https://hdl.handle.net/2123/5676 2026-06-07T09:02:18Z 2026-06-07T09:02:18Z Alamyar, Fiona Maree https://hdl.handle.net/2123/17724 2026-04-22T05:25:40Z 2017-10-11T00:00:00Z

Future of Work: Formal rights, collective action and experiences of work within the platform economy Alamyar, Fiona Maree

2017-10-11T00:00:00Z Cotton, Sophie https://hdl.handle.net/2123/17729 2026-04-22T05:25:50Z 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z

Bordering (on) Racism: Migration, Division, and Consent in Australia Cotton, Sophie

2017-01-01T00:00:00Z Graham, John (Sean) https://hdl.handle.net/2123/17725 2026-04-22T05:25:41Z 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z

The Perfect Storm: How Australia Managed to Weather the Global Financial Crisis Graham, John (Sean)

2017-01-01T00:00:00Z Yoo, Kimberley https://hdl.handle.net/2123/17728 2026-04-22T05:25:42Z 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z

Time to rebuild and reaggregate fluctuations: Minsky, complexity and agent-based modelling Yoo, Kimberley

2017-01-01T00:00:00Z Brodzeli, Andrew https://hdl.handle.net/2123/17726 2026-04-22T05:25:42Z 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z

Technics & Transition: Contesting capitalist value relations in the Australian energy sector Brodzeli, Andrew

2017-01-01T00:00:00Z Avila, Jarrod Department of Political Economy https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16653 2026-04-22T05:25:46Z 2017-04-18T00:00:00Z

Elite Localism and Inequality: Understanding affluent community opposition to rail network expansion within the political economy of Sydney. Avila, Jarrod; Department of Political Economy Sydney is a global city experiencing a surge in the expansion of public transport infrastructure. It is an unequal city, with a greater ratio of inequality between suburbs than any other major city in Australia. This state of inequality has a long history. From its historic origins to the present day, the presence and absence of public transport has served to entrench inequality in the city. Those areas with greater access to employment and education tend to be wealthier than those without, and public transportation is a key provider of accessibility and mobility in the city Residents of some of Sydney’s most affluent areas, have fiercely resisted government attempts to extend rail links into these suburbs. These successful actions have led to serious consequences extending beyond the affluent suburbs in question to the city as a whole. This thesis will seek to investigate, identify and understand the phenomena of affluent local opposition to the expansion of rail networks. Submitted as a partial requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Political, Economic and Social Sciences (Honours) Department of Political Economy, University of Sydney, 12th October 2016

2017-04-18T00:00:00Z Williams-Brooks, Llewellyn Department of Political Economy https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16655 2026-04-22T05:25:46Z 2017-04-18T00:00:00Z

Radical theories of capitalism in Australia: Towards a historiography of the Australian New Left Williams-Brooks, Llewellyn; Department of Political Economy It has recently been remarked that people are increasingly disinterested in the study of Australia. Perhaps, as some authors have argued, this is the result of an internationalisation of Australian society, creating a set of global priorities for modern Australians quite different from those of preceding generations. In a world still reeling from the fallout of a Great Recession, making sense of Australia’s place in the world requires some serious reflection. A rapidly changing global context forces us to question the way Australia has been understood and look towards alternative explanations. I suggest that how we think about Australia, and how we apply this knowledge to our reality has significant implications for political action. It is with this impasse in mind that I turn my theoretical focus to the study of the Australian New Left. As I argue, they offer a radical theoretical approach that forces us to reevaluate our understanding of capitalism in Australia and can beneficially contribute to producing alternatives in a contemporary context. Submitted as partial requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (Honours), Political Economy, University of Sydney, 12 October 2016.

2017-04-18T00:00:00Z Sturgess, Hugh Department of Political Economy https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16650 2026-04-22T05:25:43Z 2017-04-18T00:00:00Z

Would a Job Guarantee Guarantee Jobs? An Analysis of the Employer of Last Resort Proposal Sturgess, Hugh; Department of Political Economy Unemployment is a chronic feature of capitalist economies, with a host of related ills such as poverty, personal and economic insecurity and social stigma. In much of the developed world, unemployment has never returned to the low levels present before the mid-1970s, and increasingly insecure and part-time work has replaced permanent, full-time employment. Over two million Australians are either officially unemployed, marginally connected to the labour market but desiring work or are underemployed.The policy referred to here as the Job Guarantee (JG), also known as the Employer of Last Resort and Buffer Stock Employment, is a proposal to address unemployment and underemployment directly, through the provision of a blanket offer of employment at the minimum wage for anyone willing and able to work. This thesis seeks to examine in detail the practicality and desirability of the JG as a solution to the problem of scarce and insecure employment. Honours Thesis: Submitted as partial requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Political, Economic and Social Sciences (Honours), Political Economy, University of Sydney, 12 October 2016

