The Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course (the Life Course Centre) has announced its inaugural Working Paper Series award winners.
All 30 Life Course Centre Working Papers published in 2019 were eligible for the awards, which were determined by a nine-member panel of judges in a thorough, two-stage assessment process. A total of four awards were judged and chosen for best student and best researcher contribution to scholarship on children and families over the life course, and best student and best researcher contribution to policy, practice or engagement for children and families over the life course.
The four award-winning papers are:
Category 1. Best contribution to scholarship on children and families over the life course
Researcher:
Nathan Deutscher, Australian National University and Bhashkar Mazumder, Reserve Bank of Chicago. Intergenerational mobility in Australia: National and regional estimates using administrative data. Note: This paper is forthcoming in Labour Economics.
Student:
Nicole Kapelle, The University of Queensland. Marital dissolution and personal wealth: examining gendered trends across the dissolution process. Note: Supervisors are Professor Janeen Baxter, The University of Queensland, Dr Philipp Lersch, Humboldt University and DIW Berlin, and Dr Sergi Vidal, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Professor Baxter was co-author on the paper but as Life Course Centre Director was not on the selection panel and has foregone all benefit from the prize.
Category 2. Best contribution to policy, practice or engagement for children and families over the life course
Researcher:
Melisa Bubonya, Productivity Commission. Pathways of disadvantage: unpacking the intergenerational correlation in welfare. Note: Professor Deborah Cobb-Clark was co-author on this paper, but as a Life Course Centre Chief Investigator was not on the selection panel and has foregone all benefit from the prize.
Student:
Steve Yeong, NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, and Suzanne Poynton, NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. Can pre-recorded evidence raise conviction rates in cases of domestic violence. Note: Supervisors are Dr Katrien Stevens and Professor Deborah Cobb-Clark, the University of Sydney, Professor Donald Weatherburn, the University of New South Wales, and Dr Mario Fiorini, University of Technology Sydney.
Co-editors of the Life Course Centre Working Papers Series Dr Sarah Johnson and Dr Jack Lam said the winning papers provided a strong representation of the Centre’s research focus. They congratulated the winners and also thanked all authors who submitted papers in 2019 as well as the judges who gave their time and expertise in assessing these papers.
The Judging Panel came from a range of disciplines and institutions and consisted of:
- Professor Tim Reddel, The University of Queensland
- Professor David Ribar, Georgia State University
- Dr Sarah Johnson, The University of Western Australia
- Dr Jack Lam, The University of Queensland
- Dr Alfredo Paloyo, University of Wollongong
- Associate Professor Christa van Kraayenoord, The University of Queensland
- Dr Xianbi Huang, La Trobe University
- Dr Anna Zhu, RMIT University
- Leah Cave, The University of Western Australia
The pre-publication Life Course Centre Working Paper Series is a high-impact outlet for promoting the latest research on social and economic disadvantage. It enables sharing of research in a timely and accessible way, which does not prohibit subsequent publication in most peer-reviewed journals, and helps to build the knowledge base on deep and persistent disadvantage, and the development of innovative solutions to address it. Providing an open-access resource of more than 150 published papers dating back to 2014, our Working Paper Series has demonstrated high-profile impact in informing policy discussion and development by being referenced in a number of government and non-government reports and inquiries in Australia and internationally.
The Life Course Centre is again running its Working Paper Series awards in 2020 for all papers published in the 2020 calendar year. You can find out more information on the series, and submitting papers, here.