Economics examines ways to understand what happens in markets, the performance of national economies and approaches for analysing and interpreting data.
News
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Time to Reform Australia's Unfair Family Support System
Family benefit payments aren’t fit for purpose with complex rules that make it hard for mothers to return to work and that penalise dual-earner families
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It's Time to Acknowledge Men and Women Behave Differently
We need to accept that men and women behave differently, in part, because of the different expectations society has of them, and find ways that work with these differences rather than against them.
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Children of same-sex parents outperform others at school
Children with same-sex parents outperform other children on multiple indicators of academic achievement, new research shows.
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Strong support for COVID vaccine; financial stress and mental distress remain high
Events
Economics has been taught at The University of Melbourne since 1855.
The Department of Economics has several dedicated research units attracting local and overseas academics, and continually pushes the boundaries of knowledge in the fields of economics and econometrics.
Economics provides skills in problem solving for business and government. It examines ways to understand what happens in markets, the performance of national economies and approaches for analysing and interpreting data. Ultimately, economics facilitates better decision making about the myriad of problems you will confront in the commercial world or in government.
Our academics are active collaborators in multi-partner centres which bring together researchers and practitioners from a range of disciplines and industries.
Economics Research Centres
Centre for Actuarial Studies
The Centre for Actuarial Studies is designed for students who wish to enter the actuarial profession, providing students with a solid grounding in actuarial techniques. It has an international reputation for research, and attracts a strong cohort of students and researchers.
Centre for Market Design
The Centre for Market Design supports policy innovation by applying economic design techniques to public policy, procurement and resource allocation problems, with particular expertise in mechanism design, auction theory, matching markets, experimental economics, and structural econometrics.
Other Areas of Collaborative Research
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Bayesian Analysis and Modeling Research Group
The Bayesian Analysis and Modeling Research Group aims to support and enhance research opportunities for its members through a range...
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Econometrics Research Unit
The Econometrics Research Unit brings together academic staff and research students to focus on the development, evaluation and application of...
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Economic Theory and Experiments Unit
Jointly operated by the Department of Economics and the Melbourne Business School the Economic Theory and Experiments Unit promotes research...
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Experimental Economics Laboratory
The Experimental Economics Laboratory is a state-of-the-art facility that promotes the use of experimental methods in economics research and policy-making....
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Macroeconomics Research Unit
The Macroeconomics Research Unit focuses on the development of macroeconomic theory, macroeconometrics and macroeconomic policy....
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Trade and Development Research Unit
The Trade and Development Research Unit focuses on the economic issues facing the countries in the Asia-Pacific region and broader...
Subjects
View all subjects
Undergraduate
The economics major in the Bachelor of Commerce develops problem-solving and data analysis skills for use in both business and government settings.
Honours
The Honours year advances your knowledge of economics; and develops research skills that are regarded as essential for employment by State and Federal Government, Treasury, the Reserve Bank, many public enterprises and, increasingly, the private sector.
Graduate Programs
Find out more about our graduate study options.
Graduate Research
Our Doctoral Program in Economics emphasises independent, original work and collaboration with leading scholars.
The Department of Economics website contains information about our areas of teaching, research expertise, links with industry and academic staff. We encourage you to browse our site to learn more about the Department and our commitment to high quality teaching and learning.
Specialisations
The Department of Economics teaches into a number of specialist areas, to cater for the diverse interests of our students and researchers.