2017-04-18T00:00:00Z Pawson, Isla J Department of Political Economy https://hdl.handle.net/2123/16651 2026-04-22T05:25:46Z 2017-04-18T00:00:00Z

The Political Economy of Australian Housing Policy : Beyond the Vaunted History of Ideas Pawson, Isla J; Department of Political Economy Given the growing presence and multidimensional nature of housing problems in Australia, it is important to critically reflect upon the ways in which scholars have analysed the origins of housing problems and the policies designed to tackle them. In mainstream debates, housing is viewed as a technical problem potentially solved through isolated measures such as better construction technology, fewer planning laws or different zoning regulations. This thesis argues that this view overlooks the systemic character of housing problems, and the forces that shape the state’s policy responses. The thesis combines a number of state-theoretical insights with historical and contemporary investigations of housing policy development, and highlights the importance of using theory to improve strategies for housing reform. Submitted as partial requirement for the degree of Bachelor of International and Global Studies (Honours), Political Economy, University of Sydney, 12 October 2016.

2017-04-18T00:00:00Z Chivers, Carmela Caira https://hdl.handle.net/2123/14442 2026-04-22T05:25:43Z 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Keeping it real: experimental game theory and social ontology Chivers, Carmela Caira

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z Baker, Natalie https://hdl.handle.net/2123/14094 2026-04-22T05:25:44Z 2015-10-14T00:00:00Z

Environmental Policy Evaluation: An Interdisciplinary Framework Baker, Natalie

2015-10-14T00:00:00Z Peterson, Nicholas https://hdl.handle.net/2123/14088 2026-04-22T05:25:49Z 2015-10-01T00:00:00Z

Lost in Translation Quantitative Easing, Finance and Household Recovery in the United States Peterson, Nicholas

2015-10-01T00:00:00Z Littleton, Eliza https://hdl.handle.net/2123/14087 2026-04-22T05:25:49Z 2015-10-01T00:00:00Z

Animals in Capital: A Marxist Perspective on the Use of Other Animals in Capitalist Commodity Production Littleton, Eliza

2015-10-01T00:00:00Z Brown, Angus https://hdl.handle.net/2123/14086 2026-04-22T05:25:49Z 2015-10-14T00:00:00Z

Austerity and the State in Australia: A Critique of Ideational Explanations Brown, Angus

2015-10-14T00:00:00Z Rennie, Anna Elisabeth https://hdl.handle.net/2123/14089 2026-04-22T05:25:46Z 2015-10-14T00:00:00Z

Governance in the Eurozone: A Strategic Relational Approach Rennie, Anna Elisabeth

2015-10-14T00:00:00Z Phillippo-Holmes, Joshua https://hdl.handle.net/2123/12802 2026-04-22T05:25:42Z 2014-10-01T00:00:00Z

Poverty Reduction and Governance in the African Periphery: A critical analysis of the World Bank’s Poverty Reduction Strategy in the political economies of sub-Saharan Africa Phillippo-Holmes, Joshua

2014-10-01T00:00:00Z Dall, Erima https://hdl.handle.net/2123/10177 2026-04-22T05:25:46Z 2013-11-13T00:00:00Z

The Australian state and carbon pricing Dall, Erima

2013-11-13T00:00:00Z Reoch, Angus https://hdl.handle.net/2123/10153 2026-04-22T05:25:42Z 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z

The Projected State and Social Order Reoch, Angus

2013-01-01T00:00:00Z Farnham, Daisy https://hdl.handle.net/2123/10140 2026-04-22T05:25:45Z 2013-10-24T00:00:00Z

Workfare, neoliberalism and the welfare state. Towards a historical materialist analysis of Australian workfare Farnham, Daisy

2013-10-24T00:00:00Z Slade-Caffarel, Yannick https://hdl.handle.net/2123/10141 2026-04-22T05:25:41Z 2013-10-16T00:00:00Z

Value is an Institution. The Empire of Value, ontology, and the methodology of economics as a social science Slade-Caffarel, Yannick

2013-10-16T00:00:00Z Hollins, Clare https://hdl.handle.net/2123/10139 2026-04-22T05:25:42Z 2013-10-01T00:00:00Z

Labour Standards and Workers' Rights in the 'Global Factory' Hollins, Clare

2013-10-01T00:00:00Z Jahan, Hosna https://hdl.handle.net/2123/8991 2026-04-22T05:25:44Z 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

