Journal articles

• Edwards, R.B. and Suryadarma, D. (2022) “Social and Economic Impacts of Online Marketplaces on Women in Asia”, Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, 9:3 (editors’ special issue introduction).

• Hadiwidjaja, G., Falcon, W.P., Edwards, R.B., Higgins, M.M., Naylor, R.L., and Sumarto, S. (2022), “Using Conditional Cash Payments to Prevent Land-Clearing Fires: Cautionary Findings from Indonesia”, Agriculture, 12:7 [TNP2K Working Paper]

• Curtain, R., Edwards, R.B., Tani, M., and Withers, G (2022), “It is time for a new regional compact”, Australian Economic Review, May [Parliamentary Library briefing]

• Halimatussadiah, A., Edwards, R.B., Maulia, R.F., and Moeis, F.R. (2022), “Agriculture, Development, and Sustainability in the COVID-19 Era”, Bulletin of Indonesia Economic Studies, April (invited survey article).

• Edwards, R.B. (2020) “Bubble in, bubble out: lessons for the global recovery and future crises from COVID-19 and the Pacific”, World Development, November.

• Edwards, R.B., Falcon, W.P., Higgins, M.M., and Naylor, R.L. (2020) “Causes of Indonesia’s forest fires”, World Development, March.

• Naylor, R.L., Higgins, M.M., Edwards, R.B., and Falcon, W.P. (2019) “Decentralization and the environment: assessing smallholder oil palm development in Indonesia”, Ambio, Jan, pp. 1-14

• Edwards, R.B. (2017) “The Oil Palm Complex”, Journal of Southeast Asian Economies, 34: 2, pp. 430-431 (invited book review)

• Edwards, R.B. (2016) “Mining away the Preston curve”, World Development, 78, February 2018, pp. 22-36 [Wikipedia coverage]

Working papers

• “Export agriculture and rural poverty: evidence from Indonesian palm oil”, Revise and Resubmit at the Journal of International Economics [paper] [Development Impact blog] [Slides]

• “Fight fire with finance: a randomized field experiment to curtail land-clearing fire in Indonesia”, with Wally Falcon, Grace Hadiwidjaja, Matt Higgins, Roz Naylor, and Sudarno Sumarto (Stanford) Revise and Resubmit at the Journal of Political Economy Microeconomics [AEA trial registration] [TTPI Working Paper] [TNP2K Working Paper] [Mongabay story] [Policy brief] [Podcast] [Slides]

• “Spillovers from agricultural processing” [Paper] [Slides]. New draft coming soon!

• “Tongan remittances: channels, costs, and the potential gains from switching”, with Hiroshi Maeda and Daniel Suryadarma (ADBI) [Latest paper] [ADBI working paper] [slides] Submitted!

• “The labour market impacts of lower-skilled temporary immigration: evidence from the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme”, with Toan Nguyen (ANU) [Slides]. New draft coming soon!

• “The place premium: evidence from three Pacific labour mobility schemes”, with Toan Nguyen (ANU), Dung Doan, and Matt Dornan (World Bank) [slides] [recording] New draft coming soon!

• “Vocational qualification supply, demand, and returns: the case of the Australia Pacific Training Coalition”, with Tunye Qui (ANU) [slides] [watch presentation] New draft coming soon!

Selected ongoing and new field research projects

• “Agricultural productivity, poverty, and the environment”, with Alin Halimatussadiah (UI), Elan Satriawan (TNP2K and UGM), and Emilia Tjernstrom (Monash). Seed and pilot funding from J-PAL K-CAI and DFAT KONEKSI. Currently piloting in the field.

• “Promoting employment and welfare for the poor in Papua New Guinea through assistance in international labor migration”, with Dean Yang (UMich), IPA, and the World Bank. Seed and pilot funding from J-PAL SPI; full-scale IE funding from DFAT. Pilot scheduled to be in the field 2024.

• The Pacific Labour Mobility Survey, Wave Two, with the World Bank (multiple co-PIs). Planning underway and schedule to be in the field late 2024.

