2024
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Meet Dr Kate Huang, a recent addition to our department who joins us from ChinaDr Kate Huang has only been in Melbourne for a month, but despite growing up in China, she is no newbie to Australia.
Originally from Chongqing in southwest China, she moved to Shandong in northern China for university. While there, she had the opportunity to transfer to the University of Queensland (UQ).
“I started at UQ as a second-year student. It was challenging at first—moving to a different country, adapting to English as my second language, and getting used to the Aussie accent. But overall, I really enjoyed the program, and afterward, I decided to pursue an honors year,” Dr Huang recalls.
“During that time, I met some great advisors who encouraged me to pursue a PhD in North America,” she says, adding she eventually chose Caltech in Southern California for her doctoral studies.
“That was a whole new level of challenge—Caltech has a very special PhD program, with a small cohort of about 5-6 students per year, focused heavily on training in micro-theory, political economy and empirics,” Dr Huang says.
“It was an enriching experience, and everyone in my cohort was very supportive of each other, despite having diverse research interests. I was fortunate to meet my advisor (and now coauthor), Omer Tamuz, a mathematician and economist who taught me many things about math, research, and life.”
Why did you choose economics to start with?
“To be honest, it wasn’t my first choice. But perhaps it was meant to be. In high school, I was on the science track and initially wanted to become a medical doctor due to family influence. When I was applying to university, economics was actually a backup option suggested by my mother, so I could understand things like the stock market. Ironically, none of my research involves the stock market. I mostly work on microeconomic theory, which is a field of economics that is more abstract,” says Dr Huang.
Dr Huang completed her PhD about three months ago, with her thesis focusing on rational social learning theory, which builds on the idea that people often infer information and learn by observing what others do.
A simple example is when you’re choosing a restaurant—if you see a lot of people lining up, you think it must be good, and that influences your decision. This is also known as herd behaviour.
“In my research, I formalise this behaviour mathematically and draw conclusions about how social learning works in different settings. For example, what happens when the quality of a restaurant changes over time? How does this affect people’s behaviour, and how much information can we learn in such a dynamic environment? What if people have the opportunity to interact repeatedly? I use mathematical models to answer these types of questions, which then allow me to prove theorems that offer economic insights, as well as doing fun math. Aside from theory work, I also have secondary research interests in applying theory in both experimental and empirical settings.”
As an example of how her theoretical work applies to the real world, she looked at empirical data to test some of these theories. One case involves lung transplants, specifically how social learning might influence decisions about organ rejection.
“Sometimes, if people start rejecting an organ, others may infer from these rejections that something is wrong with it, even when it’s not the case, leading them to reject it as well. This is a negative effect of social learning. We’re working on designing algorithms to improve efficiency in this market and reduce waste, especially since the demand for organs far exceeds the supply, yet people are still saying no to certain transplants and organs are wasted because of this behaviour.”
Once her PhD was complete, Dr Huang was keen to return to Australia with her partner. While she had received an offer in the US, they both wanted to come back here - and she chose Monash because she really liked the environment.
“People are very friendly, and I’m also interested in the work of Prof. Arthur Campbell and Prof Yves Zenou, two researchers at Monash whose work aligns with my interests,” she says.
What do you like to do when you’re not working?
“Anything outdoors really. I love being in nature. I like to trail run with my partner and we camp and hike and spend time with friends outdoors. In Southern California we did some ultra-marathons, running for 7 to 8 hours in places where it is very dry. Here in Australia, it’s completely different—there are rainforests, birds, wallabies, and kangaroos. We’ve gone to Lysterfield Park a few times. It’s beautiful.”
What do you hope to achieve in the near future?
“I’m really excited to start working on new projects with different people here in Australia. Social learning, which is my field, isn’t as developed here yet, and I want to help Australia become a stronghold for this kind of research. I’d love to be part of that movement.”
“In terms of teaching, I want to help students, especially those considering studying abroad. I had great mentors who prepared me well, and I want to contribute by preparing honours students who are interested in pursuing higher studies, whether in the US or elsewhere. I’d like to help raise the competitive standard for honours students if they choose to go overseas.”
