Research programs

The Centre has six areas of research.

Technology, innovation and industrial change
This program investigates the process of innovation and technological change within all industrial and service sectors in developed and developing economies. However special attention is given to the convergence of the new general purpose technologies, information technology, biotechnology and nanotechnology and their various and intersecting commercialisation processes.

For more information, email peter.sheehan@vu.edu.au

Sustainable development and the environment
This program focuses on the issues involved in achieving sustainable development, both nationally and internationally. Particular emphasis is given to the development of numerical growth models incorporating environmental effects, including climate change. Emphasis is also given to the impact of technological change and to optimal policy.

For more information, email sardar.islam@vu.edu.au

Information technologies and the information economy
This program focuses on the economic and organisational impacts of information and communication technologies (ICTs), including information industry development and policy, the application of ICTs across the economy, consequent structural changes in the economy, emerging business models for information-based businesses, and statistical indicators of information industries and information infrastructure development.

For more information, email john.houghton@vu.edu.au

Governance and regional economies
This program addresses the impact of economic and social change on regional economies, both sub-national and supra-national, and examines appropriate policy responses at different levels of government. Particular attention is given to impacts at or below the state or province level, and to the effect of these changes on existing institutions and structures, such as fiscal arrangements between national and regional governments.

For more information, email bhajan.grewal@vu.edu.au

Growth, trade and development
This program concerns the nature and causes of the emerging global knowledge economy and the implications of these trends for individual industries, regions and countries. Particular attention is given to the effects of the integration of economies through trade, financial markets and knowledge flows, and to the policy implications - at regional, national and international levels - of these trends.

For more information, email peter.sheehan@vu.edu.au

Inequality and work
The global changes noted above are bringing about fundamental changes in the nature of work, in the supply of jobs and the skills required, and in the distribution of the rewards from working. This program addresses these issues, exploring their implications for rising inequality across individuals, families and regions. It also explores potential policy responses.

For more information, email peter.sheehan@vu.edu.au