The University of Western Australia

Dr Elisa Birch

Lecturer
Economics

Contact details

Address

Economics
The University of Western Australia (M251)
35 Stirling Highway
CRAWLEY WA 6009
Australia

Phone

6488 1444

Email

Elisa.Birch@uwa.edu.au

Qualifications

BCom Curtin, PhD W.Aust.

Biography

Elisa is a Lecturer for the Economics Program at the UWA Business School. She completed her PhD entitled the ‘Determinants of Labour Supply and Fertility Behaviour: A Study of Australian Women’ in 2005.

Since completing her PhD, Elisa has published her research in a number of Australian refereed academic journals such as the Economic Records, Australian Economic Papers, and the Australian Economic Review. Her research has also been published in international journals including the Journal of Economic Studies and the Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management. Elisa has also published in several books and work on numerous commissioned consultancies for Government. Elisa’s research has gained wide-spread media attention including publications in the Age, the Australian and the Sydney Morning Herald newspapers.

Elisa has taught undergraduate economics units at three institutions. She has also taught a Masters level economics unit. Elisa has been involved in teaching at off-shore locations as well as teaching units that are fully on-line.

Publications

Career 10 best

Birch, E.R. (2005), 'Studies of the Labour Supply of Australian Women: What Have We Learned?', The Economic Record, 81, 252, pp. 65-84.

Birch, E., Le, A.T. and Miller, P. (2009), Teamwork and Gender at Home: The Household Division of Time, Palgrave MacMillan, United Kingdom, Forthcoming.

Birch, E.R., Miller, P.W. (2006), 'Student Outcomes at University in Australia: A Quantile Regression Approach', Australian Economic Papers, 45, 1, pp. 1-17.

Birch, E.R., Miller, P.W. (2007), 'The Influence of Type of High School Attended on University Performance ', Australian Economic Papers, 46, 1, pp. 1 - 17.

Birch, E. and Miller, P. (2005), ‘The determinants of students’ tertiary academic success’, in Productivity Commission Conference on Quantitative Tools for Microeconomic Policy Analysis: Conference Proceedings, Productivity Commission, Melbourne, Australia, pp. 45-80. IBSN- 1 74037 184 4.

Birch, E.R. (2006), 'The Public-Private Sector Earnings Gap in Australia: A Quantile Regression Approach', Australian Journal of Labour Economics, 9, 2, pp. 99-123

Birch, E., Kenyon, P., Koshy, P. and Wills-Johnson, N. (2003), Exploring the Social and Economic Impacts of Adult and Community Education, NCVER Publications, South Australia, Australia. IBSN- 1 74096 11 6.

Austen, S. and Birch, E. (2002), ‘Family Responsibilities and the Working Lives of Women’, Western Australian Quarterly Bulletin of Economic Trends, 2,1, pp. 37-50.

Austen, S. and Birch, E. (2001), ‘The Working Lives of Women and Their Retirement’, Western Australian Quarterly Bulletin of Economic Trends, 1,1, pp. 40-53.

Birch, E. and Li, I. (2009), ‘The Impact of Peer Assisted Study Sessions on Tertiary Academic Performance’, in The Quantitative Analysis of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in Business, Economics and Commerce: Forum Proceedings, Teaching and Learning Unit, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, pp53-77. IBSN-9 7807340 3685 8.

Recent Publications

Books

Birch, E., Le, A.T. and Miller, P. (2009), Household Divisions of Labour Teamwork, Gender and Time, Palgrave MacMillan, United Kingdom, Forthcoming.

Book Chapters

Birch, E. and Li, I. (2009), ‘The Impact of Peer Assisted Study Sessions on Tertiary Academic Performance’, in The Quantitative Analysis of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in Business, Economics and Commerce: Forum Proceedings, Teaching and Learning Unit, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, pp53-77. IBSN-9 7807340 3685 8.

Birch, E. and Miller, P. (2005), ‘The determinants of students’ tertiary academic success’, in Productivity Commission Conference on Quantitative Tools for Microeconomic Policy Analysis: Conference Proceedings, Productivity Commission, Melbourne, Australia, pp. 45-80. IBSN- 1 74037 184 4.

Birch, E. and Miller, P. (2006), ‘The characteristics of ‘gap-year’ students and their tertiary academic outcomes’, in The Quantitative Analysis of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in Business, Economics and Commerce: Forum Proceedings, Teaching and Learning Unit, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, pp. 1-23. IBSN- 0 7340 3612 4.

Journal Article (Schol Refereed Journal)

Birch, E. and Miller, P.W. (2009), ‘A National Study of Student Outcomes’, Australasian Journal of Economics Education, forthcoming

Birch, E., Li, I. and Miller, P.W. (2009), ‘The Influences of Institution Attended and Field of Study on Gradates’ Starting Salaries,’ Australian Economic Review, 42, 1, pp. 42-63.

Birch, E. and Miller, P.W. (2008), ‘The Impact on Income Contingent Provisions on Students’ Loan Taking Behaviour,’ Journal of Economic Studies, 35, 1, pp.4-25.

Birch, E. and Miller, P.W. (2008), ‘HECS: Some Missing Pieces,’ Australian Universities Review, 50, 1, pp. 30-36.