“As for life, I’m here for the long haul! I’m looking forward to being part of the academic and research community in Australia, while also enjoying everything Melbourne has to offer.”
A year of huge changes for Dr Filip Premik
Dr Filip Premik.In the past few months, so much has changed for Filip Premik. He completed his dissertation, became Dr Filip Premik, married his girlfriend in the US and moved to Melbourne to take up the position of lecturer at Monash Business School’s Department of Economics. Now he’s ready to get to work.
“When you change jobs and move to a new country there is a lot of idle time so now it’s time for me to really push workwise. I’ve talked to several people about collaborations and I hope to make some discoveries,” Dr Premik said.
Dr Premik did both his undergraduate and Master’s degrees at the Warsaw School of Economics in Poland. He worked for the National Bank of Poland for a few years, before an opportunity to pursue a PhD program in the US presented itself.
“I was looking for an adventure so I thought why not? The University of Minnesota is known for macroeconomics but despite working for the Polish Central bank for a few years, my research rarely concentrates around typical macro questions. But there is a small but vibrant Industrial Organisation community in Minnesota and I was very happy to be part of it.”
His research focus is on industrial organisation, applied micro economics and empirical auctions, and his job market paper focused on switching costs in an environment where buyers repeatedly purchased goods that had the same purpose but could be differentiated; specifically, city buses.
Whenever bus companies need to replace buses, they never replace all of them at once because it’s too expensive and risky. The public bus operators are also not able to pick just any bus but need to organise auctions.
These auctions may be organised in a way that allows public bus operators to favour one potential bidder over others. So Dr Premik’s paper tracks the degree of favouritism and shows that it responds to changes in the bus fleets, with the brands that are already in the fleet those that the operators prefer in this discriminating auction. This suggests that there is a “switching cost: associated with a new brand.
Dr Premik uses favouritism to quantify the switching cost and suggests how to change the environment to improve the welfare of the publicly funded companies.
How did you come up with the idea of public city buses?
“Public transport is kind of my hobby! I always liked buses and when I was young, I was chasing buses around Warsaw. At some point I had been on almost every single bus in Warsaw and ridden at least one stop. But then they renewed their fleet and I was too old to keep doing it. When I was looking for a good topic for my PhD dissertation in Minnesota I thought maybe I can use this. And when I managed to get the data for the auctions it just evolved.”
Why did you choose to come to Monash Business School?
“During the job market period I was applying everywhere. It’s hard to know what places are like just from reading university websites. Monash was the only Australian university I knew about beforehand. When I came here for the interview, I really liked it. The research environment is very good. I know it’s far away but for me Minnesota was already far away from Warsaw so this is fine. I’m enjoying it so far.”
“My wife is also an economist and she got a post as an associate professor in Canada. We met in math camp at the start of our PhDs, and even shared the same PhD advisor. A very romantic story! Unfortunately, we got split up in the job market, but we thought we needed to give it a chance. I hope she will one day come here as there are quite a few universities to choose from in Melbourne.”
You’ve only been here for about two months but what do you make of Melbourne so far?
“Compared to Minneapolis, Melbourne is very different and doesn’t share many undesired specifics which I truly wanted to avoid. [FP1] Instead, there’s interesting nature, great food and finally the coffee is also good!”
What do you look forward to in Melbourne - have you been on the buses?
“Yes of course! From my new apartment in Caulfield, I will be able to see the station so maybe I will become a train spotter. I also like to go out and explore so I hope to do some weekend trips and discover the wildlife.”
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Growing up in a small town outside Nantes in western France, Dr Maxime Gravoueille was one the first in his family to attend university.
His decision to continue on to complete a PhD and pursue an academic career was something his family wholeheartedly supported.
“Because I do public finance, my family keeps asking if I can do their taxes for them, which I can’t. But they sort of understand what I do. And they always encouraged me to make my own choices and do what I want so I never experienced any backlash.”
Dr Gravoueille completed his first two undergraduate years in Nantes and then moved to Paris for post graduate studies and his PhD at the Paris School of Economics.
He has been doing Economics since high school and it is the combination of maths and social science that suits him.
