SOLD OUT: Building a better world: the productivity and efficiency of nations, industries and firms

This event will feature insight from world-leading experts and will provide information for practitioners on productivity, growth, analysis and how new tools can be employed to improve long-term prosperity.

Economics encompasses the decisions made by every person, firm and nation in the world.

It is through economics that we can better understand how the world works and make smarter decisions to create a better future.

In particular, by better understanding, approaching and measuring productivity and efficiency we are able to create more from less and create a better standard of living. 

The goal of the lecture is to give a brief introduction to the field of productivity and efficiency analysis — the content is aimed towards practitioners in industry and government agencies. 

Methods for modelling and measuring productivity and efficiency have made a number of important advances in the last decade and these advances impact the way industry and government practitioners and firms should operate.

This event will be framed by an introduction from world-leading economist and academic, Professor John Quiggin, and will feature a keynote lecture by an internationally renowned economic researcher Associate Professor Valentin Zelenyuk.

About the speakers

Professor John Quiggin

John Quiggin is an Australian Laureate Fellow in Economics at the University of Queensland. He is prominent both as a research economist and as a commentator on Australian economic policy.

He is a Fellow of the Econometric Society, the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and many other learned societies and institutions.

He has produced over 1500 publications, including six books and over 200 refereed journal articles, in fields including decision theory, environmental economics, production economics, and the theory of economic growth.

He has also written on policy topics including climate change, micro-economic reform, privatisation, employment policy and the management of the Murray-Darling river system. 

Associate Professor Valentin Zelenyuk

Valentin Zelenyuk is an ARC Future Fellow at The University of Queensland, Australia.  His research focuses on the economic theory of production, productivity, and efficiency and related aggregation issues; econometric/statistical estimation and data science and analytics (mainly nonparametric and semiparametric). He also examines the econometric applications (mainly in banking, healthcare, and cross-countries analysis).

He has co-authored over 60 international peer-reviewed publications. 

Recently he was elected member of the Conference on Research in Income and Wealth (CRIW) group of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).

About the book

The lecture will draw on the recently published book co-authored by Valentin Zelenyuk and Robin Sickles (Rice University, USA), titled Measurement of Productivity and Efficiency: Theory and Practice  published by Cambridge University Press.

Measurement of Productivity and Efficiency: Theory and Practice provides a comprehensive approach to productivity and efficiency analysis, covering its theoretical underpinnings and its empirical implementation, paying particular attention to the implications of neoclassical economic theory. A distinct feature of the book is that it presents a wide array of theoretical and empirical methods utilized by researchers and practitioners who study productivity issues. 

The book has received high endorsements from top experts in the field.

“Robin Sickles and Valentin Zelenyuk have written an outstanding book on a very important topic – the measurement of productivity and efficiency. The book provides a complete and thorough introduction to the economic theory of production and its many applications to national accounting and econometric modeling. An especially valuable feature of the book is the detailed treatment of productivity and growth in the world economy.”

  - Dale Jorgenson - Samuel W. Morris University Professor, Harvard University

Presented in partnership with the Economic Society of Australia (Qld)