Labour Econometrics Workshop
Thursday 14 & Friday 15 August, the University of Melbourne
The 27th Labour Econometrics Workshop will be held on Thursday 14 and Friday 15 August 2025.
This event is co-hosted by the Melbourne Institute and the Department of Economics at The University of Melbourne.
During the past 26 years, the Labour Econometrics Workshop (LEW) has become the leading workshop for labour economics in Oceania. The workshop is a place for researchers to present cutting edge research in labour economics with an emphasis on the application of econometric methods. Over the course of its existence, the workshop has managed to remain ‘boutique’, with a single stream of presentations supported by high-quality discussants. Submissions in labour economics, and applied economics more broadly, are encouraged.
Contact: Please send any questions to lew-2025@unimelb.edu.au
Registrations close 5:00pm, Thursday 7 August, unless booked out earlier.
Important dates
Thursday 20 February | Paper submissions open |
Thursday 15 May, 5:00pm | Paper submissions close |
Monday 9 June | Notification of paper acceptance |
Monday 30 June | Registrations open |
Thursday 17 July | Complete papers by speakers to be submitted for discussant review |
Thursday 7 August, 5:00pm | Registrations close |
Thursday 14 and Friday 15 August | Conference |
Saturday 16 August | Social event - The Golden Mile - Marvellous Melbourne Tour - Melbourne Walks |
Organising committee
Cain Polidano, Principal Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, the University of Melbourne
Marc Chan, Professor, Department of Economics, Faculty of Business and Economics, the University of Melbourne
Jan Kabátek, Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, the University of Melbourne
Steeve Marchand, Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, the University of Melbourne
Kieu-Trang Nguyen, Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics, Faculty of Business and Economics, the University of Melbourne
Scientific committee
Maxim Ayanev, Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, the University of Melbourne
Marc Chan, Professor, Department of Economics, Faculty of Business and Economics, the University of Melbourne
Jan Kabátek, Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, the University of Melbourne
Steeve Marchand, Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, the University of Melbourne
Susan Méndez, Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, the University of Melbourne
Kevin Staub, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Faculty of Business and Economics, the University of Melbourne
Eik Leong Swee, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Faculty of Business and Economics, the University of Melbourne
Kieu-Trang Nguyen, Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics, Faculty of Business and Economics, the University of Melbourne
Cain Polidano, Principal Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, the University of Melbourne
Sponsors
About the Melbourne Institute
The Melbourne Institute is Australia’s pre-eminent economic and social policy research institution. We are renowned for our high-quality, independent and impartial applied research and our development of longitudinal survey tools. Our work with government, business and community groups has been powering effective change for over 60 years, and through our research we play an important role in creating fundamental policy and practice.
We enhance understanding of issues affecting Australia and Australians today, and apply this knowledge to shape debate and drive evidence-based change.