As a public economist, his research is at the intersection of labour economics and public economics.
“I’m interested in government interventions in the economy, and what shapes labour market outcomes. I study how taxes and benefits affect the labour market outcomes of individuals,” he explains.
“For example if you are subsidised for work, will you in fact work more or less and how does that affect wages? It doesn’t have to be taxes and benefits but any kind of government intervention such as regulations and the minimum wage. I’m an applied economist so I try to quantify this using a lot of data,” he says.
“Initially I was doing more macro monetary economics. One of my master's thesis was about growth. But somehow I didn’t really relate to the content, so I shifted to public economics, redistribution and taxation.
“This can be linked to other things like labour economics and education so I could see where I was going and it made sense. Yet during my PhD I shifted towards macroeconomics again doing public finance and public economics, because now I am able to think about models and understand why they are abstract and what they are capturing.”
You completed your PhD in 2023 and the job market is very competitive. Why did you choose Monash Business School?
“I had some other fantastic opportunities but I partly chose Monash because the job market fly-out was really great. I’ve never lived out of France but I really felt I could live here. I loved it and so does my wife so it has been quite a smooth transition for us. Month after month we develop our life here and we still love Melbourne. It’s a fantastic city and I would even say the food is better than in France because there is so much diversity and the Asian food is really good,” he says.
“It reminds me of London in the sense that it is more spread out and has all the different little boroughs with their unique character. Paris is lovely but so dense and overcrowded. “
What do you like to do when you are not working?
“I like reading, I’m reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen right now and it’s a great book. I can’t wait to get home every night to keep reading. I also like to watch romantic comedies. “Notting Hill” is a favourite that I think has aged well. And I play video games with my younger brother in France. It is a good opportunity for us to connect online and stay in touch.”
What are you hoping to explore in the near future research wise? “I want to pursue my research agenda. I have a good view of what I want to do and now I have to make it work. I have a few projects I am keen to start. My advisors and co-authors are very good and supportive.
“They have taught me what it is to be a good researcher and how often you’re rejected so I don’t think I’m naive about the rejection. I always knew it was going to be tough.
“During the Melbourne winter I go back to Europe to five or six conferences and to see my research team back in Paris so that is very exciting,” he says.
A year of huge changes for Dr Filip Premik
Dr Filip Premik.In the past few months, so much has changed for Filip Premik. He completed his dissertation, became Dr Filip Premik, married his girlfriend in the US and moved to Melbourne to take up the position of lecturer at Monash Business School’s Department of Economics. Now he’s ready to get to work.
“When you change jobs and move to a new country there is a lot of idle time so now it’s time for me to really push workwise. I’ve talked to several people about collaborations and I hope to make some discoveries,” Dr Premik said.
Dr Premik did both his undergraduate and Master’s degrees at the Warsaw School of Economics in Poland. He worked for the National Bank of Poland for a few years, before an opportunity to pursue a PhD program in the US presented itself.
“I was looking for an adventure so I thought why not? The University of Minnesota is known for macroeconomics but despite working for the Polish Central bank for a few years, my research rarely concentrates around typical macro questions. But there is a small but vibrant Industrial Organisation community in Minnesota and I was very happy to be part of it.”
His research focus is on industrial organisation, applied micro economics and empirical auctions, and his job market paper focused on switching costs in an environment where buyers repeatedly purchased goods that had the same purpose but could be differentiated; specifically, city buses.
Whenever bus companies need to replace buses, they never replace all of them at once because it’s too expensive and risky. The public bus operators are also not able to pick just any bus but need to organise auctions.
These auctions may be organised in a way that allows public bus operators to favour one potential bidder over others. So Dr Premik’s paper tracks the degree of favouritism and shows that it responds to changes in the bus fleets, with the brands that are already in the fleet those that the operators prefer in this discriminating auction. This suggests that there is a “switching cost: associated with a new brand.
Dr Premik uses favouritism to quantify the switching cost and suggests how to change the environment to improve the welfare of the publicly funded companies.
How did you come up with the idea of public city buses?
