August 2008 in RSSS

Awards

Jonathan Schaffer

2. The Australasian Journal of Philosophy's 2008 Best Paper Award, for the best paper published in the previous year. This was awarded for From Nihilism to Monism, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, vol. 85, 2007, pp. 175-91

Environmental Economics

Dr Ralf Steinhauser

Dr Ralf Steinhauser, of RSSS Economics Program, is part of a cross-institutional research team that has recently been awarded funding for research on "Learning from the Irrational: A study of Environmental Preferences". This project forms part of the Environmental Economics Research Hub (based at the Crawford School of Economics and Government under the Direction of Professor Jeff Bennett). Funding for the Hub is provided by the Department of Environment and Water Resources under the Commonwealth Environment Research Facility.

The aim of the research that Ralf will undertake is to understand the behaviour of people interacting with the environment which cannot be explained by neoclassical economic theory. These phenomena are often referred to as irrational behaviour as they fall short of being predicted by standard utility maximizing selfish preferences. Rather than discarding these behaviours as non-rationalizeable one can learn from them.

Understanding the different behaviours and analysing their patters will help construct economic models with more realistic psychological foundations which in turn will help to make better predictions of people's reactions to future interventions. Theses insights can help to make environmental policies more effective and possibly widen the range of useful tools for intervention. This will be work at the intersection of environmental and behavioural economics working with individual or house hold level data that is related to environmental issues.

RSSS PhD Studentships The Research School of Social Science of the Australian National University has up to four PhD scholarships available. The value of the stipend is $20,007 per annum for 3 years, subject to satisfactory progress. The scholarships will be in the following areas: - Public Opinion and Foreign and Defence Policy Making - A Collective Biography of the Country/National Party - Gambling Interested applicants should have a First Class or Upper Second Honours Degree (or equivalent). In the first instance, candidates should send a CV by e-mail to Professor David Marsh, Director, Research School of Social Science david.marsh@anu.edu.au. Applicants should also submit an application for admission/scholarship by 24th August 2008. The form can be found on the web at www.anu.edu.au/sas/forms/sas25local.pdf

Events

Economics & Democracy
Second Annual Interdisciplinary Social Sciences Conference

Call for panels, workshops and papers (pdf)

Hosted by the Research School of Social Sciences, ANU, Canberra
8-10 December 2008

Online registration now open

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ANZSOG 2008 annual conference
Making Federalism Work
Melbourne, 11 and 12 September 2008.

This conference will take a longer-term, very practical view of the challenges and strategies of effective federalism.

Attending the conference will arm you with ideas and solutions for practical ways forward. You will see high quality, senior level strategic thinkers, providing both practical and case-based presentations, and have opportunities for discussion and networking.

Keynote speakers include:
The Hon. Julie Bishop, MP, Deputy Leader of the Opposition
The Hon. John Brumby, MP, Premier of Victoria
Sir Rod Eddington, Chair, Infrastructure Australia; Chairman, JPMorgan (Australia & New Zealand)
Mr Terry Moran, AO, Secretary, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
The Hon. Mike Rann, MP, Premier of South Australia
The Hon. Wayne Swan, MP, Federal Treasurer

Download pdf brochure and registration forms
Additional information is also available at http://www.anzsog.edu.au including a full list of confirmed speakers.

If you have any questions regarding this conference please contact Anna Steer via email a.steer@anzsog.edu.au or call +61 3 8344 1968.