Birch, E.R., Miller, P.W. (2007), 'The Characteristics of 'Gap-Year' Students and Their Tertiary Academic Outcomes', The Economic Record, 83, 262, pp. 329-344.

Birch, E. and Miller, P.W. (2007), ‘Tertiary Entrance Scores: Can We Do Better?’, Educational Research and Perspectives, 34, 2, pp.1-23.

Birch, E.R., Miller, P.W. (2007), 'The Influence of Type of High School Attended on University Performance ', Australian Economic Papers, 46, 1, pp. 1 - 17.

Birch, E.R., Miller, P.W. (2006), 'How Does Marriage Affect the Wages of Men in Australia?', The Economic Record, 82, 257, pp. 150-164.

Birch, E.R., Miller, P.W. (2006), 'HECS and HECS-HELP: Equity Issues', Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 28, 2, pp. 97-119.

Birch, E.R., Miller, P.W. (2006), 'Student Outcomes at University in Australia: A Quantile Regression Approach', Australian Economic Papers, 45, 1, pp. 1-17.

Birch, E.R., Miller, P.W. (2006), 'The Impact of HECS Debt on Australian Students' Tertiary Academic Performance', Education Research and Perspectives, 33, 1, pp. 1-32.

Birch, E.R. (2006), 'The Public-Private Sector Earnings Gap in Australia: A Quantile Regression Approach', Australian Journal of Labour Economics, 9, 2, pp. 99-123.

Birch, E.R. (2005), 'Studies of the Labour Supply of Australian Women: What Have We Learned?', The Economic Record, 81, 252, pp. 65-84.

Austen, S., Birch, E., Cabalu, H. and Kenyon, P. (2004), ‘Gender Pay Equity in the Victorian Public Sector Service: A Preliminary Analysis’, Western Australian Quarterly Bulletin of Economic Trends, 4, 1, pp. 36-45.

Conference Papers

Birch, E. and Li., I. (2009), ‘The impact of peer assisted study sessions on tertiary academic performance’, paper presented at the Quantitative Analysis of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Forum, Melbourne, Australia, February 2009

Birch, E. and Miller, P. (2006), ‘The characteristics of ‘gap-year’ students and their tertiary academic success’, paper presented at the Quantitative Analysis of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Forum, Melbourne, Australia, February 2006.

Birch, E. and Miller, P. (2005), ‘The impact of HECS debt of students’ tertiary academic performance’, paper presented at the 34th Annual Conference of Economists, Melbourne, Australia, September 2005.

Birch, E. and Miller, P. (2005), ‘The impact of spouse’s education on wages: The role of spouse’s market work’, paper presented at the Conference to Celebrate the Professional Career of Professor Bob Gregory, Canberra, Australia, June 2005.

Birch, E. and Miller, P. (2004), ‘The determinants of students’ tertiary academic success’, paper presented at the Productivity Commission Conference on Quantitative Tools for Microeconomic Policy Analysis, Canberra, Australia, November 2004.

Funding received

Elisa Birch (2008), ‘The Importance of Job Attributes in Understanding the Public-Private Sector Earnings Gap in Australia’, University of Western Australia Research Development Award. $16,243.

Elisa Birch (2008), ‘The Impact of Peer Assisted Study Sessions on Academic Performance’, University of Western Australia Teaching and Learning Grant. $6133.

Elisa Birch, Anh Tram Le and Paul Miller (2006), ‘Wage Determination and the New Household Economics’, Australian Research Council Discovery Grant (Project Id DP0770213). $240,000.

Memberships

Economic Society of Australia (2000 to present)

Honours and awards

Senior Teaching Fellowship, Curtin University, 2008

UWA Business School’s Aherns Early Career Researcher Award, 2008

UWA Business School’s Excellence in Teaching Award for Tutoring, 2008

Curtin Business School’s Publication of the Year for Exploring the Social and Economic Impacts of Adult and Community Education, (co-authored with Peter Kenyon, Nick Wills-Johnson and Paul Koshy), 2003.

Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) offered at the University of Western Australia, 2001-2004

Previous positions

2004-2006, Research Fellow, UWA Business School
2001-2006, Tutor, UWA Business School, and School of Economics and Finance, Curtin University
2000-2004, Research Associate, Institute For Research Into International Competitiveness, Curtin University

Teaching

Economic Analysis and Asian Economies 550 – MBA

Current external positions

2006-Present, Senior Teaching Fellow at Curtin University

Reviewer for articles submitted to the following journals:

The Economic Record
The Australian Journal of Labour Economics
The Australian Economic Review
The Western Australian Quarterly Bulletin of Economic Trends
The Economic Inquiry

Current projects

Industrial Relevance
The Public-Private Sector Earnings Gap
The Time Use of Australians (with Paul Miller and Anh Tram Le)
Labour Supply and Fertility Outcomes (with Alison Preston)
The Determinants of University Outcomes (with Paul Miller, Ian Li and Andrew Williams)

Links with Industry
Member of the Economic Society of Australia
Researcher for Women in Social and Economic Research, Curtin University.

Collaborations with Other Institutions
Changes in the determinants of Women’s Labour Supply and Fertility Behaviour (with Alison- Preston, Women in Social and Economic Research, Curtin Unviersity)

Research profile

Research profile and publications