“Public transport is kind of my hobby! I always liked buses and when I was young, I was chasing buses around Warsaw. At some point I had been on almost every single bus in Warsaw and ridden at least one stop. But then they renewed their fleet and I was too old to keep doing it. When I was looking for a good topic for my PhD dissertation in Minnesota I thought maybe I can use this. And when I managed to get the data for the auctions it just evolved.”
Why did you choose to come to Monash Business School?
“During the job market period I was applying everywhere. It’s hard to know what places are like just from reading university websites. Monash was the only Australian university I knew about beforehand. When I came here for the interview, I really liked it. The research environment is very good. I know it’s far away but for me Minnesota was already far away from Warsaw so this is fine. I’m enjoying it so far.”
“My wife is also an economist and she got a post as an associate professor in Canada. We met in math camp at the start of our PhDs, and even shared the same PhD advisor. A very romantic story! Unfortunately, we got split up in the job market, but we thought we needed to give it a chance. I hope she will one day come here as there are quite a few universities to choose from in Melbourne.”
You’ve only been here for about two months but what do you make of Melbourne so far?
“Compared to Minneapolis, Melbourne is very different and doesn’t share many undesired specifics which I truly wanted to avoid. [FP1] Instead, there’s interesting nature, great food and finally the coffee is also good!”
What do you look forward to in Melbourne - have you been on the buses?
“Yes of course! From my new apartment in Caulfield, I will be able to see the station so maybe I will become a train spotter. I also like to go out and explore so I hope to do some weekend trips and discover the wildlife.”
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Meet Brazilian-born Dr Ricardo Dahis, a recent addition to the Department of Economics, who shares details on his academic journey, what brought him to Australia and what he loves about Melbourne.
Brazilian-born and raised, Dr Ricardo Dahis undertook his entire undergraduate and master’s degrees at Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro. After gaining a PhD in America, he returned to a position at his Alma Mater in Rio for two years. Despite his strong connection to Brazil, Dr Dahis was happy to accept an offer from Monash Business School’s Department of Economics.
“My wife and I had a good month of existential contemplation on whether we should move all the way round the world,” Dr Dahis said.
“In the end we thought it was a fantastic opportunity. The department is clearly growing with plenty of resources and a high energy level. Everyone wants to move in the direction of more and better research and teaching. People are friendly and relaxed,” he said.
“The conditions are very attractive. Personally, we have always loved Australia. The culture and society seem to be a good fit for us. Brazil is wonderful but it is also complicated,” he added.
Dr Dahis has studied Economics his entire academic career, but there was a time when he was ready to switch paths completely.
“During my master’s studies I fell in love with psychology and neuroscience, and I applied for a PhD in psychology,” he said. “I probably would have done it if I had been accepted but life happens in strange ways.”
“In Economics you see how wide the scope is and the power of the framework. We study constrained decision-making and how constrained decision-makers interact. That’s quite a broad definition and within that you can fit policy, government, history, environmental conservation, and of course psychology!”
In 2015 he started his PhD in Economics at Northwestern University in Chicago. Dr Dahis’ academic work focuses on political economy, environmental economics and to some extent development economics. Within those fields he studies governance, bureaucracy and environmental conservation or climate change mitigation.
“One paper investigates decentralisation in Brazil, how governments obstruct it and whether this leads to more, or less development on a municipal level. I found that government splits had positive effects on education provision and on general economic activity in the new decentralized areas while not having any detectable negative effects in the rest of the country. So, even in the presence of corruption or favoritism, this is consistent with efficiency gains,” he said.
“Now I am excited about an environmental paper about enforcement and spill over effects in environmental protection,” Dr Dahis said, explaining: “When the Brazilian government decided to crack down on deforestation in the early 2000s, by hitting farmers with fines for deforestation, there was not only a direct effect on the farmers who were fined, but also an effect on their neighbours.
“This is what we call a spillover and this extra effect was stronger in the early years and weaker in the later years of the policy.”
“In the early years the government as a whole was dedicated to curbing deforestation but around 2011, the implementation weakened with for example pardoning of deforestation by farmers.
