Professor and Director of the Australian Institute for Business and Economics at the University of Queensland
A new Australian policy publication has launched, featuring an excellent podcast with people from leading think tanks: https://lnkd.in/gyRd9Ns2. The podcast—and my experience at the Economic Reform Roundtable—reinforced how influential think tanks have become in shaping Australian policy, while academic research plays a less visible role. Many academics produce highly relevant work, but fewer directly engage in policy debates. Think tanks add great value. But here’s the concern: empirical policy research is rarely absolute. Results are nuanced, full of caveats, and shaped by trade-offs. That’s precisely when academia matters most—when econometricians push empirical analysis to its limits, and theorists highlight mechanisms consistent with (and testable against) the evidence. Closer links between policymakers, think tanks, and academics would not only strengthen policy design, but also help theoretical researchers channel their agendas toward work that is rigorous, fundamental, and policy-relevant. This isn’t a new argument—but I worry the gap between academia and policy in Australia is widening. I’d be very happy to be proven wrong.
Dipanwita Sarkar
1mo
Highly relevant Flavio, the gap is widening. Having a Social Science Council separated is not uncommon in many countries.
I use data to generate new knowledge and change how Australia thinks and acts for the environment.
1moTrue Flavio! Why is that, and what can we do about it?!