Andrew Leigh
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View article: The Case for Randomised Trials (and Why Big Data Does Not Supersede Randomisation)
The Case for Randomised Trials (and Why Big Data Does Not Supersede Randomisation) Open
Research Question/Issue With the growing availability of large‐scale datasets, is randomisation still necessary for identifying causal impacts? Research Findings/Insights Randomised trials, by using luck to assign participants to treatment…
View article: Ten Lessons for Economic Policymakers*
Ten Lessons for Economic Policymakers* Open
Economists have played a powerful role in shaping modern Australia. Drawing on my experience as an academic economist and an economic policymaker, I outline ten principles to guide economists seeking to maximise their impact. These are to …
View article: How COVID changed the world of data
How COVID changed the world of data Open
This is an edited version of a speech delivered to the Population Symposium at the Australian National University School of Demography on 6th October 2023.
View article: Advancing deliberative reform in a parliamentary system: prospects for recursive representation
Advancing deliberative reform in a parliamentary system: prospects for recursive representation Open
Recent theories of democratic representation push beyond ‘minimalist’ notions that only rely on periodic elections to connect officials and constituents. For example, Jane Mansbridge (2019) calls for ‘recursive representation’, which seeks…
View article: Evaluating Policy Impact: Working Out What Works
Evaluating Policy Impact: Working Out What Works Open
Randomised trials frequently produce surprising findings, overturning conventional wisdom. During the twentieth century, randomised trials became commonplace within medicine, saving millions of lives. Randomised trials within government ca…
View article: Issue Information
Issue Information Open
Can China's new rural pension scheme alleviate the relative poverty of rural households?An empirical analysis based on the PSM-DID method
View article: Response to critique of: ‘Understanding the impact of lockdowns on short-term excess mortality in Australia’ by Gigi Foster and Sanjeev Sabhlok
Response to critique of: ‘Understanding the impact of lockdowns on short-term excess mortality in Australia’ by Gigi Foster and Sanjeev Sabhlok Open
Our paper1 studies the impact of lockdowns in Australia on short-term mortality. Our study finds that, compared with the period 2015–2019, the standardised mortality rate in 2020–2021 fell by 5.9%. This finding is contrary to some (such as…
View article: A Zippier Economy: Lessons from the 1992 Hilmer Competition Reforms*
A Zippier Economy: Lessons from the 1992 Hilmer Competition Reforms* Open
The Hilmer Review and National Competition Policy reforms were an important part of the 1990s productivity surge and have been estimated to have delivered a permanent 2.5 per cent lift in GDP. I outline the key elements of these reforms an…
View article: Health inequalities in the COVID pandemic: evidence from Australia
Health inequalities in the COVID pandemic: evidence from Australia Open
This is an edited version of the W.D. Borrie lecture given by the Hon. Dr Andrew Leigh MP, Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, at the 20th Australian Population Association in Canberra on 23 November 2022.
View article: Understanding the impact of lockdowns on short-term excess mortality in Australia
Understanding the impact of lockdowns on short-term excess mortality in Australia Open
During 2020 and 2021, Australia implemented relatively stringent government restrictions yet had few COVID-19 deaths. This provides an opportunity to understand the effects of lockdowns and quarantining restrictions on short-term mortality…
View article: Assessing Australian Monetary Policy in the <scp>Twenty‐First</scp> Century*
Assessing Australian Monetary Policy in the <span>Twenty‐First</span> Century* Open
Using the Reserve Bank of Australia's MARTIN model, we compare actual monetary policy decisions with a counterfactual in which the cash rate is set according to an optimal simple rule. We find that monetary policy played a crucial role in …
View article: Changes in hyperglycaemia-related testing for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes mellitus management: a prospective, cross-sectional survey of 16 years of general practice data from Australia
Changes in hyperglycaemia-related testing for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes mellitus management: a prospective, cross-sectional survey of 16 years of general practice data from Australia Open
BackgroundThe rising prevalence of prediabetes increases the population risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease. Early identification by General Practitioners (GPs) provides opportunities for …
View article: “Beauty Too Rich for Use”*: Billionaires’ Assets and Attractiveness
“Beauty Too Rich for Use”*: Billionaires’ Assets and Attractiveness Open
We examine how the net worth of billionaires relates to their looks, as rated by 16 people of different gender and ethnicity.Surprisingly, their financial assets are unrelated to their beauty; nor are they related to their educational atta…
View article: This Time it’s Ideological!
This Time it’s Ideological! Open
Thomas Piketty isn’t scared to tell a big story. In 2013, he produced Capital in the Twenty-First Century, a 700-page tome about inequality that combined Jane Austen and Honore de Balzac with data from tax returns and national statistics. …