“By then the spillover effects lessened as farmers started to update their beliefs that they might not be punished. Deforestation and agriculture are major parts of Brazil’s carbon emissions, and we want the Amazon standing. We have already lost a fifth of it since the 1970s,” Dr Dahis said..
Dr Dahis joined Monash in August 2023, and he now feels settled in Melbourne, walking his dog most days in Fawkner Park or the Botanic Gardens.
“It’s interesting that Melbourne isn’t exactly a touristy place with that many obvious attractions but it’s so good to live here,” he said.
“Everything is easy and pleasant. I love the green spaces, it's safe, the traffic isn’t crazy, and people are relaxed. I love it.”
“When I’m not working, I explore the city and I’ve started making espressos. I enjoy cooking and hosting people at home. I love music. I play the guitar, some piano, and sing. In the future I look forward to going out to listen to more music here in Melbourne,” he said.
A year of huge changes for Dr Filip Premik
Dr Filip Premik.In the past few months, so much has changed for Filip Premik. He completed his dissertation, became Dr Filip Premik, married his girlfriend in the US and moved to Melbourne to take up the position of lecturer at Monash Business School’s Department of Economics. Now he’s ready to get to work.
“When you change jobs and move to a new country there is a lot of idle time so now it’s time for me to really push workwise. I’ve talked to several people about collaborations and I hope to make some discoveries,” Dr Premik said.
Dr Premik did both his undergraduate and Master’s degrees at the Warsaw School of Economics in Poland. He worked for the National Bank of Poland for a few years, before an opportunity to pursue a PhD program in the US presented itself.
“I was looking for an adventure so I thought why not? The University of Minnesota is known for macroeconomics but despite working for the Polish Central bank for a few years, my research rarely concentrates around typical macro questions. But there is a small but vibrant Industrial Organisation community in Minnesota and I was very happy to be part of it.”
His research focus is on industrial organisation, applied micro economics and empirical auctions, and his job market paper focused on switching costs in an environment where buyers repeatedly purchased goods that had the same purpose but could be differentiated; specifically, city buses.
Whenever bus companies need to replace buses, they never replace all of them at once because it’s too expensive and risky. The public bus operators are also not able to pick just any bus but need to organise auctions.
These auctions may be organised in a way that allows public bus operators to favour one potential bidder over others. So Dr Premik’s paper tracks the degree of favouritism and shows that it responds to changes in the bus fleets, with the brands that are already in the fleet those that the operators prefer in this discriminating auction. This suggests that there is a “switching cost: associated with a new brand.
Dr Premik uses favouritism to quantify the switching cost and suggests how to change the environment to improve the welfare of the publicly funded companies.
How did you come up with the idea of public city buses?
“Public transport is kind of my hobby! I always liked buses and when I was young, I was chasing buses around Warsaw. At some point I had been on almost every single bus in Warsaw and ridden at least one stop. But then they renewed their fleet and I was too old to keep doing it. When I was looking for a good topic for my PhD dissertation in Minnesota I thought maybe I can use this. And when I managed to get the data for the auctions it just evolved.”
Why did you choose to come to Monash Business School?
“During the job market period I was applying everywhere. It’s hard to know what places are like just from reading university websites. Monash was the only Australian university I knew about beforehand. When I came here for the interview, I really liked it. The research environment is very good. I know it’s far away but for me Minnesota was already far away from Warsaw so this is fine. I’m enjoying it so far.”
“My wife is also an economist and she got a post as an associate professor in Canada. We met in math camp at the start of our PhDs, and even shared the same PhD advisor. A very romantic story! Unfortunately, we got split up in the job market, but we thought we needed to give it a chance. I hope she will one day come here as there are quite a few universities to choose from in Melbourne.”
You’ve only been here for about two months but what do you make of Melbourne so far?
“Compared to Minneapolis, Melbourne is very different and doesn’t share many undesired specifics which I truly wanted to avoid. [FP1] Instead, there’s interesting nature, great food and finally the coffee is also good!”
What do you look forward to in Melbourne - have you been on the buses?
“Yes of course! From my new apartment in Caulfield, I will be able to see the station so maybe I will become a train spotter. I also like to go out and explore so I hope to do some weekend trips and discover the wildlife.”