Using a controlled experiment, this paper examines the role of nurture in explaining the stylized fact that women shy away from competition.

Endeavouring to move beyond 'simplistic' points about the rights to freedom of expression and sacrosanctity, this collection explores how differences between conceptions of the sacred can be negotiated. It recognises that blasphemy may be justified as a form of political criticism, as well as a sincere expression of spirituality. But it also recognises that within...

Centrelink was established in 1997 as part of the Howard government’s bold experiment in re-framing social policy and re-shaping service delivery. Centrelink was the embodiment of a key tenet of the Howard vision for public service: a specialised service delivery ‘provider’ agency separated from the policy functions of the ‘purchaser’. Carved out of a monolithic...

Using data from 191 Australian state elections, the authors test how voters respond to economic conditions. They find that unemployment has a strong impact on election outcomes, with each additional percentage point of unemployment reducing the incumbent's re-election probability by 3-5 per cent. However, when luck (unemployment in other states) is separated from competence (unemployment...

Using unique information for a cohort of Australian youth, this paper explores the association between youths' perception of control (i.e. locus of control) and three educational outcomes: (i) Year 12 completion, (ii) whether youth obtained an Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank (ENTER) score, and (iii) the actual ENTER score. By using a measure of socio-economic...