Emeritus Professor Glenn Withers
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.
Publications
- Withers, G 2021, 'Investing in Science: Social Cost Benefit Analysis of Research Infrastructures', Economic Record, vol. 97, no. 317, pp. 328-330.
- Austin, G & Withers, G 2020, 'Creating social cyber value as the broader goal', in Greg Austin (ed.), Cyber Security Education, Routledge, London, London, pp. 99-118.
- Withers, G 2020, 'Broadcasting', in Ruth Towse & Trilce Navarrete Hernandez (ed.), Handbook of Cultural Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, Cheltenham, pp. 72-81.
- Bagloee, S & Withers, G 2019, 'Side constrained optimisation to capture capacity of choices in the multinomial logit model: case study of income tax policy in the USA prior to the 2009 economic crisis', International Journal of Operational Research, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 123-149.
- Withers, G 2019, 'Book Review: "How Economics Shapes Science", by Paula Stephens. (Harvard University Press, Cambridge,MA, 2102)', Economic Record, vol. 95, no. 309, pp. 274-276.
- Withers, G 2019, 'An Australian humanities crisis?', in Dennis A Ahlburg (ed.), The Changing Face of Higher Education: Is There an International Crisis in the Humanities?, Routledge, London, United Kingdom, pp. 1-7.
- Bagloee, S, Tavana, M, Withers, G & Asadi, M. 2019, 'Tradable mobility permit with Bitcoin and Ethereum - A Blockchain application in transportation', Internet of Things, vol. 8, no. 100103, pp. 1-16.
- Withers, G, Buchanan, E, West, L et al 2019, Social Science Research and Intelligence in Australia.ASSA Final Report 2019, Canberra: Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia
- Withers, G 2018, 'Inclusive Growth: Hybrid policies into the future', in Mark Fabian and Robert Breunig (ed.), Hybrid Public Policy Innovations: Contemporary Policy Beyond Ideology', Routledge, London, pp. 235-252.
- Golebiowska, K, Elnasri, A & Withers, G 2016, 'Responding to Negative Public Attitudes towards Immigration through Analysis and Policy: regional and unemployment dimensions', Australian Geographer, vol. 47, no. 4, pp. 435-453.
- Withers, G 2016, "Ensuring Immigration Benefits All", in CEDA, Migration: the economic debate, Melbourne: Committee for Economic Development of Australia, 2016, 80-99.
- Withers, G 2016, 'Book Review: Education Matters: Global Schooling Gains from the 19th to the 21st Century , Robert J. Barro and Jong Wha Lee, Oxford University Press, New York, 2015 P. 304. ISBN: 13:9780199379231', Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 127-128.
- Withers, G 2015, 'Australia's political economic future', Australian Journal of Political Science, vol. 50, no. 4, pp. 735-744.
- Ville, S & Withers, G 2015, 'Introduction: connecting past, present and future', in Simon Ville & Glenn Withers (ed.), The Cambridge Economic History of Australia, Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne, pp. 1-8.
- Ville, S & Withers, G, eds, 2015, The Cambridge Economic History of Australia, Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne.
- Hatton, T & Withers, G 2015, 'The labour market', in Simon Ville & Glenn Withers (ed.), The Cambridge Economic History of Australia, Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne, pp. 351-372.
- Withers, G 2015, 'People Movements and the 'National Interest'', in John Farrar, Mary Hiscock and Vai Io Lo (ed.), Australia's Trade, Investment and Security in the Asian Century, World Scientific Publishing Co, Singapore, pp. 187-200.
- Withers, G, Gupta, N, Larkins, N et al 2015, Australia's comparative advantage, Melbourne: ACOLA.
- Withers, G 2014, 'Immigration in a Population Context', The Australian Economic Review, vol. 47, no. 2, pp. 231-239.
- Withers, G 2014, 'The State of the Universities', in M Thornton (ed.), Through a Glass Darkly: The Social Sciences Look at the Neoliberal University, ANU Press, Canberra, Australia, pp. 103-117.
