Emeritus Professor Glenn Withers

AO, BEc (Hons 1st class, Monash), MA, PhD (Harvard), FASSA, FRSN
Professor of Economics, Research School of Economics, College of Business and Economics, ANU
ANU College of Asia and the Pacific
T: 02 6125 4606

Areas of expertise

  • Public Economics Taxation And Revenue 140215
  • Migration 160303
  • Welfare Economics 140219
  • Population Trends And Policies 160305
  • Public Policy 160510
  • Applied Economics 1402
  • Economic History 140203
  • Economics Of Education 140204
  • Arts And Cultural Policy 160502
  • Communications And Media Policy 160503
  • Education Policy 160506

Research interests

Policy Economics: microeconomic policy including competition policy, infrastructure provision and public expenditure analysis; privatisation and regulation of business activity; knowledge capital formation

Social, Labour and Cultural Policy: population and immigration, labour market policy, social and welfare state institutions, education and training and innovation,cultural policy, including arts and the media

Biography

Glenn Withers is Professor of Economics in the Research School of Economics and was founding CEO of Universities Australia. Prior to that he was Professor of Public Policy at ANU and the Australia and New Zealand School of Government. He is a Monash and Harvard graduate and has held academic posts in Australia and overseas including at Harvard and Cambridge and at La Trobe and Macquarie Universities. He is a Fellow and Immediate Past President of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, and of the Australian Council of Learned Academies.

He has produced a significant number of books, academic papers and government and consultancy reports. He has worked in and for government, including as chair of various Australian government bodies such as the National Population Council and the Economic Planning Advisory Commission, and he has chaired public inquiries regarding population issues, immigration, and infrastructure financing and was a member of the Faulkner inquiry into child care and Co-Commissioner of the Productivity Commission's Stocktake of Micro-economic Reform. He was a Board member of CEDA and founding Chair of CEDA's Council on Economic Policy. He is Global Board Chair for the Global Development Learning Network.

Professor Withers helped to establish the Productivity Commission, the Crawford School, ANZSOG and Universities Australia. He has been an adviser to private sector and community sector organisations in Australia and overseas, ranging from the North West Shelf Consortium and the Business Council of Australia to the OECD and UNDP. Professor Withers was awarded an Order of Australia for services to applied economics, including for design of the Australian immigration points system.

Researcher's projects

  • Knowledge Investment  for cybersecurity (UNSW Canberra Project) 

Publications

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Updated:  20 April 2024 / Responsible Officer:  Director (Research Services Division) / Page Contact:  Researchers