia
European Economic Association
ARC Research Design Network

Committee Associations
Committee Member of the Tasmanian Branch of the Economic Society of Australia

DEGREES

  • B.Ec (Hons)
    University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia1 Feb 1990 - 1 Dec 1993
  • PhD (Economics)
    University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia1 Jul 1995 - 1 Jul 2002

SCHOOL AND PORTFOLIO

  • Tasmanian School of Business and Economics

FIELD OF RESEARCH