register here
Day 1 - Thursday 14 August
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 8:30am - 9:00am | Registration |
| 9:00am - 9:15am | Welcome to Country |
| 9:15am - 9:30am | Opening remarks - Professor Phillip McCalman, Head of Department and Chair of Economics, the University of Melbourne |
| 9:30am - 10:10am | "Peer Effects in Recovery from Substance Use Disorder" Christiern Daniel Rose; University of Queensland Discussant: Tim Moore; Monash University |
| 10:10am - 10:50am | "Welfare Programs and Crime Spillovers" Claudio Labanca; Monash University Discussant: Anna Zhu; RMIT University |
| 10:50am - 11:20am | Morning Tea |
| 11:20am - 12:00pm | Life-Cycle Bias Correction and Intergenerational Association in Crime" Yu-Wei Luke Chu; Victoria University of Wellington Discussant: Dakyung Seong; The University of Sydney |
| 12:00pm - 12:40pm | "Algorithmic Policing" Ranae Jabri; University of Sydney Discussant: Klaus Ackermann; Monash University |
| 12:40pm - 1:20pm | Lunch |
| 1:20pm - 2:20pm | Keynote Address - Professor Jens Ludwig; The University of Chicago |
| 2:20pm - 2:30pm | Break |
| 2:30pm - 3:10pm | "Wage and Employment Effects of Wage Subsidies" Maxime Gravoueille; Monash University Discussant: Silvia Griselda; e61 Institute |
| 3:10pm - 3:50pm | "Labour Market Effects of the COVID Supplement" Erin Clarke; e61 Institute Discussant: Arianna Gatta; University of Queensland |
| 3:50pm - 4:10pm | Afternoon Tea |
| 4:10pm - 4:50pm | "Instrumental variables with treatment clusters" Didier Nibbering; Monash University Discussant: Serguei Maliar; Santa Clara University |
| 4:50pm - 5:30pm | "Flawed Oversight: Teachers Don’t Catch AI’s Grading Mistakes When AI is Harsh" Panos Sotirakopoulos; Curtin University Discussant: Hayley Fisher; The University of Sydney |
| 6:00pm | Dinner Woodward Conference Centre Level 10, 185 Pelham St, Carlton Note: only for attendees who registered |
Day 2 - Friday 15 August
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 8:30am - 9:00am | Registration |
| 9:00am - 9:40am | "Doing More with Less: School Management and Education Productions" Samuel Stemper; University of Auckland Discussant: Johannes Kunz; Monash University |
| 9:40am - 10:20am | "The impact of domestic violence on the employment, educational, and mental health outcomes of young women" Kristen Sobeck; Australian National University Discussant: Chikako Yamauchi; National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies |
| 10:20am - 11:00am | "Heterogeneity, Uncertainty and Learning: Semiparametric Identification and Estimation" Jackson Bunting; University of Washington Discussant: Michael Keane; University of New South Wales |
| 11:00am - 11:30am | Morning Tea |
| 11:30am - 12:45pm | PhD Candidate Paper Presentations "The Motherhood Penalty and Labour Market Trajectories: Evidence from a developing country" Hang-Anh (Tia) Nguyen; University of Wollongong "Does disability funding impact employment prospects? A study of Australian disability funding recipients and their carers" Maathu Ranjan; Australian National University |
| 12:45pm - 1:30pm | Lunch |
| 1:30pm - 2:30pm | Keynote Address - "Decomposing Wealth Differences: Earnings, Demographics, and Rates of Return" |
| 2:30pm - 3:00pm | Afternoon Tea |
| 3:00pm - 3:40pm | "Communities of Commerce The Legacy of Chinese Immigration in Java" Quoc-Anh Do; Monash University Discussant: Gianluca Russo; Barcelona School of Economics |
| 3:40pm - 4:20pm | "Selection and Heterogeneity in the Returns to Migration" Emilia Tjernstrom; Macquarie University Discussant: Robert Breunig; Australian National University |
| 4:20pm - 4:30pm | Closing Comments - Professor Beth Webster, Director and Ronald Henderson Professor, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, the University of Melbourne |
| 5:00pm | Dinner Il Mercato Centrale Melbourne 546 Collins St, Melbourne Note: only for attendees who registered |
Day 3 - Saturday 16 August
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 10:00am - 12:00pm | Excursion - Note: only for attendees who registered |
register here
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Keynote speakers
Professor Jens Ludwig
The University of Chicago
Jens Ludwig is the Edwin A. and Betty L. Bergman Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago, Pritzker director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab and co-director of the University of Chicago Education Lab, which he helped found 15 years ago to work closely with the public sector to help solve social problems.
His work is increasingly focused on the use of algorithms and AI to improve human decision-making and has been published in leading economics journals such as the American Economic Review and Quarterly Journal of Economics. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine.
John Bailey Jones
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
John Bailey Jones is vice president of microeconomic analysis in the Research Department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. He joined the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond as a senior economist and research advisor in September 2016 after serving as a consultant to the Bank and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Before joining the Richmond Fed, he taught economics at the University of Albany, SUNY. John earned his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1998.