• Shifting migration attitudes and perceptions in Australia, with Toan Nguyen and Terence Wood (ANU)

Major completed field research projects

• The Remittance Diaries, with Jonathan Morduch (NYU), Tim Ogden (NYU), and Hannah Postel (Stanford). Data collection complete. Analysis and write-up underway.

• Small Firm Diaries, with Jonathan Morduch (NYU), Tim Ogden (NYU), and Neelesh Gounder (USP) [preliminary Fiji findings slides]. Data collection complete. Final report and papers forthcoming.

• The Pacific Labour Mobility Survey, Wave One, with the World Bank (multiple co-PIs). Financially supported by DFAT’s Pacific Research Program. Full report. Two-pager. Blog. AAC 2023 Launch Presentation. AAC 2023 Launch Presentation Video. Worker findings slides. Blogs on Devpolicy. Canberra Times coverage. VBTC coverage. Radio New Zealand coverage. Public data forthcoming.

• An experiment to curtail land-clearing fire in Indonesia, with Stanford University (multiple co-PIs), Sampan Kalimantan, the Packard Foundation, and the National Team for the Acceleration of Poverty Reduction, 2017—2019. Papers and other material above.

Selected presentations, media, policy, and other writing

• Immigration is good, actually, Building Beautifully, 14 April 2024 (comments)

• Migration and development, Guest lecture for Governing Global Migration, 19 March 2024

• It pays to switch remittance service providers, so what’s stopping people?, Devpolicy, 16 February 2024 (with Hiroshi Maeda and Daniel Suryadarma)

• Customer choices are keeping Pacific remittance costs high, Devpolicy, 14 February 2024 (with Hiroshi Maeda and Daniel Suryadarma)

• Remittance costs in the Pacific: measurement matters, Devpolicy, 12 February 2024 (with Hiroshi Maeda and Daniel Suryadarma)

• Australia’s immigration spike not necessarily driving up housing prices, experts say, The Guardian, 12 Dec 2023 (comments)

• Evaluating Pacific-Australia labour mobility, Public Sector Economics Conference, ANU, 21 November 2023

• New data to inform big decisions around Pacific labour mobility, Devpolicy, 20 November 2023 (with Dung Doan and Matt Dornan)

• The Gains and Pains of Working Away from Home: The Case of Temporary Migrant Workers in Australia and New Zealand, World Bank and ANU, November 2023 (with Dung Doan and Matt Dornan) [Full report] [Two-pager] [Canberra Times coverage] [VBTC coverage] [Radio New Zealand coverage] [AAC 2023 Launch Presentation Slides] [AAC 2023 Launch Presentation Video]

• Look at the evidence: Cutting immigration would be a mistake for Australia, Sydney Morning Herald and the Age, 1 Nov 2023 (with Steven Hamilton)

• The Pacific Labour Mobility Survey: Key Worker Survey Findings, PALM Advisory Group meeting, 15 September 2023, and Pacific Heads of Mission Workshop, 16 October 2023 (with Dung Doan)

• PALM Hours, Devpolicy, 10 August 2023 (with Dung Doan and Matt Dornan)

• The labour market impacts of lower-skilled temporary immigration: evidence from the PALM scheme, Australian Workshop on Public Finance, 4 August 2023, ANU (subsequently Melbourne Institute and USyd)

• Palm oil and economic development: a brief review of recent evidence, ASEAN Chairmanship Energy Sector Event, 2 August 2023, Jakarta

• The labour market impacts of lower-skilled temporary immigration: evidence from the PALM scheme, Pacific Update 2023 presentation (with Toan Nguyen)

• The Pacific Labour Mobility Survey: Worker Survey Findings, Pacific Update 2023 presentation (with Dung Doan)

• Insights on Small Firms in Fiji, Pacific Update 2023 presentation (with Michelle Kempis)

• Pacific migration and survey data, Pacific Labour Mobility Technical Working Group Meeting, May 2023 (with Dung Doan)

