This paper studies the importance of dynamic earnings modeling for the design of income contingent student loans (ICLs). ICLs have been shown to be theoretically optimal in terms of efficiency in the presence of risk aversion, adverse selection and moral hazard, and have attractive equity...

This paper studies the importance of dynamic earnings modeling for the design of income contingent student loans (ICLs). ICLs have been shown to be theoretically optimal in terms of efficiency in the presence of risk aversion, adverse selection and moral hazard, and have attractive equity...

In early 2008 the federal government instructed the Productivity Commission (PC) to enquire into the social and economic policy issue of paid parental leave (PPL). In their draft report, the PC (2008) has called for a taxpayer funded scheme of 18 weeks duration, despite Australian governments...

On Mother’s Day, May 10, 2009, the federal government announced an 18 week paid maternity leave scheme to be funded by taxpayers would be introduced in January 2011. This followed a one year review process beginning with the Productivity Commission (PC) being asked to enquire into the social...

A survey of community attitudes to income contingent loans was conducted in May 2008. The predominant focus of the survey was to ascertain the level of support, or otherwise, for the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) and for the hypothetical application of income contingent loans (ICL)...

It is arguably the case that insufficient income support is restricting the educational choices of mature aged persons with dependants and other financial burdens. Removing financial barriers to further education may improve the opportunities for mature aged persons to re-skill, enabling...

A mortality surface is a measure of mortality indexed by year and age. A central limit theorem for aggregate data is established for the mortality surface defined by the logistic transform of the year and age-specific probability of death and this is used to postulate and estimate a regression...

HECS is an income contingent loan designed to collect tuition from Australian university students. The debt is collected on the basis of recorded incomes and as a consequence, debtors living overseas will not repay. Using various data sources and assumptions, multiple scenarios are considered in...

This paper analyzes the relationship between individuals’ locus of control and their savings behavior, i.e. wealth accumulation, savings rates, and portfolio choices. Locus of control is a psychological concept that captures individuals’ beliefs about the controllability of life...