Principle 4
A recent study led by Dr
Carmen Leong alongside Dr
Felix Tan , School of Information Systems & Technology Management , examines how FinTech is helping digital entrepreneurs in developing communities . Both academics have been working on UN SDG-related research for several years , with a key focus on how technology can empower marginalised communities .
Their
paper , ” The emancipatory potential of digital entrepreneurship : A study of financial technology-driven inclusive growth ”, examines the impact of financial technology companies ( FinTechs ) on communities in Indonesia . The authors explain how iGrow , an Indonesian P2P lending marketplace , has become an emancipatory endeavour by allowing farmers to “ break free of the societal norms that cast them as unreliable debtors , by transforming the perception of farmers from subsistence labourers to business owners who subsequently can acquire capital ”. It illustrates how entrepreneurs ’ constraints may be removed or mitigated through the ‘ emancipatory endeavours ’ of three types of digital enablers : the digital provider , the digital aggregator , and the digital facilitator .
Workplace Safety and Security
Michael Quinlan , Emeritus Professor of Industrial Relations in the School of Management and Governance , submitted his research for a Draft Workplace Health & Safety Guide for Food Delivery Workers in April 2021 . The food delivery industry has been the subject of media attention and concern following several food delivery worker deaths . Professor Quinlan argued the draft guide developed by the NSW State Government “ fails to comprehend the realities of work arrangements in the food delivery industry ” and must go much further if it is to mitigate hazards and the problems posed by the growing ‘ gig ’ economy .
Michael also made a submission to the
Senate Select Committee on Job Security . The Committee was established in response to community concerns about the adverse social and economic effects of growing insecure or precarious employment on the economy , wages , social cohesion and workplace rights and conditions – a problem further highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic . The Committee is due to make its final report in November 2021 .
Also in 2021 , Michael spoke as part of an Australian Senate Inquiry examining matters concerning the Road Transport industry ’ s economic sustainability and presented a submission on the need for more effective preventive measures on the part of the government and regulators as well as the social and economic impact of road-related injury , trauma and death . He has identified
eight ways to improve safety in the road
In 2020 Michael was engaged by the
Queensland Coal Mining Board of Inquiry ( BOI ) to prepare an expert report on an explosion at the Grosvenor coal mine in central Queensland in May 2020 that seriously injured five miners . His findings are cited extensively in the final BOI report ( May 2021 ) along with his recommendations on how to address future problems around the use of contract labour in mining , the reluctance of labour hire and contract workers to raise safety concerns , the safety effects of bonus payment regimes and the important role played by industry and site safety representatives in the industry .
Strategic Philanthropy
Dr
Cara Vansteenkiste , School of Banking & Finance , was awarded a 2022 Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Award ( DECRA ) for her project “ Disaster relief : does corporate giving increase firm value ?” This is a continuation of her research on corporate giving in the context of natural disasters such as the Australian bushfire crisis in 2019-20 and the Covid-19 pandemic .
Australian corporations donated close to $ 100 million in disaster relief following the bushfire crisis in 2019 . Cara asks what motivates firms to engage in corporate giving , and what are the implications for shareholder value ? Investigating market responses to corporate disaster-relief giving , her research finds that the strategic benefits of donating increase with disaster saliency and with the importance of reputation and social image to the firm . Although disaster-relief giving is on average associated with negative stock returns , there is a “ strategic philanthropy ” effect that increases firm value if the strategic benefits of donating are sufficiently large .
Cara warns that companies need to adopt a
“ strategic philanthropy ” approach when making donations to charitable causes in order to avoid negative market reactions and backlash from shareholders .
Child Labour
Dr
Sarah Walker from the School of Economics was named a recipient of the 2020 Paul Bourke Awards for Early Career Research by the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia . Sarah is a development economist working on labour-force participation , poverty alleviation , the effects of refugee camps , and the relationship between conflict , development and the natural environment . Her work has been published in leading journals in the field , such as the Journal of Economic History and Journal of Development Economics . ( For the latter she collaborated with H Onder and A Sanghi of the World Bank to
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