• Women in online marketplaces: new research, Devpolicy

• ODE will not be returning. What’s the best alternative for a modern development program? Intel, Development Intelligence Lab

• Seasonal work supports everyday expenses in Tonga, Devpolicy (with Hiroshi Maeda)

• Migration seems to be shifting gender norms in Tonga, Devpolicy

• Tongans support labour mobility, Devpolicy

• The need for serious evidence in development and migration policy, Public Sector Economist Conference presentation, Canberra, November

• Public opinion and gender norms in migrant sending countries, Australasian AID Conference presentation, Canberra, November

• Three questions on Tongan remittances, Devpolicy (with Toan Nguyen, Dung Doan, and Matt Dornan) [Nuku’alofa Times article]

• Chinese (and Western) aid boosts short-run economic growth, Devpolicy

• A proposal for a new regional compact to promote people mobility, Devpolicy (with Richard Curtain, Max Tani, and Glenn Withers)

• Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about migration policy, ePODstemology podcast, with Mark Fabian, Jan

• Indonesia 2045: Towards Water Security, World Bank, 1 Dec

• ABC Pacific Beat interview on the new Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme, Wednesday 15 September

• Pacific islanders in Australia, Interdepartmental Committee on Pacific Education and Labour Mobility New Policy Measures, 9 August, Australian Government [Slides]

• Does emigration hurt businesses in migrant-sending countries? Devpolicy

• Submission to DFAT’s Pacific Labour Mobility Consultation (with Richard Curtain, Stephen Howes, Rochelle Lee Bailey, Charlotte Bedford, and Michael Rose)

• NOVAFRICA Sustainable Development Talks podcast, Season 2 Episode 13

• ABC Pacific Beat interview on skilled migration, Monday 7 June

• Economic development in the Pacific (presentation slides for the course “Understanding the Pacific”)

• Australian aid cuts at odds with changing public opinion, DevPolicy(with Terence Wood)

• Pacific Labour Mobility in 2050: Australia’s role: Submission to the DFAT consultation on the Pacific Islands Forum 2050 Strategy (with Stephen Howes)

• COVID-19 and food systems in the Indo-Pacific: An assessment of vulnerabilities, impacts and opportunities for action, ACIAR, November

• Blog your development PhD research Devpolicy

• Discussing, refereeing, dealing with rejections, and keeping up to date (presentation slides)

• Evidence for the Senate Select Committee on Temporary Migration Hansard 14 October (with Stephen Howes and Holly Lawton)

• Evidence for the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence, and Trade Hansard 16 September (with Richard Curtain)

• Pacific islander communities and employment in Australia, DevPolicy (with Beth Orton)

• Submission to the Select Committee on Temporary Migration (with Holly Lawton)

• Altruism, China and attitudes to aid, Devpolicy (with Chris Hoy and Terence Wood)

• Australians support the Pacific travel bubble, DevPolicy, 2020 (with Chris Hoy and Terence Wood) ABC Pacific Beat interview

• COVID-19 has not caused a fall in Australians’ support for aid, DevPolicy (with Chris Hoy and Terence Wood)

• Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade (with Richard Curtain)

• Three insights from the Kiribati Social Development Indicator Survey, DevPolicy

• Study in Australia or teach in the Pacific?, DevPolicy (with Satish Chand)

• Submission to the review of Australia’s new international development policy (with Stephen Howes, Terence Wood, and Sherman Surandiran)

• Thinking about brain drain: part three, DevPolicy

• Thinking about brain drain: part two, DevPolicy

• Thinking about brain drain, DevPolicy

• Has resource extraction reduced poverty?, Inside Indonesia

• How has our rising palm oil consumption affected the communities where it comes from?, World Bank Development Impact

• Resources for writing well

• Resource wealth and direct dividend payments: what’s missing?, Devpolicy

• Submission to the Productivity Commission public inquiry into childcare and early childhood learning

• Has this government compromised the most sacred process of all, the budget?, The Canberra Times

• Review of the Pacific Youth Strategy 2010, Secretariat of the Pacific Community (with Carly Stephan)