One of Australia's leading young health economists, Professor Paul Frijters recently joined UQ's School of Economics.

Professor Frijters completed his Masters in Econometrics at the University of Groningen, including a seven-month stay in Durban, South Africa, before completing a PhD through the University of Amsterdam. He has previously been a teacher and researcher at the University of Melbourne, the Australian National University and QUT.

He specialises in applied micro-econometrics, including health economics with his main area of interest being how socio-economic variables affect the human life experience and the "unanswerable" economic mysteries in life.

A prominent research economist, he has published more than 50 papers in fields including unemployment policy, discrimination and economic development.

Professor Frijters is the Research Director of the Rumici Project: rural to urban migration in China and Indonesia, a project sponsored by the Australian Ministry of Foreign Aid (AusAid). He is also an editor of the journal, Economic Record.

Head of School Professor Flavio Menezes said he was delighted to welcome Paul to the School.

"Professor Frijters is one of Australia's leading young health economists. He also works in labour economics, applied econometrics and has published top journals in all three areas. He is the recipient of the Young Economist Award, an award that is presented by the Economic Society of Australia to honour distinguished Australian economists for their contribution to the development of economics," Professor Menezes said.

"I am delighted that someone of Paul's calibre has decided to join the School of Economics. It is a further demonstration of our commitment to become one of the top 50 departments of economics in the world."

Media: Rachel Tolley (r.tolley@uq.edu.au or 3365 4482) or Shirley Glaister at UQ Communications (3365 1931).







Source: The University Of Queensland http://www.uq.edu.au/news/index.html?article=20773