John's principal research areas are applied macroeconomics and structural econometrics. His research interests include life-cycle consumption and labor supply, health economics, dynamic investment decisions, and fiscal policy.
Getting to the University:
The Labour Econometric Workshop will take place at the Woodward Conference Centre, Level 10, 185 Pelham St, Carlton, at The University of Melbourne's Parkville campus.
From the CBD:
To get to the University of Melbourne from the Melbourne city center, simply catch any tram going up Swanston Street. These trams run from Flinders Street Station and allow you to disembark at Stop 1 – opposite the University.
The Veriu Queen Victoria Market Hotel is a ten minute walk to the University and located in the vibrant area of the Queen Victoria Market.
From Carlton:
Zagame's House, Best Western Plus Travel Inn, and Melbourne Carlton Central Apartment Hotel are a 12-15 minute walk from the University of Melbourne.
Navigating the University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne was founded in 1853 and is Australia’s second oldest university. The University spans two campuses with main campus located in Parkville and the second campus located in Southbank, where the Victorian College of the Arts resides.
You can download a PDF copy, or access the University of Melbourne interactive map.
Navigating Melbourne
Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, is a beautiful city with fine buildings and spacious parks, which gives Melbourne its 'garden-city' title. Settlers from a variety of countries have given Melbourne a cosmopolitan outlook and the city has developed as the cultural, fashion, shopping, sporting and culinary centre of Australia.
Catching public transport:
Using public transport in the Melbourne CBD requires a myki card. You can purchase a myki card at most convenience stores or major train stations across Melbourne for $6. This will provide you access to Melbourne's trams, trains, and buses. There is a ‘Free Tram Zone’ within the Melbourne CBD, however outside of this area you will need to 'Touch On' your myki. You can download a map of the Free Tram Zone here. The free PTV app is also a useful resource to help with navigation by public transport.
Travelling from the airport:
The SkyBus travels from Tullamarine Airport to Southern Cross Station in the Melbourne CBD. The shuttle bus leaves the airport roughly every 20 minutes and costs $24 for a one-way pass or $40 for a return fare. Private shuttle buses from the airport can also be booked.
Things to see and do in Melbourne:
The central business district of Melbourne is based around the delta of the Yarra River at the top of a large bay. The city area contains some of Australia's finest parks, gardens and historic buildings, all within walking distance. Melbourne is also Australia's entertainment, sporting and cultural capital. Nearly every cuisine is represented in Melbourne's hundreds of restaurants and cafes.
Places of interest include:
- Melbourne Zoo
- Melbourne Skydeck for the awe inspiring view of Melbourne from the Southern Hemisphere's highest viewing platform
- Fed Square, a venue for food, arts, culture and public events across from Flinders St Station, including the amazing Torres Strait owned and operated Indigenous restaurant, Mabu Mabu
- Many waterfront restaurants and cafes along the Yarra River or the District Docklands precinct
- The National Gallery of Victoria
- Royal Botanic Gardens, recognised as one of the world's best, extending over 38 hectares and housing a collection of more than 8,500 species of plants from around the world
- The Koorie Heritage Centre, exploring 60,000 years of culture of the Indigenous people of south-eastern Australia
For more information on Melbourne and its surrounding regions, please visit the following websites:
Survey Design and Analysis Services (SDAS) will be hosting a Starting with Stata workshop on Wednesday 13 August at the University of Melbourne.
This one-day hands-on course is designed to get you doing more in Stata sooner. You will learn the key features of Stata, getting data into Stata for analysis, basic data management, an introduction to tables and frames; and introducing you to Stata graphs and the graph editor.
Registration is a low-cost rate of A$250 (GST).
Students or bulk registration can call (02) 6247 0177 for detailed pricing.
Please head to the SDAS website to secure your spot. Seats are limited.
For queries contact:
Email: lew-2025@unimelb.edu.au