Ian P. King

Ian P. King

Prof. Ian P. King, Ph.D. completed his PhD in Economics at Queens University (Canada), in 1989. He held positions at the University of Calgary and the University of Victoria (Canada), the University of Iowa (USA), the University of Auckland and University of Otago (New Zealand) and at the University of Melbourne (Australia). Currently, he is Professor of Macroeconomics at the University of Queensland (Australia). He is published in top journals such as Econometrica, the Review of Economic Studies, the Journal of Monetary Economics, and the Journal of Economic Theory. He was editor of the New Zealand Economic Papers and is currently the Chair of Board of the Australasian Macroeconomics Society.

Income Inequality, Unemployment, and Public Policy


The project studies how income inequality and unemployment are jointly determined, the effects of public policies on both, and will identify optimal policy settings. A quantitative model will be built where workers have different skills and firms create both high and low quality jobs. Policy variables such as unemployment benefits, job subsidies, and an income tax structure, with a government budget constraint, will be introduced to examine the influences of each of these variables, and how they can be harmonized. The funds will mostly be used as part of a graduate-level student exchange program, to foster collaborative research among German and Australian macroeconomists on this topic.