IBSA’s Environment Scan (Escan) 2012 has been produced with funding assistance provided by the Australian Government through the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education (DIISRTE). The Escan provides Innovation & Business Skills Australia (IBSA) with an opportunity to gather industry intelligence on business directions and emerging workforce development issues and to consider...

In the first report one of the main findings was that low-income economies had very cumbersome regulatory systems. Ten years later it is apparent that business regulatory practices in these economies have been gradually but noticeably converging toward the more effi cient practices common in higher income economies. How much has the gap narrowed? Did...

This paper presents an updated snapshot of the New South Wales economy and provides relevant points of comparison with other Australian States and Territories. The New South Wales (NSW) Treasurer, the Hon Mike Baird MP, highlighted in his NSW Treasurer Economic Update – September 2012 that 'NSW now has the strongest growth of the non-mining...

This paper outlines the implications of adjusting productivity statistics for a variable rate of capacity utilisation of capital. Capacity utilisation data from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research shows that capacity utilisation is not constant over time. Capacity utilisation adjustment leads to marginally lower capital input growth and higher multifactor productivity (MFP) growth at...

This working paper discusses the need to for Australia to further strengthen its economic ties with other South East Asian nations, making particular reference to future international trade. The impetus for strengthening regional financial safety nets among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) came following the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC) of 1997/98...