UTS logo Newsroom
  • Home
  • News
  • Media centre
    • Find an expert
  • Events
  • All stories
  • Education
  • Business and Law
  • Health and Science
  • Technology and Design
  • Culture and Sport
  • Social Justice and Sustainability
  • Campus and Community
  • Innovation and Entrepreneurship
John Rose, photo by Max Halden

John Rose, photo by Max Halden Attribute:Max Halden

How household economics influences infrastructure spending

06 Jul 2018

In summary: 
  • Professor John Rose is working to understanding if and how people make household budgets, how changes in the economy influence peoples’ spending habits and what the repercussions of these changes might be
  • His findings could eventually impact how governments and large companies run cost-benefit analyses for large-scale infrastructure projects

Share this article_2016:

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Tweet this
  • Share on LinkedIn
 

“Sometimes the small pieces of data can actually make the biggest difference,” affirms Director of Business Intelligence and Data Analytics in the UTS Business School Professor John Rose.

His primary research focus, thanks to an Australian Research Council grant, is understanding if and how people make household budgets, how changes in the economy influence peoples’ spending habits and what the repercussions of these changes might be. For example, if interest rates rise and your rent or mortgage repayments increase are you more likely to make up the shortfall by cutting back on your healthcare, entertainment or something else?

“If you are more likely to substitute mortgage payments with healthcare,” says John, “then that may have an impact on your health and wellbeing. Whereas households that are more likely to substitute mortgage payments with entertainment, that may have a different impact. So, I’m trying to understand what the flow-through effects are and how that has an impact on other non-traditional economic measures.”

To begin with though, John says, “I’m starting to go back and have a look at the first principles of a lot of microeconomic theory and finding the holes – the differences between what the theory says and how we’re actually using it.

“In many cases, the way we study demand for goods and services appears to be in violation of basic microeconomic theory.”

And that’s a concern because that’s how governments and large companies run cost-benefit analyses for large-scale infrastructure projects. “We’ve seen toll roads fail, go bankrupt, billions of dollars’ worth of infrastructure just going to waste,” says John. “To be able to come up with a better cost-benefit is the ultimate goal.”

Fiona Livy

Marketing and Communication Unit

Explore related topics
Business and Law
More from The Newsroom
Is women’s professional team sport on the path to success?
Now more than ever, we need minimum energy efficiency standards for rental properties
UTS appoints Carol Mills as Director of Institute of Public Policy and Governance
  • UTS Newsroom Home
  • Education
  • Business and Law
  • Health and Science
  • Technology and Design
  • Culture and Sport
  • Social Justice and Sustainability
  • Campus and Community
  • Innovation and Entrepreneurship
  • Staff
  • U:mag
  • Find an expert
  • Media centre
  • News archive
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • Copyright
  • Accessibility
  • Web policy
  • UTS homepage

© Copyright UTS

CRICOS Provider No: 00099F
This page is authorised by Director, Marketing and Communication Unit – Send comments to newsroom@uts.edu.au