Money for Nothing, Re-thinking Women's Empowerment and the Accomplishments of Microfinance in Rural Bangladesh Jahan, Hosna Microfinance Institutions often claim that microfinance is useful not only in alleviating poverty but also as a development tool which empowers women. The impacts of microfinance on empowerment have been studied by many, some of whom have reviewed empowerment not only by looking at repayment, but also by examining the women’s well-being. However, other studies suggest that the various dimensions of well-being (such as mobility, political participation and health awareness) are not a direct result of access to credit or income but rather an indirect result of community development programs that are usually run by the microfinance institutions alongside their credit providing facilities. Thus, many studies suggest, while microfinance may be a useful tool to alleviate women out of poverty but empowerment is an issue that needs to be addressed differently. Empowerment, in this view, requires incorporating women’s agency. However, in traditional societies like Bangladesh, the present character of women’s agency is one of the causes of their disempowerment. The existing social structure and the century-long gender disparities distort the view of what women really value. Thus, I argue that empowerment cannot be achieved only via exercising agency, but it needs to question the existing power relations and social structures. On this reasoning empowerment requires critical agency. By examining Bangladeshi women’s identity, social structure and agency this thesis inspects how social structures, existing power relations and agency play out in the context of empowerment. I argue that the microfinance institutions need to challenge the existing social structures and power relations rather than build on them. Moreover, the idea of critical agency needs to be incorporated in their community development programs to play an effective role in women’s empowerment and development. Looking at microfinance institutions in this broader context shows more clearly the limited role they play in the process of women’s empowerment.

2012-01-01T00:00:00Z Bundey, Freya https://hdl.handle.net/2123/8995 2026-04-22T05:25:44Z 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

'Never had it so good'? The Concealed Costs of Financial Exposure Bundey, Freya

2012-01-01T00:00:00Z Rogers, Katren https://hdl.handle.net/2123/8996 2026-04-22T05:25:50Z 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

Vouchers Reconsidered - The marketisation of education and prospects for social democratic reform Rogers, Katren

2012-01-01T00:00:00Z Sherab, Domenique https://hdl.handle.net/2123/8993 2026-04-22T05:25:41Z 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

Freedom and Faith in Neoliberal Capitalism: The Fantasy of the American Dream Sherab, Domenique

2012-01-01T00:00:00Z Petrova, Ioulia https://hdl.handle.net/2123/8992 2026-04-22T05:25:42Z 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

Aid-for-Trade: the Way Forward for Development? Petrova, Ioulia The failure to eradicate poverty through trade-induced economic growth over a number of decades raises questions about the latest initiative: Aid-for-trade. After examining whether the initiative signifies a new paradigm for achieving development, this thesis employs an empirical analysis of the East Asian region with a particular focus on Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam to find no clear relationship between Aid-for-trade flows and measures of development even for individual sectors in these countries. It is concluded that this is due to Aid-for-trade flows being designed to maximise the donor’s economic and political position rather than the recipient’s development.

2012-01-01T00:00:00Z Gilliland, Mathew Andrew https://hdl.handle.net/2123/8259 2026-04-22T05:25:44Z 2011-10-17T00:00:00Z

The Debate on Excess Capacity, Issues of Competition and Time Gilliland, Mathew Andrew There has been a great deal of soul-­‐searching in the economic community over the past few years. Economists of varying stripes have begun to question the academic and business paradigm which is the orthodox approach to economics. Questions of capital theory, of method, of normative philosophy are being reconsidered as the community questions the wisdom of the textbooks of Dornbusch and Bernanke, the truisms of Solow on growth and Friedman on financial markets, the intellectual sons of the marginalist revolution. The public and policymakers alike are also searching for alternatives, with proposals of a Tobin tax across Europe and occupations of Wall Street the most striking recent examples. Without doubt, the global financial crisis has done far more than simply cut the hair of the Samson of international finance, it has forced the jaws of orthodox economists to clamp down on Eve’s apple and awaken, naked and impure, outside the ivory walls and locked gates of Eden. They now lie, castrate, amongst the intellectual barrenness and moral decrepitude which was neoclassical economics. If they can open their eyes, they will see there are many rich traditions of heterodox thought which have persisted outside the bastions of economic Eden. These are not built from invisible hands, and they do not need to assume full employment or abstract from that which they do not understand to work. The theoretical underpinnings of these approaches are methodologically Babylonian, not Cartesian, and thus sustain themselves on more than just axioms (Dow, 1996). The insights of Keynes (1936), Robinson (1941), Steindl (1952), Sraffa (1960), Kalecki (1971), Marx (1971), Amadeo (1986a), White (1996), Missaglia (2007), Arestis and Sawyer (2009b), and Moudud (2010) are but a few authors whose contribution to understanding the phenomenon and implications of excess capacity cannot be understated. It would be a travesty of morality and justice for the Department of Political Economy at this University to be closed, amalgamated out, or in any other way undermined, because if there is one thing which the past few years 10 of economic experience and this body work shares in common, it is that pluralism leads to a better, greater, and more fruitful understanding. I pray the University makes the right decision.