- Withers, G 2014, 'Introduction', in Katherine Barnes & Peter Spearritt (ed.), Drivers of Change for the Australian Labour Market to 2030 (Proceedings of an expert scenario forum), Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, Canberra, Australia, pp. 1-15.
- Withers, G & Gupta, N 2014, 'Income contingent loans for business innovation', in Bruce Chapman,Timothy Higgins,Joseph E Stiglitz (ed.), Income Contingent Loans: Theory, Practice and Prospects, Palgrave Macmillan Ltd, England, pp. 156-164.
- Withers, G 2014, 'Future directions for income contingent loan theory', in Bruce Chapman,Timothy Higgins,Joseph E Stiglitz (ed.), Income Contingent Loans: Theory, Practice and Prospects, Palgrave Macmillan Ltd, England, pp. 241-247.
- Withers, G 2013, 'Creating the new university', in Gabriele Bammer (ed.), Disciplining Interdisciplinarity: Integration and implementation sciences for researching complex real-world problems, ANU ePress, Australian National University, pp. 375-381.
- Withers, G & Gupta, N 2013, 'Policy innovation for innovation: income-contingent loans', in CEDA (Committee for Economic Development of Australia) (ed.), Australia Adjusting: Optimising national prosperity - November 2013, Committee for Economic Development of Australia, Melbourne, Australia, pp. 123-131.
- Withers, G 2013, 'Broadcasting', in Ruth Towse & Christian Handke (ed.), Handbook on the Digital Creative Economy, Edward Elgar Publishing Inc., Cheltenham UK & Northhampton USA, pp. 409-415.
- Withers, G 2012, White paper targets are lofty, but worthy, goals, p. 26.
- Withers, G 2012, 'The future of population policy', in Jonathon Pincus and Graeme Hugo (ed.), A Greater Australia: Population, policies and governance, Committee for Economic Development of Australia, Melbourne, pp. 224-232.
- Withers, G. 2012, "International Education and Its Benefits to Australia" in Department of Immigration and Citizenship, Population Flows: Immigration Aspects, 2010-11 edition. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia, 2012, 75-77.
- Withers, G., 2012, "The Future of Population Policy" in Jonathan Pincus and Graeme Hugo (eds), A Greater Australia: Population, Policies and Governance, Melbourne: CEDA, 224-232.
- Withers,G. 2012, "Distance and Development?" in Nestor Stancanelli (ed), Under the Southern Cross: Australia-Argentina-A Comparative Analysis, Buenos Aires, Eudeba, 211-228.
- Withers, G & Alford, K 2011, 'Broadcasting', in Ruth Towse (ed.), Cultural Economics: A Handbook (2nd ed), Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, pp. 76-85.
- Withers,G. & Saliba,G.2010, "Scenario Analysis for Strategic Thinking" in G.Argyrous (ed.), Evidence for Policy and Policy-Making, Sydney: UNSW Press
- Denniss, A, Yuan, M & Withers, G 2009, 'Innovation Financing and Use of Income Contingent Loans', Australian Journal of Labour Economics, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 145-165.
- Withers, G 2009, 'David Hewitt Pope, 1944-2007', Australian Economic History Review, vol. 49, no. 2, pp. 198-212.
- Saliba, G & Withers, G 2009, 'Scenario analysis for strategic thinking', in G. Argyrous (ed.), Evidence for Policy and Decision-Making: A Practical Guide, UNSW Press, Sydney, pp. 116-136.
- Withers,G & Higgins,T.2009, "Community Attitudes to Income Contingent Loans", Australian Journal of Labour Economics, 12(2)
- Withers,G., Denniss,A.& Yuan,Y., 2009, "Innovation Financing and Use of Income Contingent Loans", Australian Journal of Labour Economics, 12(2)
- Withers,G.2009, "David Hewitt Pope: 1944-2007", Australian Economic History Review, 49(2),
- McDonald, P & Withers, G 2008, Population and Australia's Future Labour Force.
- Withers,G. & McDonald, P.,2008, Population and Australia's Future Labour Force, Occasional paper, Academy of the Sociual Sciences in Australia, 1
- Withers,G 2007 "Can Distance Be Defeated?" in I.Marsh (ed), Competing from Australia, Melbourne: Committee for Economic Development of Australia,
- Withers,G.&Twomey,A.,2007, Australia's Federal Future, Melbourne: Council for the Federation, Paper 1.
