My key research focus is the Behavioural Economics of Education, and in particular ‘Behavioural economics and the complexity of parental investments in education’.

Unlike most economists I have an unusual academic background with a BSc in Biochemistry & Genetics (ANU), a BA in Philosophy specialising in Applied Ethics (ANU), a Masters in Applied Finance focusing mainly on Risk (Macquarie) and an accounting CPA.  Mostly I have worked in international banking & more recently higher education.  The 5 years spent working in Japan has deeply influenced my interest in how cultural heuristics affect economic outcomes. An example being a society’s approach & value attributed to education.

The field of Economics of Education, and why some nations are more successful than others, has been passionate interest of mine ever since I first read Gary Becker’s book ‘Human Capital’. Although now I find myself mostly in disagreement with Becker’s view of the world.

‘The misBehaving Economist’ is a blog of my thoughts on issues relating, however loosely, to the behavioural economics of education, and more specifically my research area of behavioural choice in education.

Key influences: Simon provides the theoretical framework of bounded rationality & computational decision making, supplemented by Shackle (metaphysics of decision making), Loewenstein (behavioural economics of decision making), Fehr (heterogeneous macrobehaviour), Gigerenzer ( fast & frugal heuristics), Hirsch (social positioning), Trivers (animal behaviour & parental investment), de Waal (animal behaviour & morals), Haidt (moral foundations), Bowles (social institutions), Veblen (consumption behaviour), Tullock (market dynamics), Taleb/Peters (fat tails & non-ergodic processes).

And what I would call ‘philosophical influences’: Sun Tzu, Kurosawa, Murakami, Irigaray