2011-10-17T00:00:00Z Latty, Kieran https://hdl.handle.net/2123/8260 2026-04-22T05:25:49Z 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z

Income distribution, growth and social-welfare: towards an economic solution to the growth-equality trade-off problem Latty, Kieran This thesis assesses the social-welfare implications of modifications to the post transfer distribution of income, in the context of welfare maximising policy design. Both the inequality-distributional efficiency and inequality-growth relationship are assessed. An Atkinson social welfare function is employed in a novel fashion to model the inequality distributional efficiency relationship, including direct effects that result from the concavity of the personal utility function, and external losses operating via positional income effects. This analysis produces estimates of the social welfare losses from inequality across a data set of 137 countries, where the unweighted average of total losses is found to be equivalent to be 47% of GNI. The equality-growth relationship is analysed from the standpoint of both endogenous growth theory and post-Keynesian theories of demand and investment. The relationships between the functional and personal distribution of income and key macroeconomic variables including the rate of savings, and physical and human capital accumulation are assessed. Crucially, these relationships are found to be highly modifiable by economic policy and structural reform, and in theory, no growth–equality trade off need exist. On the contrary, equality may be growth promoting at moderate to high inequality levels. Combined with the large static welfare losses from inequality uncovered in this analysis, the welfare optimum level of inequality is likely to be close to the level associated with distributional efficiency maximisation. This is likely to be a very low level of inequality in comparison to existing levels in most countries and regions, and large welfare losses result from levels of inequality significantly above this level. Honours Thesis: Submitted as partial requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (Honours), Political Economy, University of Sydney, 2011. 2 This work contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university, and to the best of my knowledge and belief, this thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due references is made in the text of the thesis.

2011-01-01T00:00:00Z Kaldor, Thomas https://hdl.handle.net/2123/8261 2026-04-22T05:25:45Z 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

The Contradiction of Concentration A Critical Evaluation of Australian Merger Law Kaldor, Thomas

2009-01-01T00:00:00Z Ang, Amanda https://hdl.handle.net/2123/8262 2026-04-22T05:25:46Z 2011-10-10T00:00:00Z

The Political Economy of Corruption Indexes Ang, Amanda Corruption indexes, such as the Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index and the World Bank’s Control of Corruption indicator, have played a pivotal role in focusing global attention on corruption. Since they came into existence, these indexes have been influential on research and investigations into corruption. Aid donors have also relied extensively on these indexes to determine the allocation of aid to developing countries. Despite the intense anti-corruption initiatives over the past decade, corruption still remains one of the greatest stumbling blocks for sustainable development. The lack of success of these anti-corruption initiatives has cast significant doubts on the contemporary mainstream perspective on corruption. In this thesis, I examine the underlying concepts and theoretical assumptions of the mainstream approach to corruption which has its roots in neoclassical economics. It defines corruption as bribery and views it as a rent-seeking behaviour. I argue that this understanding of corruption is too narrow and does not reflect the realities of corruption. A more appropriate framework draws on the insights of institutionalism. Focusing on the institutional structures and its violation in its analysis, this alternative defines corruption as the subversion of institutions and rules of an organisation or society which results in the corrosion of the institutional and social fabric. This alternative approach provides a broader and more realistic understanding of the realities of corruption. In theory, it may be possible to construct a corruption index based on this alternative framework. In order to give the developing countries a real chance at tackling corruption, it is necessary that the international community, in particular the World Bank and IMF, alter the way they understand corruption.

2011-10-10T00:00:00Z McCormack, Amanda https://hdl.handle.net/2123/7252 2026-04-22T05:25:44Z 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z

In credit we trust?: An analysis of US households and their consumption of credit from 1950-2007 through the lens of financialization McCormack, Amanda

2010-01-01T00:00:00Z Macfarlan, Alex https://hdl.handle.net/2123/7251 2026-04-22T05:25:48Z 2011-04-04T00:00:00Z

Risk, Competition and Credit Cards: The Financialisation of Australian Households Macfarlan, Alex

2011-04-04T00:00:00Z Bryant, Gareth https://hdl.handle.net/2123/7237 2026-04-22T05:25:49Z 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z

The political economy of the Clean Development Mechanism Bryant, Gareth

2010-01-01T00:00:00Z Greenwood, Joshua https://hdl.handle.net/2123/7238 2026-04-22T05:25:40Z 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z

Good for the Nation, Good for the People? Greenwood, Joshua

2010-01-01T00:00:00Z