- Withers, G 2006, 'A curate's egg? Australia's immigration and population policies'.
- Leigh, A & Withers, G 2005, Leadership and political structures.
- Withers, G 2005, 'Immigration Policy: Australia's experience and implications for Germany', in Russell West-Pavlov (ed.), Who's Australia - Whose Australia? Contemporary Politics, Society and Culture in Australia, Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier, Trier, pp. 31-42.
- Abelson, P, Withers, G & Powall, M 2005, 'Financing public infrastructure for urban development', in Y. Chandra Sekhar (ed.), Urban Infrastructure: an introduction, ICFAI University Press, Hyderabad, pp. 41-72.
- Withers, G 2005, 'Populating the North: forget the doomsayers', in Tess Lea and Bill Wilson (ed.), The State of the North: a selection of papers from the 2003 Charles Darwin Symposia, Charles Darwin University Press, Darwin, pp. 15-26.
- Withers, G 2004, 'Economic Dynamics and Immigration', Australian Mosaic, vol. 7, pp. 16-19.
- Withers, G 2004, 'Australia's Population Future', Ageing - the Implications for Government, ed. P. Harmsworth, Institute of Public Administration Australia, Australia, pp. 32-44.
- Withers, G 2003, 'Core Isssues in Immigration Economics and Policy', Economic Papers, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 13-23.
- Withers, G 2003, 'Broadcasting', in Ruth Towse (ed.), A Handbook of Cultural Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK, pp. 102-113.
- Withers, G 2003, 'Population Issues for Australia', in Peter Dawkins and Paul Kelly (ed.), Hard heads, soft hearts: A new reform agenda for Australia, Allen & Unwin, Melbourne, Australia, pp. 101-103.
- Withers, G 2003, 'Fundamentals of ABC', Dialogue (Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia), vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 75-83.
- Withers, G 2003, 'Immigration', in Ian McAllister, Steve Dowrick & Riaz Hassan (ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of the Social Sciences in Australia, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 74-93.
- Withers, G 2002, 'Population Issues for Australia', in Peter Duncan and Rodney Maddock (ed.), Aspire Australia, Australian Population Association and Population Association of New Zealand, Sydney, Australia, pp. 55-68.
- Withers, G 2002, 'Funding Public Service Broadcasters', Southern Review, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 107-119.
- Withers, G 2002, 'Population Ageing and the Role of Immigration', The Australian Economic Review, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 104-112.
- Withers, G 2002, 'Methods for Projecting Future Migration Levels: An Assessment', People and Place, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 84-86.
- Withers, G, ed., 2002, Privatisation: A Review of the Australian Experience, Committee for Economic Development of Australia, Melbourne.
- Withers, G & Throsby, D 2001, 'Individual Preferences and the Demand for Military Expenditure', Defence and Peace Economics, vol. 12, pp. 87-102.
- Withers, G 2001, 'Economic Issues in Health Policy: Comment', The Australian Economic Review, vol. 34, no. 3, pp. 312-316.
- Withers, G 2001, 'Economics of Immigration', in James Jupp (ed.), The Australian People: An encyclopedia of the nation, its people and their origins, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne Australia, pp. 774-779.
- Chapman, B & Withers, G 2001, 'Human Capital Accumulation: Education and Immigration', in John Nieuwenhuysen, Peter Lloyd and Margaret Mead (ed.), Reshaping Australia's Economy: Growth with Equity and Sustainability, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, Australia, pp. 242-267.
- Withers, G & Edwards, B 2001, 'The Budget, the election and the voter', Australian Social Monitor, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 9-14.
- Wanna, J & Withers, G 2000, 'Creating Capability: combining economic and political rationalities in industry and regional policy', in Davis, G. and Keating, M. (ed.), The Future of Governance, Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, pp. 67-93.
- Withers, G 2000, 'Population Issues and Options: Investing in People', The Australian Economic Review, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 265-271.