After receiving his PhD in 1974 he was Postdoctoral Fellow in International Trade and Economic Development at the University of Minnesota. Following that he taught economics at Monash University from 1976 to 1979. Joined the Economics Department, RSPAS, ANU, in 1980. Holder of the John Crawford Chair of Agricultural Economics since 1989, Head of Department since 2007. Current research includes general equilibrium modeling of Indonesian, Lao and Thai economies, especially regarding the relationship between economic policy and poverty incidence.

Career highlights

Elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia in 1997; Editorial Board member for several academic journals. Consultant for the Australian Government, the Thai Government, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the ASEAN Secretariat and varioius United Nations agencies.

The economies of East Asia, especially Thailand, Laos and Indonesia, particularly measurement of poverty incidence, analysis of its causes and the means by which economic policy may be used to reduce poverty incidence.